Pursuing Mastery
Before taking a deeper dive into different golf topics and training advice, I want to bring up the importance of desire and motivation. There are many reasons people want to pursue something. From passion, enjoyment, and fulfillment, to honor, fame and fortune, there are plenty of reasons that drive someone’s pursuits. While the most admirable reason may be the genuine love of the subject such as love of a sport, it doesn’t necessarily mean this is the most helpful reason — for you. “You should say I love golf,” media coaches and golf coaches advised me to say during interviews as I was growing up. But there can be incredible energy and power behind extrinsic motivators such as gaining the admiration of others. Well, initially, anyway.
I started practicing golf 6 to 7 days a week since the age of 7 and a half. I say half because my sister and I quit for about 6 months since it’s so darn hot in Thailand. We were 7 years old and without much tolerance, yet. But when we restarted, we practiced for 3 hours+ almost every day with a Thai coach who worked at our local driving range in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Pro Vit, our first golf coach, had a gentle nature and was a good golfer himself. He kept practice fun by organizing golf games and drills, and let my siblings and I goof off from time to time.
At about 8 and a half years old, my sister and I started competing in junior tournaments around Thailand. The age divisions were typically 10 & under, or 12 & under. A typical field had 3 - 8 players, with us included. My sister immediately started wining these events and I would follow behind, losing by just a few sometimes, and by wide margins at others. It was rare for me to beat Aree at this age. She was a natural athlete, both physically and mentally. Her success also felt like mine so I never felt badly when losing to her — our early success informed me that winning was fun! Being identical twins, we quickly gained attention from local and national press. Winning early and often and being recognized felt exciting. It was a worthy reward for putting in those practice hours. With each passing day, I became more motivated. The cycle of training, competing, and winning is a self-propelling ferris wheel that I could stay on forever.
But as the popular saying goes, nothing lasts forever. As you graduate to higher levels of golf, there is more competition, and you win less often. You are not a worse player and you didn’t lose your skills — you simply win less. If you are motivated by victories only, or getting attention from others, the game becomes less fun, and motivation dips. The problem with external motivators is that it tends to be a powerful driver and an energy drainer, all at once.
Pursuing something of value is already difficult, so it is your job to support yourself mentally and emotionally throughout your journey. It’s something you have to get good at if you want to stay in the game for the long haul. Physical skill alone won’t bring about your best in the most critical moments — moments that often define whether you will accomplish your greatest performance goals. Managing your emotions well is a vital part of scoring consistently well, especially in the toughest events like majors. Winning less frequently taught me how to support myself properly as a competitor. It drove me to change what I enjoyed most about pursuing golf, to find joy in hitting my daily goals, and to celebrate the small victories along the way, especially during practice sessions. I no longer needed to wait until I played well or won tournaments to gain confidence - I learned to practice in ways that boosted my confidence daily. I began to ‘win’ again every day, and became a more complete competitor as a result.
Today I would say my greatest motivation is the joy I get from overcoming challenges. It’s fun to attempt to do hard things. The peace that comes from knowing I gave my best effort is the greatest feeling of all. Looking back at my golf career, this discovery is probably the reason I tend to do better in bigger junior and amateur events where courses and conditions were often more difficult.
I invite you to think about your own biggest source of motivation. Why do you want to be the best golfer you can be? For some of you, your goals may be to try and master the game. Others may be satisfied with breaking a certain score. Just as your goals are personal to you, your reason for pursuing golf will be different. Your main reason is the reason you walk out the door when it’s pouring down rain or it’s 100 degrees outside. Your main reason keeps you standing on the range past the 2nd hour if you still haven’t figured things out for the day. If it is your love and passion for the sport that is wonderful news! If it’s not, you’re not automatically worse off either. But there needs to be a reason — your big why — that drives your work. Even better when the reason comes from within — not dictated by external factors.
