Recently a couple of things happened to that really encapsulates to me the game of golf.
I played in an unofficial competition organised by a group of golfers from an online forum at which guys had travelled up to 300 miles to play golf with complete strangers. What other sport or game can you think of in which that would happen?
But that’s golf isn’t it? A game in which people from all walks of life can meet up and enjoy their pursuit, I didn’t ask what these guys did for a living, their politics etc and they didn’t ask mine it just wasn’t relevant. All that mattered was that we played fairly to the rules of golf and enjoyed our game and company together.
During the round we had a that’s golf moment on the Nearest the Pin hole. One of our group duffed his tee shot into a water hazard and elected to play 3 from the tee. Inevitably, this time he hit a great shot six feet from the hole. “That’s Golf” we agreed it’s a universal law, all golfers know that a provisional ball always, always goes on the green or straight down the fairway.
Sir Winston Churchill had this to say about our game, “Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into a even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose.” Yup! That’s golf.
I’m undertaking an experiment to try to boost the readers to this blog. Chuck Westbrook a respected and well read blogger came up with an idea to increase traffic to “under appreciated” blogs by gathering together a group of people to help each other out. A “Self Help Group” for bloggers if you wish. Not that I’m feeling particularly under appreciated by my regular visitors ‘d just like more of you You can read more here.
A few weeks ago I was alerted to an incredible new innovation in golf practice from Jay Flemma’s blog A Walk In The Park in which he describes Tempo in Motion (T.i.M).
From the T.i.M press release: “Tempo in Motion (T.i.M.) enables golfers to refine their swing tempo using rock/pop music tracks containing rhythmic patterns attuned to their proper tempo. The tracks can be loaded onto an MP3 player and used on the driving range to help find, maintain and ingrain proper swing tempo in muscle memory.
“A consistent and smooth tempo is the foundation of every great golf swing,” said T.i.M. founder and president Mike Boyko, a former professional rock drummer, who also sports a 2-handicap on the golf course. “With Tempo in Motion, swinging at the right tempo will become second nature. Not only will it make you a better golfer, but it will make practice fun and add some energy to your game.”
Each T.i.M. track has a series of beats called click patterns, which serve as cues for when users should start the backswing, start their downswing and contact the ball. The click patterns are paired with original, high-energy music to help users stay in rhythm.”
I had to have a bash at this and headed off to the website www.tempoinmotion.com. I’ve got to say this is where I got a little confused. The instructions are to follow a graphic of a little golfer swinging. This can be speeded up or down and the idea is to match your swing with the rhythm of the graphic. The problem I had was that the graphic looks like a hacker swing and to me just wasn’t a smooth swing I wanted to emulate.
However I persisted, found my tempo, headed off to the download page, chose my music, paid my $4.99 and downloaded the track.
The music was something of an eyeopener too and whilst the press release alludes to “high-energy musc” I wasn’t prepared for how upbeat it actually was. I often play classical music in my car heading for the course trying to get in a relaxed mood and this seemed so contradictory to that idea
Still, the proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say and I headed off to the range with iPod in hand.
Again I was a little confused. I didn’t understand whether I was supposed to start my swing in tune with the “click pattern” and to try to synchronise my downswing with it. As I warmed up I played the 2 minute track over and over attempting without success to fit in with the clicks so in the end I just decided to stop trying too hard and simply hit golf balls.
The results were fantastic, I hit the ball great, flushing ball after ball! and only missing one shot which was a 3 iron from a v.dry bare lie ( I was getting cocky by this time!), the rest I was very happy with. Presumably, the body “tunes” into the tempo and synchronises subconciously but it doesn’t really matter to me how it works just that it does and I’ll definitely be continuing with it.
Another added bonus to using T.i.M was that it drowned out the mad-axeman hacker in the next bay giving his mate a “lesson”.
After my previous post of Pre-Shot Routine - A Blinding Realisation I worked on a new pre-shot routine and tested out at the range this week. I didn’t hit a shot without going through the routine first and was confident it would work.
Today was the first time it was unveiled on the course and I hit it super, particularly from the tee hitting 12/14 fairways. Unfortunately, my short game wasn’t as good and I came to the eighteenth needing a birdie to play to my handicap.The hole requires a draw from the tee in order to get into position to best attack the flag.
Part of the pre-shot routine requires a visualisation of the shot and I was able to “see” the ball drawing into the ideal spot but as I stood up to the ball and was going through the routine I didn’t feel comfortable at address as the clubhead kept twisting closed.
So did I back away and go through my pre-shot routine again?
NO! Like an idiot I carried on with the shot, blocked it straight into trees, was very lucky to find it and ended up making a good up and down for bogey.
As a confident European before the Ryder Cup I was foolhardy enough to strike a wager with some American fans online. In particular @bignellie on Twitter and clgman001 on Stracka.
The bet was that if Europe won they should buy a Union Jack cap and wear it to the golf club and should the USA win I was to buy a Stars & Stripes hat and wear it at my next golf game. Well you know the result so the photographic evidence is below.
Not the most flattering of photos I know but what the hell a bet is a bet. I will continue to wear the hat on my golfing travels and post the results.
I didn’t post immediately after the Ryder Cup because every golfer and blogger on the planet had a say so and I didn’t think I could contribute anything particularly new.
Suffice to say I thought the tournament was a great exhibition of golf with the US team playing some superb stuff.
My overriding feelings were that the US team just seemed to be having the most fun, they were laughing and joking and were definitely the most relaxed team on and off the golf course. Just as the Europeans have been in the past in fact.
Perhaps that’s the winning formula.
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You know I must be very slow on the uptake, stop nodding there at the back :-), but following my post Golf Is Not A Game Of Indecision I made a startling (to me) discovery.
I had some great feedback from the post at Stracka.com and got thinking about why certain things have distracted me on the golf course over the years and came to the conclusion that I was often reluctant to back away from a shot because I was concerned about holding other players up. Consequently, I was unprepared for the shot, rushed it and invariably got a poor result.
It’s ridiculous I know but I’m sure we’ve all been there.
This got me thinking, therefore, about a pre-shot routine. I don’t follow one. To be honest I’ve often thought they were a bit show-offy. Sometimes I’ll have a practice swing sometimes I won’t, I try to visualise the shot but not always, so you can see I have a pretty haphazard approach to my golf shots.
I think this is because I’ve played golf long enough I’ve convinced myself I have a decent enough swing and know the kind of shot of want to play in each situation.
But, here’s the blinding realisation. It’s not a physical pre-shot routine
IT’S A MENTAL PRE-SHOT ROUTINE. By following a set routine it tells my mind I am prepared & ready to hit my shot.
Through some trial and error I have come up with a routine that takes about 20 seconds by following it I hope to be better mentally prepared for each shot and more able to regroup after a distraction.
After all 20 seconds isn’t going to hold anybodys game up.
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Apologies to Bob Rotella and for the double negative. No, I’m not sure if it makes sense either but never mind.
Following on from my previous post about knowing when you’re about to hit a good shot, this is the opposite.
It’s amazing, isn’t it how easily it is to be distracted from hitting your shot? And then by not giving it full attention you hit a poor one.
In the last couple of games I’ve;
Missed a 2′ foot putt because a beetle crawled on my line!
Sliced a drive because the wind was blowing my cap.
Driven OOB ‘cos a greenkeeper was waiting to cut the tee.
Topped a drive because wasn’t sure of the line and, therefore, the club to hit.
Missed a fairway because the sun was in my eyes.
Hooked OOB because I was irritated by slow play!
The common theme in all these is an indecision or distraction that has prevented me committing to the shot.
Ok! ok! I know a blog is a kind of diary or journal but the kind I’m talking about is a diary of your golf game.
Some time ago I started to keep one (with the idea that it could become a blog but that would have been more self obsessed than this one :-)) and amongst the entries was a record of good shots played during the round, Drives, Approach Shots, Chip/Pitches & Putts.
The diary now has about 50 entries and reading it back the other day I realised I could remember every shot described vividly even though some of them were played well over a year ago.
The interesting thing is that I can also remember how I felt at address with these shots and I tell you I knew I was going to hit a good shot, absolutely knew! Something just felt right, I was confident, felt relaxed, made a good smooth swing etc
Why?? I don’t know that. If I did I’d be a pro but we’ve all experienced “seeing” the line of a putt before hitting it and watched the ball track that line and drop in the hole. So why can’t we do it more often?
Answers on a postcard to Golf Anorak, West Yorkshire, England.
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I came across the following article in which it seems Paul Azinger is placing a lot of emphasis on length from the tee in the forthcoming 2008 Ryder Cup battle at Valhalla. Why Azinger Picked The Big Drivers”
The article goes on to quote Azinger saying “…….I think that a ‘bomber’ is probably going to like the course.”and making no apology for the course to be set up to give an advantage to the home US team.
That’s no problem, it’s the home team’s prerogative to prepare the course as it sees fit, though I don’t necessarily agree that big hitters have the advantage in Match Play golf.
If, as Azinger expects, Europe will be out driven then of course it will be the Europeans hitting into the greens first. Hitting the green first will psychologically crank up the pressure in Match Play for the US players to match them.
This adds a further tactical dimension both on and off the course to what is already proving to be a fascinating Ryder Cup.
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We golfers all know that the short game and putting are more than half the game and that a warm up on the practice green will get us ready for the round ahead. WRONG!
Practice putting greens ARE NEVER like the greens on the golf course!
Recently playing at a championship links course and in anticipation of slick greens I spent half an hour or so getting used to the pace on the putting green.
After hitting the first green in regulation I was faced with 25 foot putt, got a good left to right read and BANG! 8 feet past! It’s a good job I holed it coming back or I’d have had a major tantrum on the first hole.
So, why is it so difficult for courses to maintain their practice greens like the greens on the course? Often they are not even the same strain of grass or cut to the same length.
Just how hard is it to keep the green consistent with the others?
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