[Fred Brattain]

You are on to something here. I read you should "TRY EASY not TRY HARD." It is tough though to not give a crap. We end up WORKING the game instead of PLAYING.

To me getting out of your on way is huge . . . but how do you do it and do it more often?

I've read all the books man and I still get up in the fetal position like a little girl.

Another "solution" that I found interesting was . . . stand behind the shot and ask yourself "How many times out of 10 can I hit hit an acceptible shot in this situation?" Self answers "7 out of 10 times 70%." So why am I nervous about a shot I can execute at an acceptible level 70% of the time? Shouldn't I be just 30% nervous?

Bucket is full of chicken . . . among other stuff.

Worrying 30% is still worrying. In the world of shooting and in agility training (and soon skydiving) I teach a class called "The Art of Getting Out of Your Own Way". When you do that, the RESULT means NOTHING. |The PROCESS is everything. Furthermore, the very existance of worry is the absence of trust. I use "trust" as the swing trigger when I am playing well. Do I ALWAYS remember to do that? No, but when I do, the results are sometimes staggeringly beautiful.

A couple of "tricks" if you will. Have someone else keep score, announce your score to that person when you pick your ball out of the hole and then let it go. If you aren't sitting in a cart staring at the score card, it's easier to forget. Second, go out and play a round of golf from the forward tees with your 5 iron and your putter. There are certain things you simply CANNOT do with those two clubs (like hit is 275 over the lake off a hanging lie) so you don't try. You might find you have a LOT of fun doing this, and what's more, you will learn to trust your decision making process more, because you will HAVE to play by feel.

Obi WunPutt