Stupid ball!

I am trapped. Stuck in the flypaper of poor golf habits. I know I can play better but I just don't. It is lack of concentration, of focus. And so I wallow in the mid-80's (and sometimes worse) week after week.

It doesn't just happen with golf. I have gotten in these ruts many times in the past. Especially on the job. My concentration would get poor, I'd start missing clues to the troubles I was shooting. My mind would wander rather than stay focused on the task in front of me. The only place this happened when it didn't matter was school. Concentration was pretty much unimportant there. I could simply drift along. But, back then, I had a good memory. It worked best when I wasn't concentrating.

That's how memory always worked for me. The more I tried to remember, the less I could. the less I tried, the better my memory worked.

This does not happen on the golf course... and didn't at work. I should rephrase that, sometimes clearing the mind and relaxing did improve my performance at work. It improved my perception. But it does not work on the golf course because, while I strongly believe the mind is the absolute ruler of good golf, clearing the mind allows me to get sloppy in physical execution. Focus is paramount. I would say that it is the same for many sports. Also for many professions.

Consider a surgeon, for example. Should he daydream while cutting you open? Should he let his mind wander a bit while he has that scalpel in his hand? Of course not. You don't want to know the OR team is laughing and joking or discussing politics while you are in a drug induced coma as they are clamping arteries and moving organs around.

But I am not a surgeon. I am not even a good golfer. I am just a schlub who is going through a period of unwanted driftiness.