There are many instances over the course of my 2022 golf season where I needed to trust in my game and let it unfold. There is no specific tell when my game falls off the rails, but when it does I must rely on my previous training to right the ship. Sometimes I cannot chip, other times my approach shots, and rarely my driver lets me down; the challenge all amateurs have is not knowing when catastrophe is going to happen. So, what do we do to improve our game in quick manner? That is the real question isn’t it?
Continue readingTrust your golf swing
Keeping The Golf Mindset During The Middle Of A Tempest
Many golfers lose their way on the golf course when their game suddenly disappears. I was one of those players who would lament about the poor shot and watch as my game self-destructed into oblivion. Years ago, it took nothing at all until I was scrambling and grinding to find my golf swing and hopefully right my golf game so I could post a reasonable score. It was only 15 short years ago that realized my golf mindset was weak and it needed to be strengthened!
Continue reading“It Does Not Matter What Club You Use”
If nothing else happens today, Rory McIlroy’s words of wisdom should be taken to heart by all amateurs. Rory is talking about the crazy long distances at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship at Mexico City cause by elevation. Regardless, his interview about knowing your club distances and trusting them is not profound, but a sound piece of advice. I fully support this comments and think every golfer should understand what that means. Take a look!
Continue readingTrusting Your Golf Swing
Trusting your golf swing is a fundamental principle to great golf. Any professional golf instructor talks about mechanics, weight distribution and follow through like we have an innate ability to perform this complex movement. Their instruction, although extremely valuable in most cases, breaks the golf swing down to a million little movements. Now, I do not know about you, but I am not sure I can think of all the movements required to perform the perfect golf swing.
Recently, I started reading the book “Golf is Not a Game of Perfect” by Dr. Bob Rotella. It is an older book, but many of the topics he mentions resonates with me. Specifically, the stated:
You cannot hit a golf ball consistently well if you think about the mechanics of your swing as you play!
This specific line hit me like a ton of bricks. Basically, Rotella suggests that it is important to trust your swing during play and do not focus on the mechanics! Focus on course management, the conditions of the course, aim points, well basically all the things that most amateurs do not usually focus on (myself included some rounds). He says to leave all the swing adjustments for the driving range!
I cannot count the number of times I have tried to make adjustments on the course. Most of the time, these changes caused more trouble and did not achieve what I was hoping for! Notice I used the word ‘hoping’! Unless I can hit several balls in a row after an adjustment, it is extremely unlikely I can determine if the change was effective or just a fluke.
Additionally, the number of times I have given advice while playing (not in competitive rounds) is up there as well. Sometimes it helps my friends for a shot or two, but the suggestion is not sustainable because they cannot hit enough shots in a row to develop a new swing technique.
I follow a blog called: The Goofy Game of Golf Trying to Execute the Answer! There, Vet talks about accepting and playing your swing of that day, which he calls ‘that day method’, instead of trying to wrestle with it! To me, this fits perfectly into what Dr. Bob was saying!
Today is almost an epiphany. Moving forward, I am going to focus on the game instead of swing mechanics during my golf rounds. I am going to save my practice for the range! With only a couple of weeks before golf season, I am excited to try this new technique as I pursue the goal of being a scratch golfer!
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 