The pain of golf

by Cameron on February 14, 2012

I received the below email last week. It’s quite a common scenario and one that needs attention. The email appears below with my comments after.

Cameron, Feel like I’m in a bit of a rut at the moment with my golf. My goal this year is to play more which hopefully can get some continuity happening.

Had last week off so I took the opportunity to go down to Brighton public and have a hit, hadn’t played there for a long time but it’s tight and I thought that would be a good challenge for my golf. I ended up playing on my own so I used the chance to play a couple of balls each hole using different clubs.

When I played the first ball I chose the club that I thought I would use if only playing one ball.

My one goal was to try and make a smooth free flowing swing that’s all no overload!!!

The following is what gets me down and really frustrated.

Started scratchy haven’t played for a while but hung in there and stayed positive.

Got to the 4th hole quite tight off the tee so took iron and hit a reasonable tee shot and ended up making a par.

Same again on the 5th tight hole so went with iron and again stayed on the fairway and made another par!!

Walked to the 6th short par 3 hole runs parallel with South road. Feeling good after making two pars but not over confident.

Pulled out the nine iron stood behind the ball and thought just a nice easy swing will get me down there.

Hit the ball onto South road!! Didn’t try to analyze why- wouldn’t know where to start!

I was under no pressure as no playing partners or people watching.

The gap between my good and bad is so far apart it’s embarrassing.

I stand behind the ball pick where I would like to hit it start counting and swing the club.

I just can’t get any bloody consistency. I take one step forward then four steps back.

I don’t give up easy and I’m quite persistent but this game has just about got me. It could be that I’m just a crap golf player.

Let’s look at this situation in some more detail.

“Feel like I’m in a bit of a rut at the moment with my golf”. My comments: Feeling like you’re in a rut is common. I also think that sometimes we should ignore our thoughts and feelings. These thoughts and feelings are coming straight from Pesky. He thinks he is doing you a favour but he really is holding you back. How would you play today if you weren’t in a rut? This is how you should approach each game of golf.

“My goal this year is to play more which hopefully can get some continuity happening”. My comments: Brilliant! Playing more will help you. It’s hard to improve if you’re only playing once a month. I know it’s not possible for everyone, but if you can try and play once a week you’ll see significant improvement. And this doesn’t always mean 18 holes of golf. You can be playing when you’re swinging your 7 iron in the backyard.

“My one goal was to try and make a smooth free flowing swing that’s all – no overload!!!”. My comments: It might be a good idea to have no goals about your swing. Are you able to turn up and just play? I think trying to make a free flowing swing might be hurting you rather than helping. A good swing happens when we stop trying and caring. It flows. You can’t force it to happen. I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of manual control happening here. Do you try and drive your car in a free flowing manner, or does it just happen?

“Started scratchy haven’t played for a while but hung in there and stayed positive”. My comments: Forget about trying to stay positive. Just keep playing the game. Staying positive takes too much energy and doesn’t work too well. All you have to do is play the game.

“Got to the 4th hole quite tight off the tee so took iron and hit a reasonable tee shot and ended up making a par”. My comments: Good. Sometimes we need to alter our strategy to suit the course. It’s not always about smashing driver.

“Same again on the 5th tight hole so went with iron and again stayed on the fairway and made another par!!”. My comments: Good. But please don’t get too focused on your score. It’s quite possible to do everything correctly but still make a bogey. If you can appreciate this you’ll do better in the long run.

“Pulled out the nine iron stood behind the ball and thought just a nice easy swing will get me down there”. My comments: This is getting back to the swing again. A “nice easy swing” is pushing for manual control. Does this make sense? By trying to make a nice easy swing you’re not playing automatically. Also, were you specific where you wanted to go “down there” may be ok in some situations. But on a small par three you may need to be more specific.

“Hit the ball onto South road!!”. My comments: I know this is not good and a mile away from the goal of hitting the green. But it’s only one bad shot. You can’t let one bad shot shake you. Also, you may need some self analysis with the shot.

- what did you learn?
- did you stick to the process fully?
- how were you feeling?
- did you let any interruptions get the better of you?

“I was under no pressure as no playing partners or people watching”. My comments: People watching and pressure should make no difference. You should always play the same way. I know it’s easier said than done, but this should be your goal.

“The gap between my good and bad is so far apart it’s embarrassing.” My comments: Maybe, but I doubt it. You are giving the bad shots too much attention. You’ve got to leave them alone. Forget about them and you’ll have less of them.

“I just can’t get any bloody consistency. I take one step forward then four steps back.”. My comments: What do you really want? Golfers talk about consistency but I’m not sure they are clear with their intentions. Hitting the same shot over and over again would quickly get boring. Plus, you’re never going to get perfect shots each time – just not going to happen. Playing great golf requires an understanding that poor shots are part of the game. Learning to recover from poor shots might just be the amazing pro secret nobody is willing to talk about. When Tiger was in his prime he could hardly hit a fairway. But it didn’t stop him winning and playing remarkable golf. He kept turning up and letting rip.

Sidenote: I think part of his problem now (amongst a lot of other crap) is him trying to alter his golf swing. He is trying to improve on perfection and this is a very difficult thing to do.

“I don’t give up easy and I’m quite persistent but this game has just about got me. It could be that I’m just a crap golf player”. My comments: Playing more is going to help you. Also, you need to get used to playing the game without too much focus on score. It seems you had trouble playing a new course by yourself without thinking about score – the score is a nasty relative to Pesky. It can be a distraction and rarely a positive one. I’d like you to really think about why you play the game. Are you able to play more for the enjoyment and accept that some poor shots are part of the process? A slight shift in focus might be just what you need.

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Women versus men in golf

by Cameron on February 11, 2012

There was an interesting discussion on Melbourne sports radio this week. Kevin Bartlett and Patrick Smith were debating whether the best woman player, Yani Tseng, could match it with world number one, Luke Donald, from 150 metres and in. The idea was that by removing power maybe Yseng could be competitive.

Bartlett’s opinion is that Donald would win while Smith was strongly in favour the other way. Here’s my take.

1. Because Donald would hit a much shorter club each time he would have to win. It’s far easier to hit an 8 iron over a 5 iron. This afternoon I happened to see the last hole of the Women’s Australian Open. From around 150 metres Hee Kyung Seo (not the best player in the world but a very good one) selected a 5 wood (it was into the wind but it wasn’t that strong). An elite male player would probably be hitting a 6 or 7 iron from the same position. Advantage to the men I’m afraid.

2. Power is still required from inside 150 metres. There are shots from the rough and bunkers. Plus, it takes more power to hit towering iron shots into tight pin positions. The men have a huge advantage so they’re able to get the ball closer to the pin. Closer to the pin equals less shots. It’s that simple.

3. Putting is possibly the only part of the game where power doesn’t come into it. I haven’t checked the stats, but I’m willing to bet that Donald would come out on top as well. (He went about a million holes last year without a 3-putt).

The bottom line?

Donald would win almost every time. I say “almost” because Tseng is a brilliant player and maybe on her best day, on a course set up in her favour, she could give Donald a run for his money. But I doubt it.

While certain sections of the media like to fantasize about Cinderella stories (it’s great for ratings) one shouldn’t let a good story get in the way of the facts.

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What do you think he is thinking about?

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Why Shane Warne would make an excellent golfer

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Shane Warne would make an excellent golfer. At least he would do if he was able to approach golf the same way that he bowls a cricket ball. The Twenty20 cricket has held my attention for five minutes. It’s sort of exciting at first, but then all the matches seem to have a sameness about [...]

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