We just returned from the UCF Challenge as the tournament is called. A "challenge" would be a good description of what the team faced. Eighteen teams made up the field from all areas of the country with most boasting a top national ranking. An opportunity for the Nittany Lions to be put to the test with hopes of challenging our competitors and rising above.
Perhaps like Mikaela Shiffrin, world class Olympian downhill skier, we took a tumble this past weekend. It can happen in sport; it does happen in sport. We prepare for so long only to have our best hopes and dreams be crushed under our feet. The fact is we are not robots playing golf, we are human beings. Human beings full of emotions that can cause us to get in our way of the "flow" that comes at our best performances. At the end of the three rounds of competition we finished sixty-four shots behind Wake Forest, the eventual champions of the tournament.
Putting this in a different way that might make sense to those that are not as familiar with the sport of golf, in particular collegiate golf. We never just play one opponent at a time, and we never just play one day to determine a winner. We typically play fifteen to twenty teams over a three-day period. If a basketball team lost to their opponent by twenty points, one would say that is a decisive win or a devastating loss. Pretend they had to play that opponent three days in a row, with each day culminating in the same result. That's taking a beating! If we break our three rounds down, we lost to the champions by twenty-one shots per day and five shots per player. Certainly not great, however put in perspective it becomes easier to understand how this could happen.
Competing at the collegiate level in our sport is not for the weak at heart. This game can tear you apart or put you on your highest high! However, when you break it down, there are the little things that separate you from the top. As Ed Sheeran sings, "Only miss the sun when it starts to snow, only know you've been high, when you're feeling low". When you find yourself in a place far away from where you want to be or thought you would be, you begin to learn what you need to change.
Champions don't ever start at the top, they got to the top because they experienced the lows. We will bounce back from this tournament. We have three weeks to train in a different way before our next challenge. We have three weeks to build ourselves up and prepare ourselves for the marathon stretch over our spring break. We will be facing two tournaments with thirty-six holes in one day, followed by a final eighteen. How do we best prepare even with the challenges of indoor training? We must understand the challenge and train accordingly.
I am reminded as I prepare for an indoor triathlon at our local YMCA this weekend. I asked a friend that swam competitively, how can I get faster for this event? Do I need to change my stroke? She replied, your stroke is good, you just need to swim faster when you train! It is so true, "we rise to the level of our training". If I am always swimming at the same pace, how can I expect my race to be any faster!
Eureeka!
We will train for what lies ahead differently, we will be stronger, more fit both physically and mentally. We will work on our weaknesses and build on our strengths. We will stay focused on our process and dismiss the naysayers that say, it can't be done. I know our players are ready to be challenged. After all We are Nittany Lions….WE ARE…..PENN STATE!
