The U.S. Kids World Championship has always been one of my favorite events of the year here in Pinehurst. There’s nothing like watching a seven year old swing with the ease and power of an up and coming Tiger Woods and wishing I could replicate that child’s near perfect swing! My involvement this year, however, was different. Continue reading
Golf is a funny game. Unlike other sports, we golfers are haunted on a regular basis with the “quitting demons.” Why is it that in just about every round of golf or in just about every championship quest a golfer pursues, there is the temptation to quit the game? The thought has never occurred to me in playing volleyball or tennis or in any other sport.
I think it is in the nature of the beast. Without question, golf is the hardest sport I have ever played. When I took up tennis, I could take long layoffs and pick the game back up right where I left off. The same is true for racquetball. But golf? Take some time off and off kiss your game good-bye if you want to play with any consistency.
Today was a real game changer for me because just when I decided to set the game aside for a season, some unsuspecting force came along to open up my mind, release my inner athlete, and get me excited about a whole new pursuit. Oh, gimme a break! Just when I was relishing in the thought of giving myself permission to walk away from the torture and frustration of pressing through to the next level, Frank Lewis had to enter into my life—and give me fresh hope—just went I didn’t want any! Continue reading
Teddy’s Dog Bone Open 2014 Click on the title to the left to see the video for the Dog Bone Open! Sunday, June 30
The U.S. Women’s Open went off without a hitch. The sun and crowds came out. Our anticipated favorite, Michele Wie, won to our delight. I wish I could say the same for my own world as I was hit with an unexpected blow right in the middle of the tournament.
Wednesday afternoon I picked up my dog from my neighbor’s house and noticed he was acting kind of strange. Not wanting to miss my favorite beach music band, The Band of Oz, I quickly fed him and sped off to Southern Pines. Since dance and worry don’t make a good mix, I stayed for just about an hour then came home. Later, I went to give him his last potty break for the evening. As I reached for his collar, without any advanced notice, he turned around and feverously bit me.
Three trips to the vet and a day and a half later, on Friday at 3 pm, I had to put down my beloved American Eskimo Spitz, Teddy-boy. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. He fought a valiant fight against that dreaded disease of diabetes. At fourteen years old, a bacterial infection complicated his already weakened state and when he quit eating, he quickly debilitated beyond hope for recovery.
Death, loss, grief and two more days at the U.S. Open. You wouldn’t think those unlikely dynamics would make good playing partners, but somewhere in the heart of Providence, they did. As a performance coach, I am always thinking about how to accelerate progress in people’s lives. I knew going to the Opens for two more days would tremendously help to keep my mental focus outward. Continue reading
It’s Father’s Day! Impressed upon all our minds and hearts is the now iconic image of Payne Stewart hugging the neck of Phil Michelson upon his 1999 Open win and exclaiming “You’re going to be a father!” Golf and fatherhood. Those two words best describe some of the fondest memories many of us claim to have with our dad. I know they do mine.
My first memory of life was watching our little black and white television with my dad on a Saturday afternoon when I was three years old. I will never forget the image of Arnold Palmer walking up the 18th green, sinking one of his famous putts, and thrusting his arm up in the air in a show of ultimate victory. Dad and I were there in 1973 at Oakmont walking the fairways watching Johnny Miller shoot 63 to make his historic win. I remember my first golf lesson with Alfie Jackson, at Churchill Country Club. Dad was so proud to be there, watching me learn the game for the first time at 14, after 9 years of putting.
The most vivid memory I have of Dad is the first time we played golf together. It was a cold December Saturday in 1973. The snow just began to melt in Pittsburgh and unlike most girls my age who would be running to get their sled, I ran to my dad shouting, “Daddy, Daddy, the snow’s melting. Let’s go play golf!” My dad looked at me like I was nuts, but saw the passion in my eyes and my deep desire to be with him on the course. Continue reading
For years, I have awaited with eager expectation the coming of the Mens and Womens U.S. Opens. Along with thousands of other invested lovers of the game, we have together looked forward to a new experience of golf in our beloved historic Pinehurst. After all, we are known for being the birthplace of American golf and the preservers of all that has gone on before us.
Every now and then, however, you have to break tradition to make room for something brand new. I love that word “new.” The word connotes something fresh, different, innovative, original. It means more than improvement or an added twist. It means something entirely different. I like the word because when you actually encounter something “new,” it also brings along with it a burst of energy. And we can all use a fresh breath of air in our lives can’t we? I don’t mean from time to time, but on a regular basis. Without “new,” life becomes “old.” Even a town can become full of wrinkles as it withers from a lack of oscillation, beholden to the narrow and confined instead of the open and invitational. Oh, yes, even a village has to pulsate with the beat of life. Continue reading
Champion Mindset of the Week: Repeat after me: “I AM a champion! YOU are a champion!”
I often refer to my clients/students when I speak to them as “Champion Marilyn” or “Champion Sue.” I call them by the name that reflects how I see them, their true identity. I believe there is a champion in everyone. It’s a powerful word, isn’t it?
Most people I come across do not see themselves as a champion. When I was working at the Greg Norman CHAMPIONS Golf Academy, I would go out on the golf course and observe twelve 17 year old boys from Mexico play their game. I would observe who would play like a champion and who would not. I would not judge their champion identity from their score, but by how they carried themselves on the course–by how they conducted themselves and by what they demonstrated to me.
One day I was observing Fernando. Watching him play, he looked like he was on the PGA tour. If he hit a good shot, if he hit a bad shot, you could not tell how well or how poorly he was playing, because his emotions were so consistently calm. I was so impressed with him, even though he was not having the best day score-wise. When we got back to the classroom, I said in front of all the other boys, “Fernando, you are such a champion. Today, I saw you behaving like a PGA player out there, I was so impressed.” As I spoke into his champion identity, you could see that he never had anyone tell him what I was telling him about himself. I could see that he was not seeing himself as I saw him, but as I spoke LIFE to him, I could see that he was drinking in affirmation about connecting to his true identity as a champion.
Within a matter of just a few weeks, he went out and won his first tournament. I have to believe by making a deposit of identity affirmation to this young man, he was able to connect to his higher self and began to “play from his spirit.”
This past week I did not qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. I shot two rounds in the eighties. This was a three year goal I had for myself. The good news is, I did not sink in my emotions. There was no despair or negativity whatsoever. Why? Because I had the power of others speaking to my champion identity. I felt so much love and affirmation through my Caddy Club support system which I intentionally created to give myself the encouragement I needed, that when I did not qualify, a wave of love washed any spirit of defeat off of my true champion identity which I define as an overcomer.
There is SO MUCH more to say about my journey that I want to share with you, but for this week, for just today, I want to encourage you to live, work, and breathe from your champion identity—say to yourself outloud, “I am a champion!” and then instead of judging o speaking about that person who you see is not living up to their true champion identity, go speak to the champion in someone else who can’t see what you see in them. Who knows? There may be a first place finisher just waiting to emerge in them as there was in Fernando. And even if there isn’t in the moment, you will call someone else up higher to be their best selves. Isn’t that what we all need a little more of in our world, and what we all crave for, someone else to come along and help wash off the crud of negativity so that our excellent spirit can shine more powerfully?
Inspiring you to hit your best shot, Veronica
I have One More Spot Open- Breakthrough to Your A Game workshop Pinewild Country Club, tomorrow, June 5, 9 to 4 in Pinehurst
Info: http://truechampioncoaching.com/tcc_Breakthrough_to_Your_A_Game_june_5.pdf
Registration: http://truechampioncoaching.com/agame5-14
You never know how stepping out in faith to pursue a championship will end. My quest to qualify for the Women’s U.S. Open this past week ended with a failure to qualify. Or did it? Even though it didn’t look like a score on the card, I did score.
For starters, my brain chemistry actually changed as I was able to walk the daunting eight miles of Carolina Trace without skipping a beat. As a result, I could no longer tell myself that I could not do something that required endurance and stamina because of a former struggle with chronic fatigue. I set a goal and went after it, and re-discovered the power of a worthy goal to accomplish something and move forward. I learned how to overcome obstacles and keep going in a new way. What was most outstanding about the experience, however, was the power of a caddie club to lift my spirits and to immediately wash away all defeating emotions. It was also great to see how many people became excited about golf, whether they played or not.
A caddie club is a group of cheerleaders comprised of friends and family whom you invite into your championship. It is the sixth step in my holistic approach to peak performance system. I believe that competition and achievement are meant to be accomplished from a place of relationship. We all need encouragement, so why not intentionally build into your quest the power of emotional support to keep your spirits positive and to ward off the unrelenting ups and downs of the game.
I call it a Caddie Club because the purpose of a caddy is to carry your bag. Tiger Woods is a great golfer, but you will never see him carrying his own bag. That is the job of the caddie. For you to perform your best, you cannot carry your own burden. You have to be emotionally “cleared” to pursue your goal.
For my Caddie Club, I invited eighteen of my friends to each choose a hole to cover through encouragement and prayer. I would email them an update every week. “I’ll take hole #1!” Judy, my friend from Canada xclaimed, “because I want to see you get off to a great start!” “I’ll take hole #13, because that is the day of the month I got married,” one friend said. “I’ll take hole #5, because I have 5 kids!”
My friend Betse said, “I will cover you on hole #10. I picked that hole because it about making the turn. If you’ve played well on the front nine, you will need to remain focused and continue that good play on the back nine. If you haven’t played well on the front nine, it’s your opportunity to turn things around on the back nine. How you play the 10th hole is crucial in determining your outcome. I also will pray for overall stamina for you as you play 36 holes in one day. I wish you all the best.”
With the power of Facebook, I had people from all over the world sending me their well-wishes, some whom I did not even know! So when it didn’t happen, I was caught by the power of love. All negative emotions were immediately washed away as I felt a tidal wave of embrace from others.
Locally, Caddie Club member #13, Ova Jean Siemens came out, walked the course with her friend Dawn, and treated us all to dinner. Caddie Club member, Penny, came out at 6:30 am to help see me off! Thanks to Kaye Pierson, my wonderful caddy on the course, I not only left experiencing the power of friendship on the course, but have a new friend off the course, too. Caddie Club members Marilyn, Susan, Jan and Dan, provided sponsorship. My brother, Mike, took #18. It was so great to have his support.
What I didn’t expect was how my caddie club helped grow the game of golf: My non-golfing neighbors, Pat and Carol, Caddy Club members on holes #4 and #14, staked themselves out on the ninth hole. “We thought we were in the competition ourselves, it was so exciting,” they told me. Felecia from Texas said, “I felt like I was going through your journey with you. From your weekly caddie club updates, I took your swing-thoughts for success on the course with me and applied them to my work situation. I came to love golf more because of my participation in your caddy club.” “Mom asked me how you were doing on the course all day long,” another member remarked about her non-golfing 96 year old mom.
In addition to the enthusiasm for the game a championship quest can spark in others, the greatest victory was the opening of my heart all my well-wishers produced in me. Sometimes when life knocks you down, your heart can close. Through this experience, I felt my heart opening to life and new possibilities again. And just maybe, that is the Open I really qualified for—an Open Heart to Life.
Much thanks to The Pilot for sharing my story. Please join me at the Pine Crest Inn, Monday, morning June 2, at 8:00 am. Let’s chat!
Veronica Karaman is the author of the forthcoming book, Swingthoughts for Success in Golf and Life. Improve your game on June 5th at her Breakthrough to Your A Game workshop in Pinehurst. Contact her at veronica@truechampioncoaching.com.