Have you ever considered there MAY be a link between Las Vegas and you staying at the same handicap?
I was out in Las Vegas recently - what an incredible place it is. When you describe a hotel as being big and then you go there, you realise the word big isn't big enough.
It is absolutely fascinating to see this world within a world. Each and every hotel has a huge casino that never ever stops. Day and night the wheels just keep rolling. An extraordinary atmosphere is created, no clocks, specific lighting, a constant temperature so you really suspend any notion of time and reality. The outside world is a million miles away. This is your world and the possibilities are endless! The possibility of triumph and extreme disaster.
I spent a good deal of time merely observing, watching the drama unfold as the psyche of human beings and money was revealed. Time and time again at the blackjack table I saw people losing their shirt as they chased and chased the money which was going away from them.
I heard a story about a Chinese gentleman who is currently trying to sue a casino for taking advantage of him whilst he was under the influence of alcohol. He believes he was unfairly treated at the Baccarat table because he had lost his faculties and sense. His loss of faculty and sense cost him $50million. It would be very interesting if that case is upheld!
I then got talking to a professional gambler who came into Vegas on an almost weekly basis. His living was gambling pure and simple.
His insights created a fascinating link between the high rollers and YOUR game of golf.
He was adamant the key to being able to gamble for a living was mental discipline, not positivity or believing in yourself.
Mental discipline as he outlined it was having a clear plan of how much you could AFFORD to lose and how much you would be satisfied to win BEFORE you entered the casino.
The critical key he said was to have the discipline to STICK TO THE PLAN. To walk away if you lost your limit. You had to have the plan in place before you played. Time and time again he explained gamblers just blow out because emotion kicks in and they chase the money. When they lose they think they can get it back and when they win they think it will go on forever. Emotion makes us stupid and POOR.
The link to your golf game?
How many times have you gone out with a plan and just a couple of bad holes or a couple of really good holes and we start doing STUPID things? How often have you chased the money? We hit a few bad ones we think we are useless and a few good ones and we think we are invincible.
That is NOT mental discipline! Create a plan for your game, how you intend to play and realise that the game will do everything it can to upset your plans but the winner in Vegas or on the course sticks with THEIR plan and keeps their mental discipline. As I have often said, there are only two things you are trying to control at golf, THE BALL and YOURSELF.
For more information and to contact Karl Morris visit golf-brain.com
20 October, 2009 | The PGA