Where does your golf game sit on the commitment ladder?

Whatever it takes
Until / Unless
I’ll try
Hope
Indifference

This is something I get very clear before I work with my students. If my commitment is higher than my students, it’s normally a frustrating experience as I give them things to work on which they have no commitment to actually do. On the other hand, they may prove to have a greater commitment than I realized and need much more attention. My students are always asking me how much they should practice, it all depends where they are on the commitment ladder. Their is no right or wrong here but identifying where you are might explain why frustration comes and why results are often not achieved.

It takes a great deal of time to improve at this game. To a large extent, how high you are on the commitment ladder dictates how fast you are able to make the journey.

Whatever it takes
This is the only commitment level that gets optimum results. In fact, when you think about it, anyone can achieve just about anything they set out to do if they can sustain this level.

Until / Unless – Most of you have broken your New Years resolution, need I say anymore?

I’ll Try – I often will ask my students to ‘Try” and sit in a chair. They automatically sit down and I will tell them NO! I didn’t say to sit in the chair, I said to “TRY and sit in the chair. Its pretty funny as they hover over that chair trying as hard as they can. Although Trying is higher than Hope and Indifference it still lacks the commitment needed for great results. Just ask all the people in your life who will be ‘trying’ to be on time. What they are really saying is that they will probably be late because they lack real commitment.

Hope – This can be a dangerous commitment state if there is no action behind it. Hope alone does not get you anywhere; just ask everyone who purchases lottery tickets.

Indifference – Happy regardless of results, you just like the game and if you can improve a little that would be nice. Either way, you are happy. Actual improvement is minimal and left to chance.

HP
think im jammed between “I’‘ll try” & “untill/unless”
i am time poor so don’t practice as much as i would like to.
prolly once per week (100 balls with drills from coach) with random chipping in the back yard to keep my eye/hands in
Got down to 7 this year but struggle now.
think it’s due to lack of consistency in the ball strike dept.

I enjoy practicing where players like deano craig dont and wont
he has heaps of ability (off 3) but would rather fish.
Kiwi

Bowdo has talked about ‘natural ability’ before. Pfffftt

I had ALOT of coaching and beat thousands of balls in my early 20’s. I believe getting low is more about mental toughness and desire. I have played and lost and had epic battles with many opponents with dodgy swings but can get it round. A pretty swing is not the end and be all.

I recently had a playing lesson and it was quite the eye opener, having played with many mates who are pro’s a lesson is very different and a fantastic tool for advancing your game, anyone serious about their game should do it.

Oh indifferent for me :-)

Humans are generally lazy. We want things to come easy to us.

If i was a single figure player with dreams of making it on tour, i’d be “whatever it takes”. But for the majority of us social players, the commitment can float anywhere from hope to until.

Bowdo has talked about ‘natural ability’ before. Pfffftt

I had ALOT of coaching and beat thousands of balls in my early 20’s. I believe getting low is more about mental toughness and desire. I have played and lost and had epic battles with many opponents with dodgy swings but can get it round. A pretty swing is not the end and be all.

I recently had a playing lesson and it was quite the eye opener, having played with many mates who are pro’s a lesson is very different and a fantastic tool for advancing your game, anyone serious about their game should do it.

Gone fishing……..

deano
i used you as an eg as you can seriously play,
half the blokes here wish they have what you have,
it wasnt a derogatory remark questioning your work ethic.
more some have it and some dont & you do.
hope that makes sense
Kiwi

Kiwi…...Mate, no that never crossed my mind lol

I was trying to highlight there is a lot of work and coaching required. Not many would pick up golf clubs and play well without a lot of work. I admire the way you work and want to improve, I’m lucky I started young and stumbled upon a great coach who I had for 20 years so the game comes “easily”.

Just goes to show how the written word gets misinterpreted so much on here :-)

Humans are generally lazy. We want things to come easy to us.

If i was a single figure player with dreams of making it on tour, i’d be “whatever it takes”. But for the majority of us social players, the commitment can float anywhere from hope to until.

i am a single figure player and not lazy
have no dreams of getting way better as i think the fun side has taken over
like the team games side off golf

Kiwi……Mate, no that never crossed my mind lol

I was trying to highlight there is a lot of work and coaching required. Not many would pick up golf clubs and play well without a lot of work. I admire the way you work and want to improve, I’m lucky I started young and stumbled upon a great coach who I had for 20 years so the game comes “easily”.

Just goes to show how the written word gets misinterpreted so much on here :-)

Gone fishing……..

thanks mate i was hoping that was the case

Thanks for the comments.

There is no right or wrong but knowing the level can help us understand why it’s taking longer than expected and can help create a positive experience with your coach.

Many years ago, I had a very successful man taking lessons from me. Success came easy to him but golf turned out to be his biggest challenge. He jumped from coach to coach seeking something that would make him a better golfer. During a lesson, he would actually stop after every bad shot and say – That didn’t work, give me something else to ‘Try’. This is an example of someone who is stuck in the ‘Try It’ level. The Commitment Ladder was a big eye opener for him.

I had students yesterday who complained that he wasn’t improving fast enough. He was also late for his lesson and took 2 cell phone calls during our lesson. There is nothing wrong with this but does give me an indication.

So this brings up a further question for the coach. Based on the evaluation process and commitment level, what is the right thing to do to maximize the player’s abilities? We have to ask ourselves as coaches whether we are emphasizing and advocating the most effective things for our players to play better.

Agree Savvy – I often see students with a high degree of commitment but the coach misses it, this could have been an opportunity to take someone under their wing and have a day together or a playing lesson on the course. Whoever said a private lesson on the range was the best way to learn anyway?

The commitment ladder is a great way of finding out where our students fall, we can then alter our time spent with accordingly.

Everyone shot through when you mentioned commitment.

Depressed – there is no option for depressed!!!

Lol i cycle through all of those rungs and to be honest I’m not sure where I fit on the ladder. Practice every week on Chipping, putting, swinging, practice rounds etc. ive kinda lost my way and can’t get back.

Seen Deano play first hand, best auto golfer I have seen. We were chatting and he walks up hits his ball without even breaking stride and picks up th convo almost mid swing. Ha smergs said that if he hit the ball any faster when teeing up, he might even hit his own hand!

Ah but I digress, need a category for strongly committed but no results.

Golf is different in that it is a sport that people take up when they are in their late 20s + when they can no longer compete at other sports. They come to the game and try to learn it starting at the driver and some never make it past the long ball. They have no foundation and come equipped with misconceptions and movement habits that teachers have to deal with. The thought process seems to be, if I can learn to hit the long ball the rest of the game will fall into place. These players get their enjoyment from smashing the ball a long way . The rest of their game is mostly frustration and confusion as to why the numbers on the score card are so high. Don’t expect much commitment from these players, if the teacher panders to the player and starts teaching the long game first.

I am not referring to the professional staff here, but to forum members who have this mind set.

Depressed – there is no option for depressed!!!

Lol i cycle through all of those rungs and to be honest I’m not sure where I fit on the ladder. Practice every week on Chipping, putting, swinging, practice rounds etc. ive kinda lost my way and can’t get back.

GG
i feel for you mate,
i totally understand your frustration and am fully aware off your situation.
BUT if you practice the wrong thing over and over again you will always feel like you are sinking then we get desperate and try shit.
I know lessons arent what you can do at the moment but that is what you need. Some fresh input and a new direction.
then you will be killing it.
i would rank you unless/untill
Hobbit

Lol kiwi. You are spot on.
Time poor money rich before.
Time rich money poor now.

Still love golf even if it doesn’t love me.

Totally committed but not getting results…

I think we can relate this to many things we are totally committed to like raising our children. If it’s not working, stop and question the process. The ‘Whatever it Takes’ committment level will find exactly what is needed to get on track.

I’m struggling with this question myself at the moment!

I’m some where between whatever it takes and until/unless.
Kinda sums me up as a dreamer and a perfectionist, passionate starter sliding to about 65% complete before I run out motivation.

Given the above I am obssesive compulsive about golf. I’m always thinking, reading, searching for info etc about the game but how many times do I practice? Once every two weeks, if that.

I want to improve, I know I can be a far better player than currently but something is holding me back from being ‘whatever it takes’.
I’m starting to think its because I like “knowing I can be a lot better” rather than being “as good as I will ever be”

If your as good as you will ever be right now, there is no light at the end of the tunnel…

Hp & Savvy … You have both been on the course with me… Opinions or comments?

Too deep for Friday morning DJ. Must to drinking moar!
As good as you will ever be is a myth especially in golf. No matter how good you get, there will always be gaps in your game and if you’re a perfectionist, this will be a good driver to get you motivated to continue to grow. Besides, not being able to devote yourself 100% to the game, would mean there will definitely be ways in which you can improve whether it be improved striking, long fan, short game, shaping etc. set yourself intermediate milestones.
Achieve them and move to the next goal.

I’m struggling with this question myself at the moment!

I’m some where between whatever it takes and until/unless.
Kinda sums me up as a dreamer and a perfectionist, passionate starter sliding to about 65% complete before I run out motivation.

Given the above I am obssesive compulsive about golf. I’m always thinking, reading, searching for info etc about the game but how many times do I practice? Once every two weeks, if that.

I want to improve, I know I can be a far better player than currently but something is holding me back from being ‘whatever it takes’.
I’m starting to think its because I like “knowing I can be a lot better” rather than being “as good as I will ever be”

If your as good as you will ever be right now, there is no light at the end of the tunnel…

Hp & Savvy … You have both been on the course with me… Opinions or comments?

Winner: Overall Long Drive @ OOM5 Curlewis 2012
If you do what you always done, you get what you always got.

http://www.golflink.com.au/...

Hey dj, never lose faith that you can take new ground, to go where you have never gone before, its fun, exciting, and motivating.

We all live busy lives where our recreation doesn’t take priority. The commitment Ladder is meant to help us evaluate ourselves during the battle. We all need to admit that its way more fun and satisfying to play well and this requires commitment, many of us say we just play for fun and expect to play well, this is a big ask.

I just had a student’s make a huge breakthrough using the Commitment Ladder, he realized at some point during each round he would simply quite on himself, this would happen as soon as he realized that his score would not meet his expectation. He would then go to the next step and ask himself why he even played this stupid game. The rest of the round he felt miserable.

The first step was to get him to admit that he loved the game no matter what he scored; I asked him why he played golf and what he loved about the game. It turned out that he had never really thought about it enough to put it into words. The second step was to get him to feel what its like to be fully committed to every shot during the round no matter what happens.

His first round he had an average to poor score, lost all his bets but had a completely different experience, even telling me that he took his time lining up his last putt for his highest score of the year. He quickly accepted his score as the best he could do for the day. The next round he shot his personal best, his comment to me was that both rounds felt exactly the same. In fact, both rounds his score seemed unimportant, it was the battle that he was 100% engaged to.

You see, it’s not the score that matters, it’s your commitment level that does. In life, everyone is happy to commit if we can be assured of success. The problem is that success happens after we become committed not before.

It’s the competitor in me coming out there. If I’m totally committed it’s golf all day every day and that means trying to be the best, . And the best to me is world no 1…. That’s the way I used to be.

Dont get me wrong, 8 years away from the game and then coming back has shown me how much I love it. I enjoy myself on the course even if I’m not playing well. As a teen that wasn’t the case.

As noted above its just a simple change in your outlook that can make the biggest difference.

Just had a little light bulb moment writing this…. For me stopping just short of what I term totally committed is probably most people’s version of OCD… I’m still improving and I am enjoying the game at the same time.

Interesting concept HP

Whatever it takes for me tbh. I am hungrier for improvement now than I have ever been(started playing 5 years ago). I have a goal to get to single figures, which for the first time Im starting to think is achievable. I do a lot of reading about the game, about equipment, practice, but don’t read too much about the golf swing anymore, thats what got me into the mire the first time around. My golf swing I trust in my coach 100% and will not mess with that side of things.

Would love to be able to practice more and get out there everyday but its just not possible. This time last year I was ready to quit due to poor form, was going backwards, not enjoying the game much and the only thing I did enjoy on course was the company. Ok probably wouldnt have quit but would have given up the weekly routine and become a social once in a while golfer.

Now when I have a bad day, instead of having a sook for the rest of the round, I use it to see and test how I can regroup and finish the day from a pretty bad position. Result, I have even more self belief that i can now grind it out respectably whereas in the past it was total capitulation. I still get mad, but can let it go a lot easier now.

Interesting concept HP

Whatever it takes for me tbh. I am hungrier for improvement now than I have ever been(started playing 5 years ago). I have a goal to get to single figures, which for the first time Im starting to think is achievable. I do a lot of reading about the game, about equipment, practice, but don’t read too much about the golf swing anymore, thats what got me into the mire the first time around. My golf swing I trust in my coach 100% and will not mess with that side of things.

Would love to be able to practice more and get out there everyday but its just not possible. This time last year I was ready to quit due to poor form, was going backwards, not enjoying the game much and the only thing I did enjoy on course was the company. Ok probably wouldnt have quit but would have given up the weekly routine and become a social once in a while golfer.

Now when I have a bad day, instead of having a sook for the rest of the round, I use it to see and test how I can regroup and finish the day from a pretty bad position. Result, I have even more self belief that i can now grind it out respectably whereas in the past it was total capitulation. I still get mad, but can let it go a lot easier now.

The year of the tiger

Good post – I used to think getting mad was bad form and we needed to control ourselves. Although outburst at the expense of others is poor form, I think it’s healthy to get it out and then drop it and move forward. After all, hitting bad shots is expected; we need to find a routine that allows us to deal with them best.

Agreed HP, getting mad shows you care and if dealt with appropriately can be an advantage. Dealt with in appropriately is just offensive.
If any of my playing partners get angry Im fine with a quick dummy spit, swear and even the club helicopter but not the 10 minute carry on..