When I first had the idea for this article, I thought about the 10000 hour rule. For those not familiar, it was made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers”. However, I found out that it is a theory first started with an article in American Scientist by Herbert Simon and William Chase. I was going to talk about putting in time and now my article has morphed in to writings about “deliberate practice”. Read on and be amazed 😉
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Hoping For A Change in Your Golf Score
Practice is important to lower golf scores.
Our golf score is really the bench mark for how well we perform on the course. Naturally, that score is a bit deceiving from time to time, but overall it is what golfers talk about after their round. The first question at the 19th hole is “What did you shoot?” Of course most golfers downplay they score and explain that they left at least 3 strokes on the course. Now, fast forward a week and the same conversation is occurring between the same players, with the same results. Now is that not the definition of insanity? Continue reading
Golf Report Card From 2014
Back in April, I reaffirmed a plan for my 2014 golf season. The intent was to improve my overall game to help achieve my goal of being a scratch golfer. My plan was met with varying success; so I thought I would share the goods, bads and uglies with you.
I have four main focus areas that help guide every golf season. With a plan in place, I am usually ready for anything on the links. Here is my plan:
- get fit – focus on exercises designed to improve my golf game;
- research – the drills and techniques required to improve my game;
- practice – dedicate time to practice to improve my game; and
- compete – either formally or informally compete every time I hit the links.
The Grateful Golfer in 2014!
Well I can say that my overall fitness for the golf season was pretty good. I felt strong during most rounds and rarely waned heading down the home stretch. I could have improved on my physical strength, but that is what this off-season is for. I would rate my fitness a B+.
My research on drills and techniques continued all season. I improved my chipping, widened my stance, and found better methods to score low. I have shared these tips and drills through the year in my blog, and they might be worth taking a look at. Interestingly, I improved more in the last two months of the season because I started hitting the ball farther off the tee. I will continue researching better ways to improve this area this winter. I would rate my research as a solid A.
Practicing was up and down this year. I started off extremely strong, but slowed during various times in the season. When I did practice, I felt rushed and unfocused. I write about practicing with intent all the time and should heed my own advice. I would rate my practice as a C+.
I did compete a bit this year, but mostly in fun tournaments. This type of competition is not good for my competitive edge, but it is competition. I played in 2 stroke events and was underwhelming. My competitive edge was not as sharp as in years past, but keep in mind that my criticism is relative to my handicap. I would rate my competitive edge as a B.
So overall, my season was about average for sticking to my plan. It is amazing how quickly the season passed and by not staying focused, I think that I missed some opportunities to improve. However, the most surprising aspect of my entire 2014 golf season is that I dropped my handicap from 4.7 to 2.8!
Wait, before you say not nice things to me, I cannot believe it either. I had a 4 week period where I could do nothing wrong and I actually broke par once. From a pure handicap perspective, 2014 was a fantastic season.
Hopefully, I will build on my successes from this year and achieve my overall goal of being a scratch golfer.
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 