How Champions Think Ch 14

Patience vs. Impatience in Golf

• Paul Runyan, a respected golfer and teacher, emphasized the importance of patience in professional golf, contrasting with the author's approach of encouraging immediate belief in winning.

Patience in Different Eras

• Runyan's generation approached professional golf like a guild with defined roles (apprentices, journeymen, masters), with a clear understanding of their place and a need to gain experience.
• Current professional golfers often lack this understanding and feel entitled to win immediately; this contrasts with the prior era's expectations that winning would come with experience.
• Differences in early-career expectations for winning led to different approaches in modern and older eras.

When Patience is Valuable

• Patience is a necessary virtue in golf, especially for players who face slow progress or challenging short-game skills.
• Exceptional people are patient when working on a process they believe will improve them, even if results aren't immediate.
• Recognizing when to be patient, and when to not be patient, is crucial for success in golf and other aspects of life.
• Example: a client with good fundamental knowledge of golf but needed to patiently practice his short game before achieving his desired results

When Impatience is Necessary

• Impatience, in the context of golf, is a willingness to challenge limitations and seize opportunities, mirroring the approach taken by successful leaders in other fields like business and politics.
• Modern golf often sees young players challenged by veterans' emphasis on patience, which can lead to feelings of entitlement and potential dissatisfaction.
• Example: golfers who believe they are ready to win on tour and should have more wins.

Patience vs. Impatience in Golf Performance

• The author advocates adjusting game plans based on the nature of the golf course.
• Patient players accept "sucker pins" (challenging shots) and focus on the center of the green, while impatient players aim for these challenging shots. This can lead to potential errors and poor results.

Importance of Understanding the Golf Course

• The golf course is viewed as a challenging entity requiring patience for successful completion, and the strategic execution of shots.
• Players should be patient with the course, and with the shots needed to complete the holes

Other Forms of Patience

• Players can find patience in learning how to trust their skills.
• Example: Golfers who need to improve their shots with particular clubs, or use particular courses, must wait for success to arrive. They must be patient in their efforts to improve their skills, in order to understand their potential.
• Recognizing that results are earned through patience and practice. An exceptional golfer is not born-out-of-the-blue as a skilled player, but must persist in practice and be patient.

Maintaining Confidence and Security

• Confidence is not necessarily consistent with success.
• High-level players must be patient when lacking experience to succeed.
• Patience in golfing is very important for success, and it is necessary to believe results will come.

Learning from Experience

• Patience is learned through the process of improving, and accepting lessons learned.
• Acknowledging mistakes and persistence contribute to patience on the course.