Change

Rob Rashell
Director of Instruction
TPC Scottsdale
Scottsdale, AZ
http://www.robrashell.com 
robrashell@pgatourtpc.com

More Information

I think all of us by nature are adverse to change. We all get comfortable where we’re at, what we’re doing, and the longer we stay in that space, the more difficult any change becomes. Getting better as a golfer is no different.

The one thing that is guaranteed with any venture into improving your game, is nothing. Anyone who’s reading this is probably wondering why someone who teaches golf for a living would write or say something like that. Stay with me.

From what I know about learning and improving, change is something you need in order to ensure a different outcome on the other end. Same in, same out. Different in, different out.

People learn best operating in space that is both difficult and stimulating at the same time. Too difficult, we all shut down, no hope on the other end, too easy, and we’re bored, not challenged enough.

With golf instruction I love giving people information about what’s happening, and let them discover a little bit of the solution on their own. If you discover something or figure it out, you own it, if I just tell you something, it can be more difficult to implement, own.

What I would encourage anyone who wants to improve, make yourself uncomfortable. Work on a little different alignment, one key thought or feeling in a round, and stay with it, explore the good and the bad. Learn. Grow. 

Once you’ve got some guidance or sound advice from any instructor, you’ve got to get uncomfortable and explore. At the end of a round or practice session your mind should be a little bit tired, almost as if you’d taken a test in school. The more you operate on auto pilot, thinking about work, talking on the phone, the less you should expect from getting better. 

Sometimes finding the effective way to do something is to explore the wrong way, knowing that one or two things that are similar, and don’t work, could be strong evidence to lead you to a method that works.  

An upside down way to improve, effective none the less. Get uncomfortable. Challenge yourself. You’ll grow and learn quicker than you ever have.