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February 24th, 2010“It is almost impossible to remember
how tragic a place the world is
when one is playing golf.”
Robert Lynd
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Play Golf! Forget Work.
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Paralysis By Analysis!
ME: “Hello Mr. Reynolds it’s nice to see you today, are you ready for your lesson?”
ME: “Great, tell me, what areas of your game would you like to work on today?”
MR. R: “Well I’ve been chunking my irons and slicing my driver and it’s driving me crazy! My friend Pete told me I was moving my head and my left arm was breaking down. Last night I was watching the Golf Channel and the guy said that you must make a good turn going back and then fire your hips through. The latest issue of Golf Digest arrived the other day and I read an article that said something about hitting down and through the ball to ensure good contact. I’m trying all of these things but they don’t seem to be helping!?!”
Sound familiar? This ailment is known in the medical world as Paralyticus by Analyticus, or more commonly referred to as Paralysis by Analysis. Poor Mr. Reynolds can hardly even take the club back from the ball anymore because he has become mentally paralyzed by all of the different swing thoughts traveling through his brain. His condition is not irreversible but at this time he has but two options; drink heavily before, during and after the round or simplify his approach to the game. My good friend Bob once said, “I drink to forget, and I have a lot I want to forget.” Although I thought that was a memorable piece of advice, I’m going to defer to option number two and see if I can’t infuse some new, simplified thought routines into your game.
First, your pre-shot routine is your pre-shot routine, keep it that way. In other words, get your grip, alignment, stance and posture set and then forget about them. Once you’ve established a sound set-up there is no need to think about these things anymore. Free up you mind to play the shot. If you’re not comfortable re-do your routine, but once set, don’t waste anymore brain power on it.
Second, develop a mental routine and keep it consistent. Notice I said mental, not physical. Once we’re on the course we’ve got what we’ve got physically speaking. The course is no place to work on our swing. The key is to optimize what game we have brought to the course and not make things more difficult. We try to cram more in our heads than our heads can handle. Our mental routine should be simple, encouraging and repeatable. Ever wonder why our practice swings look and feel so much better than our regular swings? When making a practice swing there is no anticipation of a hit, we’re just swinging the club. This should be our mentality when playing a shot too. The focus should be on the target, not the ball. Even though we will physically be watching the club impact the ball, our “minds eye” should be on the target. This is one reason why you will see the guys and gals on TV always taking a last look at the target before pulling the trigger. That being said, our metal routine should sound something like this; identify the target, relax, swing down the target line. That’s it, no more. I realize this may sound too good to be true but this is how golf is played. The other way of playing, the one with all those swing thoughts, is called “playing mechanics” and clearly doesn’t get the job done on a consistent basis. Keep the mental routine simple, reminding you of only the things that matter, and repeat it in the same order with the same verbiage every time.
Third, don’t reinvent the wheel every time you hit a bad shot. Even the great Tiger Woods only hits 3-4 perfect shots a round. We do about the same, it’s his misses that are so much better that make the difference. We’re going to mess up, it is impossible to execute perfectly every time. Take confidence in the fact that your approach is sound and your routine is solid. If we didn’t execute well this time we’ll do better the next. The more consistent we are in our mental approach the more our confidence and consistency will increase therefore lowering our scores. Do the best with what you’ve got today and if you need to improve physically visit your local golf pro for instruction, nod your head politely when your friend offers advice, and throw away the magazines!
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What Happened to
Flagstick Indicators?
Reflections on How Technology is Changing the Game
Technology in the game of golf has come a long way over the past several years. If you think about it, things were quite a bit different just 10–20 years ago. I’m not referring to the equipment. That has been well documented. I actually used to hit woods that were made out of, well, wood. I wore metal spikes (yikes!) and used balata golf balls that would shred if you just looked at them the wrong way. Technology has affected the game in many other ways as well, some of which aren’t quite as noticeable, but do impact us all.
“Back in the day,” I used to call courses to make a tee time and the golf pro would literally pencil me in. I was familiar with about 20 or so courses in the valley; the rest were too far away, not open to the public as far as I knew, or just didn’t get my attention due to lack of information. Today I can go online and with two or three clicks have a plethora of information at my disposal. There are websites with dozens of courses participating in information sharing where the ease of reserving a tee time is only equaled by the difficulty of holing a six-inch putt. I can choose the style of course, the location and the price range all in one stop. If I want to learn more about a particular course I can visit its website and get all the details I want. This is very cool and great for both the consumer and the golf courses. Joe Golfer gets what he wants at the best deal and Joe Owner gets to advertise his facility and all it has to offer.
Another advancement to the game has been yardage-measuring devices. I used to depend exclusively on the 100, 150 and 200 yard markers and a little flag or ball indicator positioned on the flagstick to determine my yardage (if you are 20 years old or younger you probably have no idea what a flagstick indicator is). Since then they began marking sprinkler heads, some even with the measurements to the front, back and middle of the green. Thanks to today’s satellite technology we have GPS Systems in many of the golf carts or hand held devices that will give you YTP (yards to pin) from just about anywhere! Ironically, when I traveled to The Hamptons a few years ago one of the best courses we played had NO yardages at all! Not even on the scorecard! We were completely dependant on our caddies and it was one of the most enjoyable rounds I’ve ever played.
Perhaps the most important advancement over the past 10-20 years is right under you nose; or in this case your feet. Golf course maintenance has come a long way to say the least. It wasn’t long ago the average green speeds on a daily fee course were about 6.5 on the stimp reading (stimp is a calculation for measuring green speeds) and 9 at upper end facilities. By today’s standards most daily fee courses are measuring around 9 and the upper end facilities are pushing the envelope at 11-12! These types of speeds used to only be found on PGA Tour tournament courses. Superintendents can now mow their greens below 1/10 of an inch! Equally as important to the cutting heights is the ability to keep such closely mown grass healthy. Try mowing your yard like this and you’ll end up with dirt faster than you can say ah-choo! Major technological advancements in irrigation have helped the superintendent be able to control every area of the course by applying just the right amount of water to just the right place at just the right time. Years ago, it was necessary to have one or two Night Water Men; these guys would work in the dark moving quick coupler irrigation heads from one hole to the next…not very accurate or labor conducive. In today’s world super efficient software programs can be set to control each individual sprinkler head of the thousands found on a course and be activated by cell phones, Blackberry’s, the internet or even hand held GPS devices specifically designed for this reason. All of this translates into drastically improved playing surfaces and water conservation.
Although I enjoy these advancements as much as the next golfer, the truth is, the game of golf captured my heart then, it has me now, and I’ll love it until the day they put me in a divot of my own!
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Golf, the Economy, and You!
Reprinted from the February/March issue of The Scottsdale Golf Monthly
(now the AZGOLF Alive!™ Magazine)
With uncertainties in real estate, the stock market, investments and the job market, surely time and money spent on our favorite activity (or addiction if you’re like me) will be diminished, won’t it? When I set out to research facts and statistics for this article I was certain all I would uncover was doom and gloom – this course is going under, that private club member is giving up his membership that he has had for almost 15 years, half the nation’s golfers have put their clubs on e-bay or in the latest garage sale with the reality setting in that there is no room in the budget for a non-necessity like chasing the little white devil around any more. Surprisingly I uncovered many reports to the contrary. This isn’t to say that the current economic atmosphere isn’t having any negative effects on anyone’s golf, but I have discovered much more optimism both in my research and in my own experiences being at the course on a daily basis.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention I am a PGA Golf Professional and I work at a semi-private, daily fee course – Trilogy Golf Club at Vistancia in the northwest valley. Okay I know what you’re thinking, “this guy doesn’t even pay for golf, who cares what he thinks”. On the contrary, I care very much as it is MY livelihood that is affected by YOUR golf. The reality is everyone has to make adjustments. Aside from Joe Megabucks who could care less that is costs $20,000 in fuel to motor his yacht from New York down to Florida so he can get in some winter rounds, we are all affected at some level, hence, we adjust. If I would like to continue seeing Mr. Chunkshank at the club for his weekly round, or entice Mr.& Mrs. Bladeskull to enjoy a round at our club on their next visit from Minnesooota I’d better make the proper adjustments. Like a good football coach occasionally has to throw out part of the original game plan due to unforeseen circumstances so do I, and so do all the other courses too.
And this “my friends” (McCainism) is why the doom and gloom isn’t as doomy and gloomy as you might think. The beautiful thing is that when times are tough no one in the liquor, tobacco, or gaming industry is helping me afford my addiction(s) but in the golf industry they are more than willing. With discretionary income down for most, golf course managers are compelled to get creative and offer better opportunities for their potential guests. Reductions in initiation fees at private clubs, better rates at daily fee facilities, loyalty programs, and stay and play packages are just to name a few. Here at Trilogy we’ve decided to turn the entire booking process on its ear taking a page from our buddies in the airline industry; book early and save. What a novel concept; instead of waiting until the last minute in an effort to save a little cash and ending up with a tee time that gets you the privilege of playing the final holes in the dark, you can now reserve a quality tee time in advance and get the same great rate if not better. This concept is called Early Rewards and although we are the first club to activate this system in the valley, we certainly won’t be the last. At October’s PGA semi-annual meeting there was a HUGE buzz about this very thing.
All this being said, for courses across the valley the bottom line is this; if it doesn’t make sense for our guests then it doesn’t make sense for us…and that my friends is a good thing for you!
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