Extraordinary Golf - Daniel Kral

Book Notes

Extraordinary Golf
The Art of the Possible
by Fred Shoemaker Ó1996

Quotes and excerpts from the book interspersed with commentary from Dan Kral

Page XI (foreword) –
…the way you do anything is the way you do everything

…freedom is what turns ordinary into extraordinary. Most people’s lives have long periods of ordinary and short periods of extraordinary, and I would like to help reverse that trend.

Dan Kral
Gal 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free, be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage.” Freedom is a part of our inheritance in Jesus. Freedom from who we think we are puts us on the doorstep of an extraordinary life in God. The more we can understand and embrace the freedom that we have in Jesus, the more we will nurture our seeds of greatness and we will live extraordinary lives.

Page XII (foreword)
[relating to golf] Instead of judging what’s right or wrong, open yourself up to what’s possible.

Dan Kral [relating to life]
We need to work at being open to possibilities – our God is very creative and we need to learn not to put Him in a box.

Page 2
Have you ever taken the time to notice what you bring with you to the first tee? I don’t mean equipment, I mean the things you can’t see – the things inside of you.

Dan Kral
Have you every taken the time to notice what you bring with you when you start your day? I don’t mean material things, I mean the things you can’t see – the things inside of you (i.e. things that you think are true about who you are, but are not really true).

Page 3
[When most people go to play golf they bring these things with them]

uncommitted, except to looking good
2. constantly judging
3. always on the verge of being upset.

Page 4
There is a tremendous freedom in playing a game that you choose to play, rather than one you think you should play. Once you begin to uncover your own personal reasons for being out here, you can use them to form powerful, inspiring commitments that will free you from the constant pressure of ‘looking good’. There are any number of possibilities: playing for enjoyment, to make new friends, to overcome fear, to learn to trust yourself – and you can certainly have different commitments at different times. The important thing is that they are freely chosen and they have value to you.

Page 5
One thing I’ve noticed consistently over the years is that enjoyment in golf always shows up when ‘you’ disappear. When your thoughts aren’t so much about you and your game, the experience is much more joyful.

Dan Kral
One thing I have noticed consistently over the years is that enjoyment in life always shows up when ‘you’ disappear. When your thoughts aren’t so much about you but rather when you are focusing on others and helping others to succeed, life is much more enjoyable.

Page 7
Most people think, ‘When I get my swing down, then I’ll get to all that other stuff (e.g. enjoying the game, looking around, learning about yourself, making friends, enjoying the beauty of the course).’ But the truth is, you are never going to ‘get your swing down’ until you get the other stuff. The other stuff comes first.

My gut feel is that in golf you’re either creating or you’re dying. I think that what makes great players stand out is that they approach all their shots with this same sense of creativity.

Dan Kral
Creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin. They are both processes that are dependent upon each other. In life you are either in a creative mode or a destructive mode. If we focus on our creativity we are headed for an extraordinary life.

Page 9
…the basic key to reading greens is to be alert to and fascinated by what is happening at that moment – to be fully awake.

Dan Kral
Awareness is a key to an extraordinary life. If we are not aware of what is going on, then we are in some kind of sleep state and not living life to its fullest potential.

Page 11
…your future is NOT determined by your past (e.g. a lousy shot you just made). Just because you did something once does not mean that you will do it again. … It IS possible that you could hit an extraordinary shot.

Dan Kral
There are great golf shots inside of me; I just have to learn to let them out.

Have COURAGE to keep your possibilities open.

A simple, courageous change in point of view completely transforms the golfing experience and the person who is playing.

Dan Kral
A simple, courageous change in point of view transforms your life and who you are.

Page 12
I have found that extraordinary people are able to keep these possibilities open all the time. They play a game that is full of promise and excitement. They are a delight to play with, and their learning, performance, and enjoyment of the game go far-beyond that of most people. This point of view is the cornerstone of extraordinary golf. The time between shots is a time to put the past in the past, create a future that is powerful and full of possibility, and live into the future.

Dan Kral
I have found that extraordinary people are able to keep possibilities open all the time. They live a life that is full of promise and excitement. They are a delight to be around, and their learning, performance, and enjoyment of life go far beyond that of most people.

Page 13
…use the time between shots to create a future that is full of exciting possibilities.

Page 14
It’s a beautiful day, and we’re taking a walk in a beautiful garden. That’s what golf really is, and there’s no reason that this wonderful feeling should change just because we happen to have a bag of clubs with us.

Page 27
The triangle of – performance, enjoyment, and learning

While people cite learning and enjoyment as primary reasons for playing golf, the focus almost entirely on performance when they actually play.

The paradox is that too much focus on performance throws things out of balance and lessens your ability to perform well.

Page 28
Learning and enjoyment are the foundation for good performance – they always come first.

Page 29/30
What do I really want [from a tournament round of golf]… for the first time in my life I realized what I really wanted was to play a round of golf without fear. Just once I wanted to be able to tee it up and not worry about the consequences, what people would say, what the papers would say. I just wanted to play and let it go every time.

Dan Kral
I want to live my life one day at a time free from fear, worry, and doubt. I want to live free from what people think, what people say. In order to live my life one day at a time with freedom I have to be able to detach myself from my circumstances (what those around me are doing, saying, and thinking).

Page 30
The desire for approval and the fear of embarrassment are just flip sides of the same record.

Page 31
Bringing our golf anxieties to light has the same effect; it can free us from them.

Dan Kral
Bringing our life anxieties to light has the same effect; it will free us from them.

Fears in golf are like clouds: They seem solid and forbidding from a distance, but when you get close they are nothing but mist. And when you break through them, the sun really shines.

Dan Kral
Fears in life are like storm clouds: They seem solid and foreboding from a distance, but when you get close they are nothing but mist. And when you break through them, the sun really shines.

We confuse the goal of the game, which is scoring as low as possible (winning), with the purpose of the game, which we decide for ourselves.

Dan Kral
My goal is to play golf without fear.
My goal is to live life without fear.
My goal is to live my life with joy and freedom

Page 35
Play a game [of golf] that you want to play. Play a game that gives you joy and satisfaction and makes you a better person to your family and friends. Play with enthusiasm, play with freedom.

Dan Kral
Live the life that you want to live. Live a life that gives you joy and satisfaction and makes you a better person to your family and friends. Live with enthusiasm, live with freedom.

Page 37/38
Every person’s culture is, essentially, a deep, ingrained point of view. Communication between cultures is often difficult because it can be hard to see things from a perspective other than your own. We need to see the limitations of our own cultural point of view and realize that what we take for granted may not be the only way of looking at things. This awareness can help free you from the powerful pull of your own culture and help make another point of view possible. Cultures are like magnets that draw us into a particular way of acting and thinking. Until we can see the limitations of our own culture, we will often act in ways that are both predictable and intolerant.”

Dan Kral
Our self-definition is, essentially, a deep, ingrained point of view. We are moving toward our God-definition, which is also a point of view or perspective but from above. The process of changing our self-definition to our God-definition is a cross-cultural assimilation experience. In order to understand where we are going we need to understand where we are to begin with. We need to identify the world we are presently living in. As we learn who we think we are, our point of view of the world (our own culture), then we can start to learn where our world view differs from the view of who we are from above, our God-definition. If we are going to make a leap from one culture to the other we need to understand what we are leaping from and what we are leaping to. For some people the journey is one they have already been on and they will be continuing on the journey. For some, the journey will be an entirely new path – one they did not know existed. The important thing is not where you are in the journey but that you either start on this journey, get back on the path the journey takes, or continue on the path. Your place on the path is not as important as the fact you are on the path.
To understand that our self-definition is a culture and that as a culture we need to identify the limitations of our own point of view. Only by identifying the limitations we have put on ourselves (or have allowed others to put on us) and being aware of them can we start the process of freeing ourselves from the powerful pull these limitations have been in our own lives. Our self-definition is like a magnet that draws us back to the culture we are “comfortable” with. Until we see the limitations we have embraced we will often act in ways that are predictable and intolerant.

Page 42
You cannot fix your golf swing unless you know what your golf swing is. Awareness is the only thing that allows for development.

Dan Kral
You cannot fix your life or anything in your life unless you know what is going on in your life. If you only know the symptoms of what is going on and not the root cause, you will be trying to change what is wrong – in vain. Before something can be fixed, you need to know what the problem is – and the only way to identify the problem is through awareness, which includes hearing from God.

Page 42
The new culture say this: ‘There is something going on in my golf swing, and I must be aware of it.’ And the best way to become aware of what you are doing is not to fix it. That’s right, just leave it alone for a while, stop changing it, and simply take a look at what’s there.

Page 43
When people become more aware of key areas of their swing, their shots become more consistent. And this consistency is the beginning of great improvements. It’s almost like magic. For the longest time I couldn’t explain it, but I realize now that increased awareness allows the body’s natural instincts to come into play, and these instincts make the swing more powerful and efficient. Awareness thus leads to improvement.

Page 46 – Learning Possibilities
Be aware of the ingrained habits, the powerful pull of the old culture beginning to kick in. This awareness is the first step in being free of all that.

Dan Kral
If we are going to be free we have to be aware of what is holding us back; holding us in bondage.

What we have tried to do to change is to change our behavior. The God way is to start to be aware of why you act the way you do. If you can be aware of who you perceive yourself to be – you are on the road to the Seeds of Greatness (the possibilities) that are inside of you. If we are going to be truly free – we need to be aware of what is holding us back; holding us in bondage. We need to be open to letting our guard down, humbling ourselves, and letting the awareness happen.

Page 47
I have noticed that the people who learn quickly and who play exceptional golf have something in common. Like all extraordinary and creative people, they look and feel for what’s possible, instead of working from the point of view of ‘something’s wrong.’ Unlike others, they don’t waste a lot of time and energy in judging everything. They do not look for what is right or wrong, but simply for new possibilities. And they find them.

Page 48
Treat each shot as a new possibility – don’t judge it. If you must evaluate your performance, rate the quality of your awareness. Use a 1 to 10 scale, where 1 is low awareness and 10 is high.

Page 49
Every culture is like a pair of glasses that colors the way you see the world.

Dan Kral
We don’t see the world as it is; we see the world through who we are.

There is no freedom in formula. There is no satisfaction in feeling that something is wrong all the time. There is no joy in a continuous struggle against yourself.

The culture of extraordinary golf is one based on possibility.

Dan Kral
The culture of extraordinary life is one based on possibility.

Page 50
Concentration is the ability to focus your attention on that which you choose for as long as you choose.

Page 51
It’s fair to say that anyone who can keep his or her mind focused for two or three seconds will be an excellent golfer.

Page 58
…there are levels of awareness and knowledge much deeper than those of the conscious mind. It is possible to concentrate fully on one thing, and yet still be able to do something else.

Page 59
Concentration is, in a sense, nothing. And nothing can help your golf game.

One of the reasons golf is so popular, I think, is that it requires a different pace and frame of mind than our regular lives. It’s a refreshing change from what we get day to day. But the fact that society’s training counteracts that of golf is a problem.

Page 59/60
The calm and focused state of mind that is necessary for good golf is hard to develop nowadays. But when it is achieved, it can have benefits that extend far beyond your golf game. I believe that the real purpose of games is to develop skills that will be useful in life, and golf is a perfect example. The ability to concentrate that you can develop through golf can be tremendously valuable in just about anything else you do. If all you get out of golf is an increased ability to concentrate, it will have been worth it.

Page 66
I have found that very few people are capable of even imagining themselves doing extraordinary things, and thus resign themselves to mediocrity.

Page 68
[Two themes for extraordinary golf]

Your instincts are extraordinary, and basically you’ve gone against them from the time you started golfing.
When Michelangelo created David, he went to a block of marble and removed everything that wasn’t David – he added nothing; great golf is likewise a process of removing the interference you’ve put on yourself, almost from the very first day.

Dan Kral
When Michelangelo created David, he went to a block of marble and removed everything that wasn’t David – he added nothing; a great life is likewise a process of removing the interference you (and others) have put on yourself.

Page 69
Great golfers are people whose natural (club throwing) swings are very similar to their regular swings.

Page 73
From practically the first time we played, most of us, in a sense, have been hoodwinked into believing that the golf ball is the target.

Page 74
The body’s instincts are very wise and they will do whatever best achieves the given objective. We just need to be aware of what objective we give them.

Page 76
In the club-throwing exercise we change the target to what it really is in golf – out there. The ball is simply something that the swing passes through on its way toward the target. And with the new target, the body’s instincts hold true. The resulting swing matches exactly what is necessary to produce the maximum force to propel an object forward.

Contrary to most current teaching beliefs, I have seen evidence for golf learning to be an all-at-once phenomenon.

Page 80
What changed the swing [when club-throwing] was not ‘doing’ something different. This is the most important point of the entire exercise and of all my teaching. The changes came about because of a new point of view, essentially a new way of ‘being’. Given the new point of view, the actions changed naturally, smoothly, and all at once, not piece by piece. Let me repeat with emphasis: Extraordinary changes come from a new point of view – a new way of being. In this, as in all aspects of the game, ‘being’ precedes ‘doing’.

Almost all golfers work from the opposite direction. They focus on the endless details of the swing, which are actually the results of other things. They treat the secondary events as if they were primary causes… The details cannot be ignored, of course, but in their proper perspective they are much easier to understand and manage.

Dan Kral
Almost all people try to fix things in their lives by changing their behavior – if I just use this technique or that technique my life will be better. But their current behavior is a result of their self-definition. They treat secondary events (behavior) as primary in order to get results. The behavior cannot be ignored but if they come from the proper perspective, the proper definition of who you are (your God-definition) then the behaviors are much easier to understand, learn, and manage.

Page 82
My definition of a breakthrough is the moment that truly alters a person’s perception.

The club throwing exercise is a true breakthrough for most people. There are two main reasons why it has such a powerful effect.

…it shows people that they have strong natural instincts for golf.
…the club throwing swing is so dramatically different from the normal swing.

The key to learning is to be aware of differences.

Page 83
Achieving breakthrough is one thing, sustaining them is quite another.

Dan Kral
Having a head knowledge of who we are in Jesus is one thing. Making it a part of our lives (a heart knowledge) is quite another.

Page 85
The club-throwing exercise, I believe, allows people to experience their natural swing. This is the swing that your body, in all its wisdom, knows is the most efficient and powerful. This is your instinctive swing; in a sense, it’s a part of who you are. This is the swing that you do when you don’t think about it, when you don’t get in your own way. Either you have self-interference, or you have this natural golf swing.

Dan Kral
When you are not in a situation where you have to produce, you revert to the true seeds of greatness that are inside of you. This might be in a social situation (where you are comfortable and there is no self imposed pressure to be anyone except who you really are) or in your imagination (going through what you would do in a situation in your mind), but it is a glimpse of who you really are (your God-definition). This is who you are when you don’t think about it, when you don’t get in your own way. The goal is to identify the self-interference (coming from our self-definition); it is the start of the process.

Page 88
When you don’t have to think about it [your natural authentic golf swing] you can do it over and over again. The regular swing is a different story. When the golf ball is there, the whole self-interference package – the hopes, worries, and fears; the thoughts on how to and how not to; the woulds, the coulds, and the shoulds – is there too. The resulting swing not only varies dramatically from the natural swing, but it varies in an inconsistent way… When you get in your own way you mess yourself up, and you do it a little bit differently each time.

Dan Kral
In day to day life – our relationships, our jobs, we usually bring with us our self-definition package – the hopes, worries, and fears, the thoughts on how to and how not to; the woulds, the coulds, and the shoulds is there too. The results we get will not be to our potential – they will be held back – always held back by the amount of self-definition we have in our lives (our perception of who we are). Our goal is to be free from our self-definition and enter the freedom of our God-definition and to make that the primary definition operating in our lives. My friend Joe has a sales ability that is a part of who he is deep down inside. In a non-pressure sales situation Joe is a great salesman. He can sell anything. But when the “golf ball” of a real selling situation is placed before him in which he needs to use his God given ability, all of the self-interference – the hopes, worries, and fears; the thoughts on how to and how not to; the wouldas, the couldas, and the shouldas come to the surface and tie Joe up on the inside. This self-interference has both mental and physical manifestations and can make a wreck of a person in short order. For many of us, when we don’t have to think about what we are doing, our God-definition surfaces and we get a glimpse of our potential in God. The challenge is always increasing our God-definition and decreasing our self-definition.

Page 89
The lesson is clear: Don’t try to imitate someone else’s swing and timing; look for your own. How do you do this? Through awareness, which is what this book is all about.

Dan Kral
Don’t try to imitate someone else’s greatness; search for and discover your own. The only way that we are going to start to discover our own greatness is to be aware of what is blocking us from that greatness. Awareness is a key to unlocking the greatness that is inside of us.

Page 91
Most [golf] swing problems occur in the blind spots. Yet when people want to fix a problem, they look only in the areas of which they are aware. They can’t look in the blind spots because they don’t even know the blind spots exist.

Dan Kral
Most problems in life occur in our own blind spots. If we could see our own blind spots, they wouldn’t be blind spots. We need help to see our own blind spots. We need to be able to humble ourselves and become vulnerable to allowing both God and others to speak to us about our blind spots. We can start the process of discovering our own blind spots by making a conscious effort to be aware of how we act differently in different situations. When we start the process of being aware of what we are doing and how we are acting in different situations, it opens the door to start discovering our own blind spots. We need to observe and be conscious that we are acting differently in similar situations and then ask the all-important question… Why are we acting differently? If we can start to discover the “why” of our different actions and thoughts, we are on the road to awareness.

Page 92
The path of awareness leads you toward your instincts. It leads you toward the things you do naturally. In a very real way, it leads you toward yourself – toward who you really are.

Once you begin to get in touch with your instincts, you begin to realize the folly of trying to go against them.

If a golfer has a blind spot at the beginning of the downswing in the full swing, he will have a similar blind spot when chipping or putting. Accordingly, increasing your awareness of a blind spot in one type of swing can help in all your swings. The more you fill in the blanks in your putting stroke, for example, the more it will help your full swing – and chipping – and vice versa. When you work on anything you work on everything.

Dan Kral
If a person has a blind spot in his life in one area (e.g. loving his wife), he will have a similar blind spot in similar areas (e.g. loving his children, loving his parents, loving God). Bringing a blind spot to the light and then increasing your awareness of a blind spot in one area of your life will help in all similar areas of your life. When you work on anything you work on everything.

Dan Kral
I have a natural swing and natural timing; I need to be aware of both.

Page 92
The path of awareness leads you toward your instincts. It leads you toward the things you do naturally. In a very real way, it leads you toward yourself – toward who you really are.

Dan Kral
The path of awareness leads you towards your own Seeds of Greatness. It leads you toward who you really are, your God-definition.

Page 97
What I am after here is genuine lasting improvement in your golf game, and that doesn’t happen overnight.

Dan Kral
What I am after is genuine, lasting improvement in my life…and that doesn’t happen overnight.

Page 97
As long as you play golf, there will be a relationship between you and the game itself. The kind of relationship you have and how you view it will greatly affect your learning, performance, and enjoyment of the game.

Dan Kral
As long as you are living, there will be a relationship between you and life itself. The kind of relationship you have with life and how you view it will greatly affect your learning, performance, and enjoyment of life. It will greatly affect how you nurture your Seeds of Greatness and how you come in to your own God-definition of who you really are.

Page 98
The real questions about your relationship with golf are those that will be somewhat familiar to all of us: Is this just an affair or do you really care about the game? Are you involved only for what you can quickly get out of it, or are you willing to put in time and effort to make the relationship work?

Dan Kral
The real questions about your relationships (i.e. your relationship to God, your relationship to your parents, your relationship to your spouse, your relationships with your children, your relationships where you work, your relationships at church) are those that will be somewhat familiar: Are you satisfied with your life as it is today? Are you only willing to make changes if they are quick and pain free, or are you willing to put in time and effort into long term change that will bring you to a place of not only knowing who you are in Jesus in your head, but knowing who you are in the very depths of your being and being able to live your life, walking in your God-definition and having deeper more meaningful relationships than you thought possible?

Performance – Enjoyment – Learning

Page 98
The kind of relationship you have with the game of golf and how you view it will greatly affect your learning, performance, and enjoyment of the game.

Dan Kral
The kind of relationship you have with life and how you view it will greatly affect your learning, performance, and enjoyment of your life.

I intend to be with the game [of golf] for a long time, so I’m interested in methods and ideas that will help me achieve real growth and improvement, not matter how long it takes. And the wonderful thing is, with that attitude it doesn’t take so long.

Dan Kral
I intend to be with and at the game of life and life itself for a long time, so I’m interested in methods and ideas that will help me achieve real growth and improvement, no matter how long it takes. I am committed to knowing my God-definition in the depths of my being and living that definition in all aspects of my life. And the wonderful thing is, with this attitude it doesn’t take so long.

Page 99
As I mentioned in the beginning of this book, to get the most out of what I say here you need to broaden your perspective – instead of reading small, read big… In your relationship with golf, take the long view. Make it deep, make it solid; the game is worth it and so are you.

Dan Kral
If you are going to make improvements in your life, if you are going to embrace and nurture the Seeds of Greatness God has given you – you need to broaden your perspective. Instead of reading small (looking for a quick fix) you need to read big (looking for long term investments that will pay long term dividends and increase your wealth as a person). In your relationship with the life God has given you, take the long view, the eternal view. Make your commitment deep and make it solid. Living in your God-definition is worth it. You are worth all of what God created you to be.

Page 101
…the word ‘educate’ comes from the Greek word meaning ‘to lead forth’. It’s original connotation was helping to bring out what was inside – working from the inside out.

Page 102
…it is clear that the innate abilities of each golfer are really extraordinary.

Dan Kral
Being created in the image of God, it is clear that the innate abilities of each person are truly extraordinary.

The genius resides in the student, not the coach. The coach’s primary job is to help the student become aware of that genius and remove the barriers that hinder it. A successful coaching session ends with the student trusting him or herself more than the coach.

I believe that the ideal coach acts as a clear, nonjudgmental mirror that reflects what really happens when you swing a club.

Dan Kral
I believe that the ideal life coach acts, to the best of his or her ability, is a clear, nonjudgmental mirror that reflects what happens in life situations.

Page 103
A coach believes in the learning abilities of the student and is committed to helping the student get the most out of those abilities.

When you make judgments, you don’t see what is there, rather you see what you think should be there. Making a judgment means, among other things, that you have removed your attention from the present in order to recall the idealized image to which the comparison (judgment) is being made. Complete awareness requires that you keep your attention fully focused on the present.

A mirror that gives the truest reflection is clear and smooth. A mirror that is clouded or bent will give a distorted view.

Page 104
A coach is a person who knows what you want and helps you get it.

Page 105
As coaches we need to constantly make sure the agendas are appropriate for the students.

Page 109
There is a part of us that wants to control things, do more, make things happen. But think about your own instances of extraordinary play and descriptions you’ve read of others. Isn’t the dominant experience of extraordinary play one of NOT controlling, of trusting yourself and letting go? Coaches also need to let go and trust themselves and the learning process. My associates and I are continuously working on the same issues as our students and we see this parallel experience as a key factor in keeping our coaching vital and effective.

Dan Kral
We need to learn to not have the need to be in control. We work on freeing people up from control (to let go and let God), but we need to parallel that work with keeping ourselves freed up to let go and let God even as we teach these things to others. It is an on-going process for both coaches/counselors and students/counselees. We need to understand that in a position of coach/counselor we will never arrive – we may just be a few steps ahead of someone else on the journey of life, but we also need to realize that on another aspect of life our student/counselee may be a few steps ahead of us. I Corinthians 13 says “for now we know in part” – we all have a part of knowledge, but no one has it all (except God). Whatever position we are in, we need to be open to what others (“above” us, our peers, or “below” us) have come to know and be always willing and able to learn from them as they learn from us. The keys to coaching/counseling are to ask questions and inspire, develop and draw out; to help each other (as coach/counselor and student/counselee) grow together.

Dan Kral
All human beings possess an amazing and highly developed learning system, the product of being created in the image of God.

Page 110
When you’re practicing – coaching yourself – focus on being aware of what you’re doing and of the results your actions produce… This book is really about coaching yourself. It’s based on the simple premise of asking, “What was I aware that I did?” and then asking “What did I actually do?” until the answers are the same.

Dan Kral
If we are aware that we can coach (counsel) ourselves then we will have a different focus. Our goal is to match our awareness with what we do. It is a way to self-discover blind spots in our lives (with help from the Holy Spirit). If we do something and are not aware of why we did what we did, we are on the verge of something. The mere fact of noticing that we cannot correlate what we do with what we are aware of is a trumpet call that we can bring a blind spot to the light. The process may not happen all at once, but when you start the process, you have the opportunity to discover an area in your life that may need some work and then be able to work on it. The goal is always being free in Jesus to be all that God created you to be.

Page 110
It helps to have an extra pair of eyes for this process, and that’s where coaching others to coach you comes in. Again, the basic instruction is simple: You say what you experienced, the other person says what he or she saw. Just about anyone can help you with this, and I often find that it works better with someone who doesn’t know the game very well; that person is less likely to give judgments and suggestions that could cloud the mirror. The goal is for the other person to simply reflect what he or she sees.

Three rules for coaching
1.     Coach only when asked.
2.     Coach only what you are asked to coach.
3.     Coach only for a specific amount of time.

Page 121
It’s who you are that makes the difference.

Page 123
I began to see what fear was doing to my life – it was killing me. I was only twenty five, but in a way my world was closing down, and I was slowly dying. I realized that I was becoming the type of person I had always joked about: the analyzer, the worrier, the talker – not the doer.

Dan Kral
Most people don’t ever realize that their life has been taken over by a self-definition that is driven by fear. Satan has one goal and that is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10a). It is Satan that has been whispering to us for years. It is ultimately Satan that has created and then nurtures our self-definition. Satan’s plan for the definition we have of ourselves is one that will steal our God-definition and replace it with a definition that will thwart any progress we try to undertake.

Page 124
It became clear to me that fear is not a set of physical sensations but rather the interpretation that we make of those sensations. And as I realized that if we ourselves are the ones making the interpretation, then we must also have the power to make a different one.

We live in a society in which the pursuit of comfort – and the avoidance of discomfort [pain] is deemed a most valuable goal. But is comfort what we really want?

Dan Kral
Character is not formed in the flower gardens of life. Character is formed on the battlefield of life. Character is formed between the hammer and anvil of life.

Comfort and complete aliveness don’t always go together. Learning and growth require a willingness to explore and take risks, which often leads to an initial feeling of discomfort [pain] and confusion. We are conditioned to label feelings of discomfort [pain] as undesirable, yet the best things in life always make us feel somewhat uncomfortable at first.

Page 125
Fear limits our possibilities. The Art of the Possible consists of recognizing fear and not being stopped by it.

Regarding fear…
…in all non life threatening situations in my life – and golf is certainly one – fear has never done me any good. Fear has not given me safety or learning. My intelligence [wisdom and understanding] has done that. Fear has not protected me from danger, it IS the danger. Fear is simply a subjective interpretation. I know now that the sensations and thoughts I once labeled as fear actually mean I am getting close to an important discovery, and that I should keep going.

Joshua 1
Be strong and courageous.
Be strong and courageous.
Be very strong and courageous.

Fear shuts down your life. It will not even allow you to attempt things. If you can see fear for what it is and keep going despite it, you can begin the learning process.

Dan Kral
If you look fear in the eye – it will diminish. If you ignore fear – it leaves like an ignored, unwelcome guest.

Page 126
Courage will get you past the fear, but courage itself is not enough to keep the fear from coming back. Unless what you are doing becomes absolutely trustworthy, there will always be the potential for doubt and fear to recur.

Dan Kral
There is a direct correlation between the degree that we are able to trust God with our lives and the freedom that we experience in our lives.

Page 127
The ability to experience – to be aware and to feel – is what creates trust. If something is only in your head and not in your body, you don’t own it and you can’t really trust it. [we have to own the pain we are in]

Dan Kral
If people don’t own their pain, they have no motivation to change. If you tell them they are in pain, but they do not own it themselves by telling you what pain they are in, you are not going to be able to obtain any kind of meaningful change. People have to own their pain.

The only way you can really trust your [golf] swing is if you can sense what is happening with it. The only way to develop this sense is to swing with a speed and a force that you can be aware of – never swing faster or harder than you can feel. Once you swing and you have no idea what’s going on, the words arise in your head that say ‘golf is difficult’.

It ain’t real if ya ain’t got the feel.

Page 128
Being able to sense things as they happen is the basis for trust.

Page 128/129
I play better golf than most people because I am aware of things that they are not aware of, and I feel things they don’t feel. I sense distinctions in the full swing, in chipping, and in putting that they don’t. These distinctions could exist for them, but they stay asleep while they swing and they don’t experience what I do… I sense how I make my mistakes, what makes the ball go left or right, what makes it go long or short, what makes a solid hit. These distinctions are what build trust. You will never really trust your swing if you can’t feel it. That which is trustworthy shows up in its entirety, without any major blind spots.

Page 129
It’s not because I have more skill that I play better, but because I am more aware. Imaging going to the practice range with the idea that “I will improve if I become more aware of feelings and distinctions than when I started.” Practicing becomes very simple. The object isn’t so much to hit good shots but to really sense what’s going on; the club going up, dropping and turning, moving through impact, following through… As long as you’re thinking about what to do, it’s very difficult to sense what’s there. Awareness comes in the absence of trying to do things.

Trust comes from feeling things in their entirety, and then believing in the reliability of what you have felt. Once you experience this, and realize how good it feels, you will have a strong motivation to keep at it.

Page 130
Becoming aware of these differences – these distinctions – is what learning is all about. Swinging with confidence and trust is a whole new and wonderful way to play the game, and once you start there’s no stopping you. Trust me. No, trust yourself.

Page 135 – regarding competition
By making the success or failure of the situation dependent on something that is out of your control, you put yourself in a very vulnerable and pressure-filled situation.

…a golfer’s experience consists of a triangle of performance, learning, and enjoyment. If these elements are in balance, they all work well. But if they are out of balance, each one suffers. During competition most people focus on the results of their performance and ignore the enjoyment and learning aspects.

Page 136
The secret to competing successfully is being aware that the games of learning and enjoyment are under your control and winning them will give you the best chance of winning the scoring game, since it will ensure your best performance.

Dan Kral
One of the secrets of a successful life is being aware of learning and enjoyment and employing them in your life along with what you do. If you can embrace learning and enjoyment as life long endeavors, you will be on the path to embracing your best performance in whatever you are doing.

Page 137 (regarding competition)
Staying with your original goal is crucial for good competition, and like most other worthwhile endeavors it requires commitment.

The default commitment that usually predominates is the desire for other’s approval, the desire to ‘look good’.

Dan Kral
We need to understand that unless we make conscious decisions away from the status quo of our lives, we will be destined to make default decisions to stay in the status quo of our lives. If we are going to live extraordinary lives, we need to make decisions that will get us there. Default decisions are not good enough. We need to be very conscious about the decisions we make.

Page 138
Consider this possibility for transforming your approach to competition.
1. Bring your commitments to light and find out what’s really going on with you.
2. Determine what benefits you would like to get from competition and decide what commitments you need to make to get those benefits.

I started with the idea of changing who I was by changing my commitments, and maintaining this focus was key to making the process successful.

Worthwhile Goals
1.     Be a courageous competitor – facing my fears
2.     Be able to handle upsets with calmness and maturity
3.     Believing in my abilities and letting go
4.     Keeping an open heart

Page 139
People who believe that by winning they elevate themselves and diminish their opponents are committing themselves to a lifetime of stress and pressure in competition.

Dan Kral
The world is full of people that think that success is for them if they elevate themselves and crush their opponents. They have never learned that true success comes when you focus on helping those around you to succeed. When you do this, your success just happens.

In my opinion people who harden their hearts to their opponents and have little appreciation and compassion have already lost.

Dan Kral
In my opinion people who harden their hearts to God and to people around them and have little appreciation and compassion are already losing at the game of life.

My goal is to become a person who does not evaluate others (or myself) by a score, a person who competes with his heart wide open and with a joyful spirit. I know that if I achieve this goal I will have already won, no matter how the scoring results may turn out.

Dan Kral
Would you rather take home a great score or a great experience. Although you may end up with both, concentrating on having a great experience is a sufficient goal in and of itself.

I believe that the true value of competition lies in the growth that it inspires in the competitor.

The real contest is not you versus another but you versus you – your old self becoming a new self, and the struggle that this type of change brings.

Dan Kral
The real contest in life is not you versus another, but you versus you – your old self definition becoming a new God definition – replacing truth with TRUTH, and the battle that this type of understanding and commitment brings.
NOTE: truth is what we perceive to be true – TRUTH is what is really true.

Page 141/142
Consider:
·        the possibility of using competition to become a person of great character, full of integrity, open hearted, and joyful
·        making your motivation ‘what kind of person can I become through entering in this competition’ instead of ‘It’s important that I win’
·        the point of view of who you are – not the point of view of what you want

Experience tells me that if you run your life by what you want, you will always feel a lot of pressure and anxiety. But if you run your life by who you are – a person of character – and accept what that gives you, I believe that you will feel much joy and will experience much growth during competition. And you will look forward to competition because it gives you great opportunity to learn not only about your golf game, but also about the person you are.

Dan Kral
Experience tells me that if you run your life by what you want (the love of material things/money), you will always feel a lot of pressure and anxiety. But if you run your life by who you are – a person of character and integrity – and accept what that gives you (the love of wisdom and understanding), I believe that you will feel much joy and will experience much growth during your life including competitive situations. And you will look forward to competition because it gives you great opportunity to learn not only about life, but also about your self definition and your God definition.

Page 143
Extraordinary people live their lives backward. They create a future, and then they live into it.

It has been my experience that people that play an extraordinary golf game and who improve extraordinarily live their lives in the opposite way [living into a future they have created].

Page 144
I am absolutely sure our past has very little to do with how we play golf on any given day.

Dan Kral
We are not slaves to our past. In Christ we have been freed to be able to live into the future and create possibilities as we go.

By this time, I had become aware that my future, the one that I had created for myself and was living into, was full of the possibility that my golf could be magnificent.

Page 145
I was living in the possibility that I could play magnificent golf. This wasn’t positive thinking, really, but rather a simple act of keeping that possibility open and alive.

Dan Kral
I can live in the possibility that I can have a magnificent life. This isn’t positive thinking, really, but rather the simple act of keeping the possibility of magnificence alive and open before me.

[after hitting a bad shot into a clump of trees…] “…for the first time in my life, I actually understood that if I could recreate the future – the possibilities of magnificence – right there, right then, it would be the most courageous act I could do in the game of golf. I realized that after I had hit a poor shot I could go into my usual routine of worry and upset, or I could say to myself ‘It is possible that I could play extraordinary golf starting right here.’

I saw that re-creating a magnificent future was real courage.

Page 146
For once I was able to leave my past in the past and not be bound by what it told me I could and should do. I created a new future for myself and lived into it all throughout that magical round.

Having a future that inspires you and gives you possibilities – that literally gives you life – has a tremendous impact on what you are doing at any moment. On that day in Santa Cruz, my furture didn’t just change my actions or give me a few new choices, it completely altered my quality of life in that moment. I felt tremendously free with a wonderful sense of unpredictability and adventure. The future I was living into altered the person I was being and this change of being caused my actions to shift naturally and joyfully. It’s almost as if I had said to myself ‘Suppose I’m not bound to my past. What kind of a future would I like to create for myself?’

Creation means calling forth something from nothing. It has nothing to do with your circumstances. Extraordinary people are not bound by their circumstances, they are able to create their lives anew each day. Yet we all have this ability all the time.

Dan Kral
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). If we have faith, all things are possible with God. We are not bound by our circumstances, but are truly free if we know the Truth.

Page 147
Ordinary, I believe, simply means letting your past create your future, though most people don’t realize that this is what usually happens. I know very few golfers who have a future that truly inspires them. They live and play with lots of hopes, but in truth expect the past to dictate what happens. They repeat the past over and over again.

Dan Kral
Ordinary, I believe, simply means letting your past create your future, though most people don’t realize that this is what usually happens. I know very few people who have a future that truly inspires them. They live their lives with lots of hopes, but in truth expect the past to dictate what happens. They repeat the past over and over again.

Page 148
…having a predictable future is dispiriting

What would it be like to create a future that enlivened and inspired you, and to be able to live into that future? When it comes to being extraordinary, it’s not what you do that makes a significant difference, it’s the person you are. And this sense of being is given to you by the future that you create.

Page 149
…there is a great difference between possibilities and expectations…

Possibilities imply a free range of outcomes, any one of which could occur. There will certainly always be outcomes that are more desirable than others, but therein lies the Art of the Possible. Becoming aware of the vast range of possibilities, and then accepting with grace and maturity those that occur while still keeping open the full range requires skill, courage, and a spirit of adventure, but it is indeed possible and well worth it. Your very future depends on it.

Page 150
If a future has real possibilities it pulls us toward it. If it is just a fantasy, it has no real connection with us. If a future truly enlivens and inspires us, then it is the right one.

Extraordinary people live their lives backward. They stand in their future and determine how they would like their life to be. This vision of their future gives them a way to be in the present, and their actions spring naturally from this sense of who they are. Ordinary people simply live their past over and over again.

The first step to extraordinary golf [life] is to create a future that inspires and enlivens you. But the real skill comes in re-creating this future in the face of the inevitable upsets that we encounter in golf [life]. At any moment we have the choice of either letting the past continue – our usual routine – or living in the possibility of a new future. This Art of the Possible – distinguishing possibilities from expectations, accepting what happens with grace and maturity while keeping all possibilities open – is one of the most courageous and worthwhile things that a golfer [person] can do.

Page 155
… having possibilities not only gives you more options for the future, it also transforms the quality of the present.

Page 156
Your point of view, your conversations, and your experience are all part of the same thing. If you want to make and sustain breakthroughs in your view of golf and your performance, you need to make and sustain breakthroughs in your conversations as well.

Possibilities make all the difference.

Page 157
We’re all social beings – no man, or woman, is an island – and we’re all very much affected by our social environment. It’s a lot easier to be successful at something if our environment supports it. This support does not necessarily mean agreement, but it does mean awareness and acceptance of personal preference. For example, a person may not like the same movies that you do, but he or she can still accept your different tastes and thereby understand a little more about you. However, no one can support you in any meaningful way unless he or she knows what you’re up to.

To sustain breakthroughs you need the support of your environment – the people around you. In order for these people to support you, they must know what you’re about, and you must make them aware of your new point of view – your new goals and commitments. If ‘who you are’ when you play the game is really going to change, your social group needs to know who this new person is, otherwise they will continue to see you as they always have, and it will be harder for you to change.

Page 158
From what I have seen, and I’ve been golfing a long time, the vast majority of golfers really want to be friendly and helpful, and all you need to do is give them the chance.

Dan Kral
From what I have seen, and I’ve been at life a long time, the vast majority of people really want to be friendly and helpful, and all you need to do is give them the chance.

Page 159
Letting the basis of your conversation depend on something other than performance can also be much more relaxing and enjoyable.

Page 160
Creating and sustaining breakthroughs in conversations does not mean that you have to become unrecognizable to your friends. It’s not so much changing who you are as becoming more of who you really are. The possibilities in perspective, performance, and conversation that I discuss have always been available to you. You have always had these possibilities, so you really haven’t changed but have just become more aware.

Integrating these new ways of being into your normal conversations is another facet of the Art of the Possible, and it’s not so difficult.

Page 161
The Art of the Possible is seeing possibilities and being able to move freely through them without getting stuck. You can experience this art directly in your conversations as you let your talk flow to whatever interests you the most. This is an extraordinary thing, but the real skill consists in making it normal. Making the extraordinary normal is what this book is all about.

Page 164
I think that the essence of what we want when we talk about consistency is the feeling that when we go to play golf, the person who shows up will be one we know and trust.

Most people have occasional periods of exceptional play, but in truly extraordinary golf these periods will occur more regularly. Consistency is a crucial element of extraordinary golf.

Consistency

Page 165
The first step on the road to consistency is awareness of the reality of your swing, and this awareness can begin only when you stop trying to fix your swing.

In its wonderful way, simple awareness begins to shape your golf swing more and more along your natural instincts. A golf swing based on these instincts will be dependable and consistent, and I believe that it is the only truly consistent swing that you can have.

Here is the progression:
1.     Not fixing your swing allows for
2.     Awareness of your swing, which allows you to
3.     Clean up the blind spots, which permits a high level of
4.     Trust, which allows for
5.     Letting go, which is the basis for
6.     Consistency.

Page 166
I am not interested in teaching a person to play pretty good golf for a short amount of time. I am interested in the possibility of sustaining a high level of progress and performance for as long as a person wants to play. I am confident that the path of awareness and instinct is the correct one, so the next step is to find ways to keep ourselves on it.

Dan Kral
I am not interested in teaching a person to live real life for a short amount of time. I am interested in the possibility of sustaining a high level of progress and performance for a lifetime. I am confident that the path of awareness and trusting God is the correct one, so the next step is to find ways to keep ourselves on it.

Commitment

Page 167
Once we have determined the path we want to be on, how do we stay on that path? Where do we find the sustenance, the focus, to keep us on course day after day? These questions, of course, are relevant to almost any field of endeavor, not just golf.

Page 168
Extraordinary golf comes from another source, and that is commitment. What you are committed to is what makes the difference. Your commitment is your anchor, your taproot. It gets you out of bed in the morning and keeps you going in the right direction. It helps you withstand the pulls and distractions of the ordinary golfing world. Commitments are the foundation of consistent play.

Dan Kral
Extraordinary life comes from another source, and that is commitment. What you are committed to is what makes the difference. Your commitment is your anchor, your taproot. It gets you out of bed in the morning and keeps you going in the right direction. It helps you withstand the pulls and distractions of day-to-day living. Commitments are the foundation of a consistent, extraordinary life. Commitment is a decision – nothing more, nothing less.

Page 169
Extraordinary golf requires extraordinary commitments, ones that you find are truly inspiring. The deeper and more exciting the commitment, the more likely it will be to keep you on your chosen path.

Dan Kral
Extraordinary life requires extraordinary commitments, ones that you find are truly inspiring. The deeper and more exciting the commitment, the more likely it will be to keep you on your chosen path.

So what fires you up? What really gets you going? Freedom? Joy? Confidence? Courage?

We tend to focus on and remember results, but these are secondary. Look to the primary causes, the things that allowed the results to happen.

The first [guideline] is that the best commitments are those that can be realized in every swing. In other words, you should not require more than one swing to achieve your goal. A commitment such as swinging with freedom or courage can be achieved in a single swing.

The second guideline is that the most effective commitments are those that involve more than just you.

Page 170
One thing that I have learned about achievement in golf is that it’s a lot easier if you don’t have to do it alone.

Dan Kral
One thing that I have learned about achievement in life is that it’s a lot easier if you don’t have to do it alone.

But there is still another, even deeper level. Commitments come from the intellect, and the head is the best way to begin. But we are much more than just our intellect – we have a heart as well.

…extraordinary changes come not just from doing things differently but from a new way of being. Extraordinary is the result of a new point of view, which creates, in essence, a new person. The deepest level of consistency concerns the discovery of who you are.

Dan Kral
If we are going to break out of our ordinary life it will not be through behavior changes; it will be through changes in who we are, our self-definition, our Rule Book. Living an extraordinary life is the result of changing who we are at the deepest parts of our being. If we expect to make changes and move toward extraordinary, we need to make changes in how we define ourselves.

Page 171
It is possible to perceive our lives as a continuous search for who we really are… the search for identity is paramount to everything we do.

Dan Kral
In 1^st Corinthians 13 is says “for now we know in part”. We will not know who we really are, we will not fully comprehend our full inheritance in the Kingdom until we are with Jesus. But as we walk on the path of growing in Him, we will become more and more aware of our true identity in Him and we will be transformed from ordinary to extraordinary.

Page 172
In the same way that looking for the perfect golf swing outside ourselves is inconsistent and frustrating, so too is seeking an identity from the outside world, and these two things are connected in a meaningful way. Our identity is vitally important to us – it’s our uniqueness, our individuality – and the quest for self-identity extends to games as well. Since most golfers look for an identity in the game and base it on how they swing and how they play, the golf swing and its results take on a great deal of significance.

The quest for identity is so strong that it is very common for people not only to adopt a negative image but to hold onto it even in the face of contradictory evidence – a good putt is just an aberration because really I’m a lousy putter. They have their story and they stick to it.

Dan Kral
The quest for identity is so strong that it is very common for people not only to adopt a negative self-definition from truth, but to hold on to it even in the face of TRUTH. If something good happens to me, it is an aberration because that’s my lot in life. There is something strong that keeps us in the truth, that prevents us from moving to the TRUTH. We know who we are and don’t want to change, even if change will improve us greatly.

Page 173
Since our goal is to reverse this process [looking outside ourselves for our identity] and have our commitments come from the inside out, we must similarly reverse our search for identity.

Page 174/175
You will come to realize that the things that make people different are the things that are most variable, and the things we all have in common are the most permanent, the most consistent. Herein lies the key to what I am talking about: You will touch the heart of consistency when you begin to base your identity on the parts of yourself that do not change – the fundamental qualities that are common to all people.

Dan Kral
You will touch the heart of consistency in your life when you begin to base your identity on the TRUTH – the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When you base your identity on unchangeable factors that we have together in Jesus, you are on a path to consistency in your life.

Extraordinary comes from who you are, and if it is to be consistent, then who you are must be consistent.” You are not really a manager, carpenter, therapist, student, runner, artist, low handicapper, etc. This is what you do. Extraordinary is about moving beyond these mere concepts. This level of knowledge allows for the self-concepts to stop changing; it allows you to stop thinking of who you are and actually experience and express it – consistently. The question of who you are goes beyond your outside identity [what you do]. It’s a question about what doesn’t change. The extraordinary that you look for in backswings and downswings, in your job and in your relationships, is not only inside you, it is you.

Dan Kral
The question of who you are goes beyond your outside identity [what you do]. It’s a question about what doesn’t change in your life; it’s a question about the Kingdom of God within, it’s a question about your relationship with the one consistency in creation – the person that is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The three levels of consistency that I have described correspond to a familiar view of human beings, that we are made up of body, mind, and spirit. The physical actions of consistent golf must be connected to and supported by a consistency of mind and heart. Your thoughts, attitudes, and emotions may change when you hit a bad shot, but there is a part of you that doesn’t change. This is the deepest part of you, and when you can experience it, and play golf from it, you will have tapped into the source of consistency. Your golf will no longer be a search for who you are, it will be an expression of who you are, and it will be filled with qualities of the heart: gratitude and appreciation.

Golf as Art

Page 177
I believe that Golf as Art may have very little to do with skill level. I believe that anyone, beginner or pro, can play golf in an artistic way and have experiences so deep and compelling that they will benefit others as well.

Page 178
My experiences are filled with a great deal of chaos and nonsense. Things did not happen smoothly or logically, and one lesson did not inevitably lead to the next. I have done much wandering, stopping and starting, bouncing around, and being confused.

Page 179
Real life and real golf don’t happen like a book. They don’t follow a standard formula: they simply happen.

Dan Kral
There is no formula for life. God does not have formulas for life – he made you a unique person and the path He has for you to walk on is the path that is unique to you. The destination is the same (a closer relationship with Jesus, a lying to self, more of Him – less of me) but the path to get there is different for each of us. God cares that much.

When we have an experience we develop a belief about that experience. It’s usually the belief that we are most aware of and that we communicate with others.

Dan Kral
When we have an experience, we perceive what we believe to be reality (whether or not it has anything to do with reality) and that perception becomes reality for us. We remember things through filters and one of the main filters is the definition of who we think we are.

We have beliefs about the way things ought to be, and these beliefs obscure our perceptions of how things really are. The first step in playing Golf as Art involves giving up these beliefs and experiencing what is really happening.

Dan Kral
We need to give up our perceptions for reality…we need to give up truth for TRUTH.

Page 180
I believe we need to embrace the chaos and learn to dance with it. And in that dance lies art.

Page 180/181
Art happens in the absence of formulas and prescriptions. It happens when you become completely immersed in what you are doing. It happens when you and your stories about yourself disappear. What shows up is something new and unique, alive and extraordinary – new possibility is created right there, right then. This experience is so intense that it can encompass more than just one person.

Golf as Art happens in the same way. You start our playing your usual round, but there can come a point – maybe as you’re walking down the fairway, maybe in the pre-shot routine – where, if you’re lucky, you can ‘enter’ the game of golf. That is the time, I believe, when golf truly exists for people. You become totally immersed in the game, time seems to disappear as creativity begins, and what emerges is extraordinary golf.

Dan Kral
Life as Art happens in the same way. You start out a day in the usual way, but there can come a point – maybe as you’re on your way to work, maybe in the middle of a phone call – where, if you are sensitive to the things around you, you can ‘enter’ the game of life. That is the time, I believe, when life truly exists for people. You become totally immersed in life, time seems to disappear as creativity begins, and what emerges is extraordinary life.

Page 182
To be able to leap into the game you must be willing to give up your story, give up your formula – even, in a way, give up your identity – and this can be scary. Many people think that they have to improve before they can let go and leap, but it doesn’t work that way.

But there is no such thing as a practice jump, no partial way to do it. In the moment of practice or play, you must simply go. It is much more important to leap – to enter the game and to be fully involved, fully connected – than it is to swing correctly. I love practicing golf, but it’s the leaping that’s the most important. And the only way to practice is to do it.

Page 183/184
In coaching my intention is to look for a point where I can join in the student’s experience. A point of entry, where we can get past the thoughts and the stories and be fully present, creating as we go. When it happens, it is the most exciting, enjoyable, effective coaching that I can perform. Most people think they’re not good enough to have these kinds of experiences in coaching or in playing, but I disagree. You don’t have to shoot par to play Golf as Art.

Page 184
Golf is not about courses, equipment, handicaps, or techniques. Golf is what happens to you when you play.

Dan Kral
Life is what happens to you when you play.

Page 185
When you disappear – the thoughts, worries, and judgments you have about yourself – Golf as Art shows up. The resulting void is where all the important discoveries – the personal development, satisfaction, joy and fulfillment – take place.

Dan Kral
When you disappear – the thoughts, worries, and judgments you have about yourself – Freedom in Christ shows up – who you really are in God shows up – God shows up. The resulting void, left by the leaving behind of the perception of who you thought you were, is where all the important discoveries and TRUTH come into play; the personal development, satisfaction, joy, and fulfillment – take place.

Golf as Art recognizes the enormity of the potential of the moment. This can also be called creativity, or the Art of the Possible.

Dan Kral
Knowing who you are in Jesus recognizes the enormity of the potential of the moment.

Page 186
It is the realization that what could exist greatly exceeds what does exist, and it keeps each moment vibrant, alive, and full of possibility. When a person plays golf in this way – fully absorbed, fully committed, merging with the game – it is a marvelous thing. It is extraordinary golf.

Dan Kral
It is the realization that what could exist greatly exceeds what does exist, and it keeps each moment vibrant, alive, and full of possibility. When a person lives life this way – fully absorbed, fully committed, merging with the game – it is a marvelous thing. It is extraordinary life.

Page 188
The possibilities for golf to be extraordinary are always there, like the grass under your feet.

But I also urge you to relax and take your time. The deeper levels of the game have always been there and always will be there, so you don’t have to hurry. But if you’re ready, why wait?

Page 189
Traditional golf says, ‘If you learn how to play better, you will be a better golfer.’ Extraordinary golf says, ‘If you change the type of golfer that you are, you will play better. Both have the same goals – increased enjoyment, performance, and satisfaction when you play – but they approach them quite differently.