������� killer comments . By the end of the hole , my mind had left my body and I also realized that truly I was the only one to blame for the mess I had created . That made me even angrier with myself and after leaving the green I had this horrible feeling that I had blown the tournament away . Most sportsmen have experienced such situations in their playing careers and I had experienced my share of competition crisis . But this was far worse as the tournament had so many important connotations for me . I was feeling quite terrible at that point and realized that I had to take control of myself . Continuing with this state of mind would only lead to more disaster . My mind raced for solutions and came up with a plan of action . I then did something that works for me under pressure . I found a bench to sit on and did some deliberate slow deep breathing to gain some control of my mind and body . I then forced myself to be polite and requested the gentleman who had once again come close to me not to speak with me . I then stepped back behind the tee again and took a few deliberate slow motion swings with soft hands , forcing my body to feel the club and my hands to get relaxed . Before I stepped onto the 7th tee I recalled my friend UttamÊs words of advice which had influenced my playing strategy at Delhi Golf Club during the camp . We were discussing golf during the early days of the camp . As a local DGC player and one of the finest golfers in India , I had a lot of respect for what he had to say . He said that whenever he had a bad hole while playing at DGC , he would force himself to avoid being aggressive with the next hole . He would try and curb the impulse to try
and make a birdie , as that normally led to more dropped shots . Instead he focused more on making a steady par with regulation and conservative play . This was especially so at the Delhi Golf Club where the penalty for waywardness was very high . It was good advice and it did influence my playing strategy . During that month whenever I had a bad hole , I focused very hard on keeping cool and not making any rash decisions on the next hole . I aimed for the centre of the fairway and the green with my shots and trusted my putting to make par . And that strategy had worked successfully and my results had proved that . So I forced myself to remember the times I had faced such situations and had recovered from them by following this strategy and that gave me some confidence that I could handle it . I chose an extra club for the middle of the green , instead of going for the pin cut on the front of the long green . I then continued to breathe deeply while my playing partners hit their shots . When it was my turn , I focused on my routine and rhythm and aimed for the middle of the green . It was a good shot under the circumstances and it ended up about 30 feet from the pin , right in the middle of the green . While walking towards the green , slowly and deliberately , I reminded myself that as long as I stuck to my routine and played each shot one by one , giving it the best , I had the game to finish decently . But it was important that for the next two holes I had to focus on just making sensible pars and no more . On the green , the putt that I faced was quick and would turn from left to right . I told myself that I just needed 2 putts and only had to get the ball close and no more . I concentrated on getting the pace right and watching the ball as I made the stroke . The putt was perfect and found the hole . Birdie . And suddenly I was only 2 over par for the day and not that far behind the leaders . It was definitely one of my most satisfying birdies ever and helped dissipate my anger completely . I continued to play conservatively and made regulation pars all the way till the 13th hole . A „ chipped in ‰ eagle on the 14th brought my score back to par and I finished the day with a round of even par 72 . While signing my score card I realized that I had jumped into the lead by one shot and felt quite proud of myself for the manner in which I had applied myself after the 6th hole disaster . And it gave me the confidence and self-belief that I was good enough to win the next day if I continued in this manner . I did and won both the Individual and the team gold medals the next day . But the defining moment of the tournament , without doubt , was the 7th hole , after the disaster on the 6th . I learnt many lessons that day which have helped me throughout my life . Whenever I recall that day , which I do quite vividly , I realize that if I apply myself I can recover from any situation . Diligent , patient , application and effort and sticking to a strategy always helps . And that strategy needs to allow for disasters and have a plan of what to do when you know that your nerves are going to be jumpy and frayed . As I re-read this article I can think of many more lessons , but also that each reader will draw his own benefits from it . And thatÊs the idea behind the exercise „ proud of myself ‰. I felt quite proud of myself that day .
G o lGolfPlus f P l u s AUGUST JULY 2018 55