Golf is a game that has gone statistics crazy. There is a stat for just about everything. In the past, I have tried to capture a bunch on my own and realized after a couple of years that the data I was collecting was helpful to a small degree. I have discussed stats in the past and have concluded that how close the ball is to the pin on approach shots is really the top stat. I have focused on greens in regulation (GIR), but I think it is time to expand that concept a bit in order to fully understand the most telling stat in golf.
Continue readingHow To Make A Difficult Golf Shot
I was playing golf two days ago and on the last hole I hit a wayward shot to the right of the ninth green. I pushed my pitching wedge from 120 yards and found a tough third shot on the par 4. I have had a great deal of experience hitting shots from tough locations and I used this experience to hopefully save par. Fortunately, I have a simple three step process for difficult shots and it paid of in this case.
Continue readingFocusing On The Good In Golf
Golf is a sport that can easily drag our mental focus negative aspects of results. Like crabs in a bucket, it is difficult to emerge from playing poorly because our mind continues to drag our focus to what is instantly going wrong. If I was a sports phycologist, I would state that this is the number one mental mistake all amateurs make; we are too quick to focus on the poor shots and overlook the good shots. I am not sure how this trend starts for most players, but I believe that by setting up a mental road block, we can avoid the darkness of negative thoughts and play better golf!
Continue readingOverswinging And Pulling My Golf Ball Left
Yup, it is back. For some reason I am overswing and pulling my ball left. This swing hitch happens a few times a year and usually at the most inconvenient time. I know I am making all kinds of swing errors by the direction of my divot and the fact that my ball ended up in the woods a few times during my last round. 🙂 I have a sure fire fix for my swing woes and it does not take much time.
Continue readingPlaying A Scramble In Crazy Weather
Yesterday, I played in a four person scramble at Laurentide Golf Course in Sturgeon Falls. The tournament was set up my the 22 Wing PSP staff so that serving members at 22 Wing and retired veterans could tee it up for some fun in the sun. The tournament was very well organized and a great time was had by all. The only thing that the PSP staff could not control was the crazy weather. Despite their best efforts we playing in the sun, rain and hail; regardless of the crazy weather we had a great time.
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The Grateful Golfer 