Focusing On the Mind

Once again, I am lucky enough to be playing a round of golf with Fuzzy and Ben Crenshaw at Augusta National this coming Sunday. It looks as though I will also be playing in “The First Tee” event at Pebble Beach in late August, and official event on The Champions TOUR.

I have been reading a lot of information on the psychology behind good golf, and it is no wonder me swing has become shorter, quicker, less dependable, basically an overall struggle.

I am now noticing how I talk to myself, and how I have been sabotaging my golf game since I was young. Bad thoughts, negative thoughts, memories of poorly executed shots fill my mind. It got to the point where I was having trouble pulling the club back.

When I review last year, I have tended to focus on the bad shots, like beaning the lady at Pebble Beach. I am going to switch that thinking and focus on the good shots that I have hit. Heck, I actually aced a shot and won a car. THAT’S the sort of shot I need to focus on.

I am working on fixing these problems by learning to deal with my mind. As bad thoughts enter my mind, I will try to detach myself from them, and view them objectively, like clouds passing by overhead. If I assign no emotional value to them, they can’t get to me.

I am also working on getting away from technical and mechanical thoughts, both on the golf course and on the practice range. I am slowing my swing down to 60% of where it has been, and trying to regain the rhythm and timing I had as a junior golfer. It’s still there if I can allow my mind to accept it and not sabotage it.

I am also going to learn to enjoy these moments provided to me. I am detaching my self-esteem from the results of my golf game. I am going to look at each shot as a new (and fun) adventure. I will do my best to stay in the present.

I am currently an 8 handicap and trending upward. My goal is to ultimately get down to a scratch level. But, to do that, I need to detach myself from the pressure of executing shots and scoring, and just hit one good shot at a time with good thoughts going through my mind.

I’ll keep you posted.

All the best.

Dave

The Quest Begins

Hey All,

I am closing in on 42, and I am determined to do what I can to revive, recreate, break down and rebuild, whatever you want to call it, my golf game.

My main motivation is that I have a son who is 13 and wants to pursue golf in high school, and potentially in college. Frankly, I want to set a good example for him and hit some respectable golf shots and post some good scores.

So, this will be my diary detailing my exploits, frustrations and successes (hopefully) as I move through this process. It is primarily for my benefit.

Golf fascinates me, and it always has. It demands the most confidence, mind control, ethics, planning and self reliance of any sport ever created by man. As life progresses and the body ages, golfers have the ability to improve and adapt. This is what I will try to accomplish.

(Dave lies down on a couch)

So Doc, this is my situation.

I started playing at age 13 and developed a swing by copying our Washington Country Club Head Professional, Gene Gilliate. He was a natural player who worked with us a bit, but never focused on mechanics. He would look at your swing and give you general thoughts and advise.

I was a mediocre junior golfer. Although I had the physical abilities, I put way to much pressure on myself to perform, especially in golf tournaments. My "self-talk" was terrible, and I was always thinking of ways to fail instead of encouraging myself to succeed.

I was guilty of loving it too much and wanting it too desparately.

I made a college golf team at an division III engineering school, but decided I wanted to pursue business as my education. I transferred to Indiana State which had no golf team, and that was the end of my "formal" golf experience.

The same mind talk has stayed with me, and while I have experienced spurts of good play, my game has basically eroded each year. I also experienced a few stretches of no golf at all, as I was working and raising a family.

I am now lucky. My office is at a golf course and my home is at the same golf course. I have no reason or excuse not to improve. It's one of those things that has brewed and festered in the back of my mind, and I want to give it my all.

My focus over the winter has been on reviewing the basics. I have found that my grip has progressively gotten worse. My swing has shortened and quickened, and my lower body has become way to active. I have also developed a "drop" at the top of my swing where my club comes from the inside too severely. The result is a push right or a hook. In order to hit a straight shot, the face has to make contact in an open state that offsets the path of the shot itself.

This has developed over time as I have taken the club outside on the take away with a shut face, not allowing the club to "roll" as the swing develops.

I have worked on taking the club more inside over the winter, hitting golf shots on a system called P3Pro, which calculates the path of your club and the position of the clubface through impact.

It has been improving, and I have actually hit a few balls on the range and have noticed some improvement.

I have also worked on quieting my lower body throughout the entire swing, hoping to eliminate fat shots and skulled shots.

Now, on to putting and chipping.

For the first time, I developed the "yips" last year at Pebble Beach (both putting and chipping) during the Wal-Mart First Tee event. I have been putting indoors through the winter using the "saw," which is the stroke you see Stadler using these days. It feels very smooth and "yip-free."

I have no doubt that this putting debacle has been caused by the pressure I have put on myself.

So, the second part of this process will be to learn how to work with my mind and make it an asset versus a liability.

Hopefully I stick to this renewed passion, and hopefully I learn something that I can pass on to you.

Lots of books have been written by golf professionals who are one-in-a-million talents. Maybe we can create something that documents an amateur (me) figuring out what works for him, and by extension, might work for you too.

All the best,

Dave