[Fred Brattain]

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!

For being Honest and sharing your experiences, failures, triumphs and hopes....

Me? I have what I have identified as an anxiety issue. I am a perfectionist. When I get mad, I fear nothing. But....

I sure as hell fear hitting a bad shot - even by myself on the range. No one watching. Just me. Only me. Shank. I suck. Dont do it again. Dammit, dont! Release!!!!! Shank. Push. Pull. Fade. Hook. Top. Fat, Thin.

Point is...I can tell myself to stay in the moment as much as I want. But you, as well as I, know....especially in a tournament...my worst nightmare...isnt topping it. Its worrying.

So....how do we conquer it?

I have the answer. Anyone else?

And lastly - fo FRED. Thank you. My father was in Nam, as my cousin in Baghdad (recon). I appreciate all you have done - no - sacrificed. I truely do. I hope one day we can meet - only for me to say thank you - and a quick hug. And I am not messing. Anytime you want to talk - 302-299-9466. Anytime - night, day, whenever. My name is Patrick, and I owe you -and gentlemen like you - my freedom. Thank you sir. Sincerely.

Hi Patrick,
Thanks for the thanks. You are WELCOME.

Now, on to the rest. It is CRITICAL that you read Pia Lindstrom's Every Shot Must Have a Purpose. It is also critical that you understand the source of your worry. I suggest (I am not a shrink), that your issue is one of self-image. You are perhaps attaching too much importance to your performance on the golf course or the range. Performance anxiety can cause you to wilt under pressure (sorry couldn't resist)...

Anyway, If you continue to associate your self worth with whether or not you made a good shot or a bad shot, it isn't going to get any better. You need to practice this, and perhaps the way to practice is to practice NOT CARING. Go to the range with a large bucket and play your favorite course in your mind. Hit each shot with full attention and then forget it. Go to a golf course and play 18 holes without every writing down a score. Go to the putting green and hit putts at imaginary holes and don't pay anything more than the slightest attention to whether you even got close or not,.

You are NOT playing for the freedom of the Western World. A week from now no one, including you will ever care what you shot today, or whether you hit one in the water on 15 or whether you topped two drives in a row last Saturday to lose the match by one stroke. NO ONE GIVES A DARN, so why should you?

THE GREAT PLAYERS NEVER WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF THEM, THEIR GOLF SWING OR THEIR SCORE. That is the truth of the matter.

YOU ARE NOT YOUR GOLF SWING, AND YOU ARE NOT YOUR GOLF SCORE. You are a human being with feelings and value far beyond whatever happens with that damn little white ball.

Try hitting balls blindfolded. Have a friend tee them up for you on a mat (so there is some consistency of set up) and hit a large bucket without ever getting to look where the ball goes. Get yourself to the point that you not only can't look at it, but can't possibly be concerned with how it looks, because you aren't going to get to look at it anyway. If you can do that for an hour without ever asking where it went, or taking off the blindfold, you will be on your way to getting past this.

EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE hits it sideways once in a while. I stood at the 17th green at Pebble Beach and watched Jack Nicklaus hit two chip shots from 5 feet off the green because he muffed the first one so badly it barely left its spot. It wasn't a tough shot, he just screwed it up. Walter Hagen (the BEST match play player EVER) said he expected to hit 7 bad shots in every round. So when he hit one, it was just one of those 7.

EVERYONE plays BAD GOLF. Jimmy Demaret, when told that Jack Nicklaus played great golf said, "Don't be stupid, Jack just plays bad golf better than the rest of us."

Take care and quit attaching WHO you are to WHAT your last shot looks like.

Walk In Beauty,

Obi WunPutt