In which we recognise that the recent, significant improvement of a fellow 'Swindler‘ speaks to the psychology of not giving a fuck.
It’s Eclectic time again at Eastbourne Downs.
A competition where you build your net tally by taking your best score at each hole over eight rounds of golf.
With eight shies at the course, over a three-month period, most of the field will register a par at most of the holes.
So, it stands to reason that the lower your handicap the more birdies you need in order to be competitive.
Hence, Simon, the lowest handicap player in the comp, was overheard declaring:
“I don’t give a fuck about pars. I’m only interested in birdies”.
There wasn’t a shred of arrogance in this statement.
It's just the truth.
When you’re giving shots to everyone else in the field, lots of shots, you've got to go very low.
Pars are taken for granted – birdies and eagles are the ambition at each and every hole.
But the challenge this represents is also where Simon's advantage lies.
It encourages Simon to be almost 100% target focussed.
Fucking obvious?
Ok that might not win February's 'Insight of the month' but...
Let's face it, most of us spend too much time over the ball thinking about the mechanics of ‘how’ rather than the trajectory of ‘where’.
As a result, our best golf, (an all too fleeting visitor), is accompanied by a fair amount of fucking relief, fucking surprise, and fucking good fortune.
Relief that we made a few greens ‘in regulation’.
Surprise that we didn’t ‘three putt’ all round.
We got a bit of luck. It was a 'one off'. Sometimes it’s ‘just your day’.
Meanwhile Simon is playing a different game.
He expects it to be ‘his day’ every fucking day.
In his version of golf he’s not just hoping to hit greens, he’s expecting to get close to the flag.
And when he has a wedge or putter in his hand, he’s visualising the ball dropping in the hole.
Every fucking time.
Ok. Simon plays off a 1 handicap.
No wonder he plays a different game.
Well yeah, but that’s a bit ‘chicken and egg’.
He has a birdie mindset, so he scores low.
Because he scores low, his handicap is low.
Being a low handicapper reenforces the confidence to ‘not give a fuck about pars’ and focus on birdies...
So he scores low...
Simple, Simon?
Fuck no.
Sadly, you can’t just think your way to better golf.
You can arm yourself with a bag full of Dr Bob Rotella’s ‘Thoughts of Confident Golfers’, but you need to put in the hours to get properly good.
Simon knows this.
In June 2022 his handicap had drifted out to 7.6.
So, he went about doing the work to improve.
A lot of his ’hard earned’ was invested in lessons at East Sussex National.
Weekly visits were made to Lottbridge Driving Range to hone his swing.
Lots of practice rounds were organised with the lower handicap players at the Club.
He’s now off a very impressive 0.8 handicap.
I’m sure he’ll be scratch by the end of the summer.
And it’s great to see all that hard work pay off.
It’s just reward for Simon and fucking inspirational for anyone wanting to improve.
He seems to be the embodiment of several ‘motivational’ books that made their way into my library this Christmas.
‘Your 15th Club’ was one of them.
‘Everything is Fucked’ and ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’, were two others.
I’ve not read them fully but the author, Mark Manson, seems to be walking a similar fairway to Dr Rotella. (Bob has an impressive 2 handicap by the way).
His core message is that we should all try and stop putting unrealistic expectations upon ourselves.
Happiness (in most things) is more attainable when we know which things to give a fuck about, and, conversely, when not to give a fuck.
Simon seems to have unlocked this with his golf.
The tuition has paid off. His focus on mechanics takes place unseen by his playing partners.
Practice time is when he gives a fuck about how to swing.
When he comes to play, most of the time, he only gives a fuck about where to aim.
And when that is the focus, the scores and the results tend to take care of themselves.
The experience is far more enjoyable too.
When Simon plays golf it's more like play than the hard work many of us can make of it sometimes.
After all, if you start the round accepting that you’ll hit some bad shots and miss some putts, you’re less likely to give a fuck when you do.
Earlier this week I watched something that encapsulates the same theme.
A screening of the play ‘Dear England’.
It's the story of how, under Gareth Southgate’s leadership, a young England squad were encouraged to play unencumbered by expectation and fear.
Particular focus is given to the dreaded penalty shoot-out.
It’s a great watch for any football fan and heartily recommended by golf101.
The performance by Joseph Fiennes as Southgate is spot on.
Catch it at a cinema if you can.
Personally, I’m going to try and improve this year by only ‘giving a fuck’ at the right time about the right things.
And accept that, as Dr Bob says:
'Golf is not a game of perfect'.
Whatever we do, sometimes shit happens.
Good shots can get a bad bounce.
Decent putts can refuse to drop.
On those occasions we should all try to 'not give a fuck'. (No fucking chance!)
But Gareth you need to know this.
I can't watch England this summer and not care about the result.
It's the Euros.
In Germany.
Kane, Bellingham, Saka, Foden, Grealish...Sweet Caroline...
We've a belter of a chance.
But of course...
Inevitably.
Painfully.
There'll be the odd penalty shoot out to navigate.
Fuck.