Mental Toughness and Golf

March 3, 2015March 3, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 7 Comments

Strength of mind propelled Tiger Woods to dominate the golfing world!

Mental toughness is the cornerstone of golf. Arnold Palmer thinks so and I am sure if you ask any golfer they would agree! The picture above reminds me of Tiger Woods in his prime! In his early years, Tiger was almost unstoppable. Yes he had a great swing, soft touch and a deadly putting stroke, but mostly he was mentally superior to all players.

Every time he hit the links, the knew he was going to win. Obviously Tiger did not win every tournament he entered, but his record speaks for itself:

Woods has won 79 official PGA Tour events, second only to Sam Snead, and six ahead of Jack Nicklaus with 73 wins.
Woods has won 14 majors, second all time, behind Jack Nicklaus.
Woods is 14–1 when going into the final round of a major with at least a share of the lead.
Woods scoring average in 2000 is the lowest in PGA Tour history, both adjusted, 67.79, and unadjusted, 68.17.
Woods has the lowest career scoring average in PGA Tour history.
Woods has amassed the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history (even after inflation is considered).
Woods is one of five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player) to have won all four professional major championships in his career, known as the Career Grand Slam, and was the youngest to do so.
Woods is the only player to have won all four professional major championships in a row, accomplishing the feat in the 2000–2001 seasons. This feat became known as the “Tiger Slam”.
Woods set the all-time record for most consecutive cuts made, with 142. The streak started in 1998, he set the record at the 2003 Tour Championship with 114 (passing Byron Nelson’s previous record of 113 and Jack Nicklaus at 105) and extended this mark to 142 before it ended on May 13, 2005 at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Many consider this to be one of the most remarkable golf accomplishments of all time, given the margin by which he broke the old record and given that during the streak, the next longest streak by any other player was usually only in the 10s or 20s. It should be noted that when Byron Nelson played far fewer players made the cut in a given event.
Woods has won a record 26.2% (79 out of 301) of his professional starts on the PGA Tour.
Woods is the only golfer to have won the U.S. Amateur three consecutive times (1994–96). (Source Wikipedia)

In my opinion, Tiger Woods current woes are mental. I am confident that if he was a mentally strong as he was in 2000, he would continue with his winning ways. Mentally, he is one of the strongest players to ever play professional golf. I am not sure how he regains his mental toughness, but if he does, he will be a force to contend with!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Pareto’s Principle and Golf

March 2, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 16 Comments

In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto’s Principle. While it may be misnamed, Pareto’s Principle or Pareto’s Law as it is sometimes called, can be a very effective tool to help you manage effectively. (about money)

Wow, how does this interesting economic factoid influence your golf game, you may ask? Let me explain it in another way. The Pareto principle, also known as the 80–20 rule, states that, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. So basically, when working on your golf game, make sure practice time on the 20 percent that really matters.

Pareto’s Law Works In Golf!

Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of your results. Identify and focus on those things. For example, I had trouble is chipping from 50 yards. I did not focus on the real issue that was common to all chips, but focused on each individual challenge. Before, I never distributed most of my weight to my front foot when chipping. I had an even distribution of weight on both feet. The result was I scooped the ball often and was short on most of my chip shots. I tried many things like changing clubs, a different ball, more hand motion, less hand motion, etc….basically I was focusing on the 80%. Once I figured out that I needed to have more weight on my front foot, all my chips improved and positive results occurred during all my chips from within 50 yards.

I believe in Pareto’s Principle. It can be applied to all areas of my life, especially my golf game. I now take a different approach to improving my golf game, I look at the larger picture to see what area of improvement will benefit the most parts of my game.

This year, I am working on my swing sequence as discussed in previous posts. The bump, chest catch up, and complete follow through will be beneficial to all my full swings….focusing on this 20 percent that will affect the 80 percent.

What is your 20% this year?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Three Rules in Golf Everyone Should Know

February 28, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 10 Comments

The rules of golf are a reoccurring theme at The Grateful Golfer. They are important to the integrity of the game, but more importantly for those aspiring players who want to compete in tournaments. This video below by Golf Monthly is brilliant. It explains three simple rules that will save you strokes in the long run!

The three important points that resonate with me are:

actually saying the words “provisional ball”;
when dropping the ball, it can roll outside two club lengths as long as it goes no closer to the hole; and
when taking free relief, it must be full relief.

Did you know these rules and do you apply them properly?

What caught your attention about these three important rules?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

15 Minute Golf Lesson

February 26, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 11 Comments

Who would have thought that a 15 minute golf lesson would shape the future of my 2015 golfing season. My recent excursion to the Toronto Golf and Travel Show, as you have read from the past two posts, was fun and educational. However, the highlight of my time at the golf show as the 15 minute golf lesson I received from James Hutchinson, an Associate Golf Professional at Blue Springs Golf Club.

At the start of the lesson, James asked me what I wanted to work on, how much I golfed, and where I played. My objective of the lesson was to hit the ball further off the tee and after a quick discussion, we were ready to start. We grabbed a 7-iron to warm up and a driver with a stiff shaft; it was almost exactly like my driver back home. As I warmed up, we continued to discuss my goals and he said something I thought was quite funny, yet extremely important.

I explained that by gaining the extra distance, it would equate to lower scores. I mentioned I was trying to consistently hit the ball about 260-270 yards off the tee instead of my normal 240-250. This would allow me to approach the green with an 8 or 9 iron instead of my usual 6 or 7 iron. Above all, I wanted to keep my accuracy. James suggested that I should practice putting and chipping more to lower my scores. Although he was tough and cheek at that time, this advice is excellent and should be heeded by everyone.

Golden Tips

Ok, back to the lesson. After he watch me hit about 15 balls, he notice that my swing was smooth, but not generating the power I was looking for! James explained that a swing has three distinct motions: the first movement of the lower body (he called the bump), the rotation of the chest to catch up with the hips, and the follow through of all body parts to the a high finish. Well this was profound for me. I understood the mechanics, but James suggestion of a bump first with the hips was the missing piece I was looking for to hit the ball farther.

Check out the video below to see what I mean:

So I am practicing the three distinct movements without a club. It does feel uncomfortable, but I think this is going to be my way forward to improve my game in the early part of the upcoming golf season.

Thanks James, I am grateful for the tip. Anyone looking for a lesson and you are in the Acton, Ontario area, James is your man.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

2015 Toronto Golf and Travel Show – Part Deux

February 24, 2015February 24, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 6 Comments

The second installment of my review of the 2015 Toronto Golf and Travel Show will focus on the other aspects of the event….Golf! There were many opportunities to swing different clubs, win prizes, buy some new toys and see the newest technology at work. The moment my friend and I entered the pavilion, we knew exactly where to go – the demo section! This may have been a crazy plan since we had not swung a club in 4 months, but by beating the rush, we were able to take our time and demo any club we wanted.

big-bertha-alpha-815-driver-sole-b-2014-5x7

Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815

My first club was the new Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815. It had a stiff shaft and was nice to look at during set up. It may sound silly, but some clubs I will not use because they do not fit my eye while standing over the ball. As I swung the driver, it felt very comfortable and loved the feel of the ball off the head of the club. I hit about 10-15 balls and by the end felt very comfortable swinging the Callaway driver. I would consider buying this club in the future.

Next I tried the TaylorMade AeroBurner. It had a new design and it did not fit my eye very well. I guess I am not a fan of the colour white for a driver. Overall, I was not impressed with the club. It is not that it did not perform well, but it just did not fit my swing or comfort zone. I am not sure if the performance of this driver was mental or physical.

R15 Black Driver

Lastly, I hit the TaylorMade R15 460 TP Adjustable Driver. This was a very good club. It too had a stiff shaft. It was easily comparable to the Callaway driver. The dual sliders were set to the outer edges which made the club very forgiving. I liked everything about this club and might be a choice for me in future.

Next we went to the long drive contest. For $5, we received 4 balls. One for practice and three for the competition. We actually tried this twice and my longest drive was 279 yards. My friend, Jean, out drove me by 2 yards. I am sure I will hear about this in the summer when we hit links for real.

We passed the $10,000 hole-in-one competition, but did not try it. There was a long line and we decided to spend our money on a 15 minute lesson instead. I will be talk about that experience in my next article.

We walked by the putting contest. It was actually disappointing. The putt was extremely difficult and the prizes were not worth the $5 dollar fee to play. Many were trying it, however it did not peak our interest.

There were 4 different discount stores. They had a variety of old and new clubs, old and new clothes, and other accessories. The price on golf balls was disappointing compared to previous golf shows I attended. My overall impression was that there were deals to be had, but you needed to look. I bought a Drysack Stand Bag Poncho. It was only $5 dollars and worth the price. In all fairness, I was not looking for anything in particular, so the stores did not hold much interest for me.

The TEE CLAW

I did, however, find something I was looking for! The TEE CLAW – “Practice Like You Play” kit was on sale for $13 dollars which included 3 TEE CLAWs, tees, and lanyards. This is something I had researched and was very happy to find them at the golf show! I am looking forward using them on the range this spring.

These above highlights were another small part of the sights I saw at the Toronto Golf & Travel Show. On a side note, I am not associated with any of the products mentioned above. My next post will be about the lesson I recieved that might make my journey to scratch that much easier. So stay tuned!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!