8 Forms of a Champion's Discipline: Part 3

written by Jon Whithaus This is the third part in a series of eight posts that describe the many forms of a Champion's Discipline. These eight forms of discipline have no particular order of priority, but each must be present to perform at a championship level. Discipline #3: Competitive Discipline

1. You must recognize that this is competition, not practice.
2. Compete on every shot.
3. Each shot is a small competition against yourself: (a) To choose a good target; (b) To stay narrowly focused on that target; (c) To attack that target; (d) To react with an appropriate post-shot response that sets the tone for the next shot.
4. A round of golf is made up of 18 unrelated competitions. A win is a par or better. A loss is bogey or worse.
5. Each hole is a new opportunity to win regardless of the result of the last hole.
6. At the conclusion of the round, you should have a win-loss record (for example 14-4). As you advance as a player, you should change the definition of a win/loss on all par 5s: a win is a 4 or less; a loss is a 5 or higher.
7. Compete with passion.