Focusing on the Right Fix in Your Golf Swing

February 1, 2017January 31, 2017 / The Grateful Golfer / 8 Comments

14th Hole Roundel Glen

“Can’t see the forest for the trees!”

Most golfers are fixers or at least we think we are. We have a tendency to tinker with all parts of golf swing because we think that a tweak here and a tweak there is exactly what we need. Unfortunately, as the above quote suggests that many of us are too involved in the details of a problem to look at the entire situation.

Not focusing on the right fix, adjusting our golf swing can cause a domino effect of challenges. Most of us like to jump in and change something because it lets us think we are making progress and improving. However, I would suggest steaming ahead without looking at the whole process is folly. The holistic approach is critical to identifying the ‘root cause’ to any swing challenges Continue reading →

Qualifying to Play Golf

January 29, 2017January 29, 2017 / The Grateful Golfer / 4 Comments

second-place One of the things I like about golf is the requirement of a few players to qualify to play in a professional golf tournament. It is very stressful for these ‘up and comers’ (and some times players past their prime), but it is a necessary path to play on the PGA and LPGA Tours.

For years, I had to qualify to play golf on our Base team. I have mentioned military competitions before and part of the right of passage is that there are no free rides. Over the years, I have worked my way up the standings such that making the team was expected, but that is where things get challenging sometimes.

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Does Spam Hurt Your Game?

January 27, 2017January 26, 2017 / The Grateful Golfer / 6 Comments

When I started The Grateful Golfer in 2012, it was difficult to imagine I would be still writing today. As I continued to learn and evolve my writing, I found that the one thing that was fundamental to my success was the consistency of effort.

Within a few short days of starting my blog, I was inundated with spam! I would receive 10x more spam than actual views. It was a bit disheartening to be blasted with so much negative information. To date, my anti-spam app has blocked 157,499 attempts negative spam messages. The worst month was in 2014 with over 23,000 attempts. At first, I would check out the spam hits to see if any were legit, but I soon realized that they were not and I have stopped checking. I waiting for the day when my actual views eclipses the spam hits (and this should be around August of this year). Before you leave, there is a caboose at the end of this train of thought. Continue reading →

Power or Finesse in Golf

January 25, 2017January 23, 2017 / The Grateful Golfer / 13 Comments

Finesse

I was watching two volleyball games at the local college. The Canadore Panthers, men and women, played against Le Cité college for a regularly scheduled match. The women hit the floor first and then the men. As I watched these young athletes play, I could not help but notice the similarities between of the volleyball matches and golf.

As you can imagine, the women’s match was mostly finesse with some power and the men’s match was mostly power with a bit of finesse. Without dissecting all the possible finer points, I would suggest that the LPGA and the PGA Tours follow the same style of play. Continue reading →

Crushing The Ball Off The Tee

January 24, 2017January 22, 2017 / The Grateful Golfer / 5 Comments

I am amazed at how far players are hitting their ball off the tee. I am not only talking about professionals, but amateurs as well. It seems that distance is the holy grail of golf and is what most players are focused on. I agree that distance can be a great equalizer, however it is not the end all for shooting low scores. It helps, but it is only one part of any great player’s game. Continue reading →