Non Judgemental Awareness is a concept of the excellent Dr Parent, psychology PhD and Zen Golfer extraordinaire. He suggests that when we have a behaviour we wish to change (e.g. result focus to process focus for me, negative self talk for some or even leaving putts short) we make a firm commitment to eradicate that behaviour. Then when we found ourselves doing it, we record that we've done it. We make no comment on it, don't berate ourselves for it, we just record it (those wishing to correct negative self talk who make a mark then berate themselves have to make another mark ;-) and move on. The act of recording it alone is enough to make us alter out behaviour.
A related technique of Dr Parent's is "labelling and return", This is what I do when I catch myself thinking too hard about past or future on the course. I simply state "Your thinking in the past/future. Come back to the present" and this is enough to get me to return to the present for some time.
These techniques are so effective that in the 2 rounds I've been keeping a p-score, it's risen from 67% to 80%. Labelling & return I've used off & on and I'm definitely in the present far more often as a result. The mystical connotations of Zen Golf may put some people off, but I really recommend it as there are some fantastic techniques in there. There's an audio book read by the author, as is it's sequel Zen Putting. I own both books in hard copy and audio book, as I can then listen to them on my commute, otherwise "dead" time with regard to golf.
If you'd like to find out more about anything I talk about in this blog, either use the comments section below or tweet me on @The_Golf_Geek.
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Wednesday 25 August 2010
P/R=;-)
A cheesy grin keeps slipping onto my face this week as I replay last week's round. I'm delighted to report that after numerous top 3's and a couple of 2nds I've managed to record my first competitive victory in golf. This is of course great news in itself but the manner in which it was achieved is worth recording. As you know, I was very excited by the possibilities revealed by last week's round but having played golf for a wee while now I was prepared for things not being quite as smooth at the start of this round, as there's nothing like high expectations to scupper a round. Or so I'm told! In many ways this was the first time I'd come out with the potential for this but my knowledge of the mental game is good enough to know the pitfalls of such expectations. My intention was to bring the same focus to every shot that I'd done from about the 5th hole in my last round. Once again, I planned to keep a tally of the shots where I'd achieved my goal of being absorbed in the process.
I hadn't bargained for how much difficulty I'd have focusing at all on the first few holes. I was really distracted & couldn't figure out why, until I realised I'd forgotten to take some medication. I rectified this and was soon able to focus once again. The highlight of my front 9 was an up & down for par on the 7th; a lengthy par 5, I'd thinned my 5 wood on my 2nd shot into a fairway bunker, catching the ball slightly thin again with my 9 iron in the bunker (still quite a good fairway bunker shot) sending the ball over the green. into a patch of slightly fluffy rough. I'd short sided myself as the pin was at the back of the green on my side and had quite a cushion under the ball. I took my 60, positioned it so as to use the greater bounce angle (my wedges are the Eidolon V-sole wedges, 48, 54,60 with two bounce angles in the sole, allowing all of them to be as useful from tight lies as they are from fluffy rough or even the sand. Not expensive, they're built to your spec. Please check them out). I then planned my shot, trusted that my rehearsal swing was correct and swung. The ball damn near dropped in on it's 2nd bounce, before spinning to a stop about 3 feet from the hole.
I don't remember too much of my back 9, other than it was into the wind. My playing partner and fellow competitor Bob had been a wee bit down about playing into the wind, which was pretty stiff but I felt I could make some shots and if I focused on making these shots I'd do fine. There was a little nagging doubt that I'd ruined my card as I'd made 15 in total on the 5th & 6th whilst waiting for the medications to kick in, but every time I caught myself thinking like that I simply labelled it thus: "That's the past. Come back to the present" and re-committed to focusing on each and every shot. Even if my card was wrecked (by no means certain, as it proved) I still had my process score to play for, and I wanted to beat last week's score. I also did the same towards the end of the round when Bob (to be encouraging) told me on the 16th tee I'd played one under level 5's on the back 9 and thoughts of the future crept in. I had some bad luck at 16 (ball through green into back bunker against the back edge) and a wee wobble at 17 (lipped out from 2 feet). The wobble at 17 took some thought to shake off, but I managed to do so to get up and down on 18 (slightly mishit my tee shot and got a slightly thinned low fade short of the green, but stuck a great chip that I thought for a second might drop & which ran 3 feet past, leaving me a 3 footer for par and another back 9 of 44. I knew that my 95 would mean I'd be safely in the category 4 "buffer zone" meaning no handicap rise, and that I had an outside chance of a cut in view of the wind (Par is 71, competition scratch score is usually 69 but rises if it's wet/windy). I got in to the club house to discover I was leading my division by 2, but anticipated I'd be knocked off my perch by a later starter. I certainly didn't anticipate a net 70 winning, but I found myself itching to make my excuses, leave our guests on Saturday night to check. Mrs Geek asked if it might be online; this reminded me I'd seen a poster for howdidIdo.com at the club. I registered & discovered I'd won. The advantage of checking scores online is that there is no chance of your fellow member witnessinging your victory dance.
What to improve? Focus over the first 6 holes. There's mitigation this time, but I often start OK then peter out until the 7th. I was in good time for this round and feel missing the medicine dose did contribute, as my game improved as it started to "kick in". I'm going to divide the round into groups of 6 holes, trying to get a similar process score for each.
I made one very poor decision. I thinned into a bunker on the 5th, a pretty deep greenside one and was right up against the face. I had no stance as right leg in, left out (thinking about it now, I could have looked at kneeling with my left), and ended up taking 3 to get out & I was still pretty distant from the hole. I should have taken an unplayable drop, even said I was going to as I approached but still didn't and paid the price.
My process focus score (I'm going to call it as my P-score from now on for ease of reference) was 80%, rising to 84% on the back 9. I think I hit a wee bit of a trance-like state on the back 9, I don't recall anything terribly clearly until about 16-ish; I use a lot of hypnosis/NLP so this trance state is a good thing to get into on course. I seem to be getting better at pointing my putter in the correct direction and I'm going to use a similar target focus on my short game and full shots. I also seem to be getting a much better inner appreciation of my optimal tempo which can only be a good thing
I'm obviously absolutely delighted by this win; I'd been close before and my goal competitively had been just to be in contention (top 5 with a chance to win) at the start of the season. My handicap is now 24.9 with my goal of 24 this year looking like it might be achievable. It might not look that I'm improving but my cluster of scores has focused on the lower end of my range for some time now, and of course this is from the medal tees. What's also different is how I'm getting there as my play is much improved and much more steady. When scoring in the mid to low 90's now I don't feel at the limit of my ability, as I did before. There is a new "low score" in me, and if I keep going as I have been it will come around. Fun times indeed.
I hadn't bargained for how much difficulty I'd have focusing at all on the first few holes. I was really distracted & couldn't figure out why, until I realised I'd forgotten to take some medication. I rectified this and was soon able to focus once again. The highlight of my front 9 was an up & down for par on the 7th; a lengthy par 5, I'd thinned my 5 wood on my 2nd shot into a fairway bunker, catching the ball slightly thin again with my 9 iron in the bunker (still quite a good fairway bunker shot) sending the ball over the green. into a patch of slightly fluffy rough. I'd short sided myself as the pin was at the back of the green on my side and had quite a cushion under the ball. I took my 60, positioned it so as to use the greater bounce angle (my wedges are the Eidolon V-sole wedges, 48, 54,60 with two bounce angles in the sole, allowing all of them to be as useful from tight lies as they are from fluffy rough or even the sand. Not expensive, they're built to your spec. Please check them out). I then planned my shot, trusted that my rehearsal swing was correct and swung. The ball damn near dropped in on it's 2nd bounce, before spinning to a stop about 3 feet from the hole.
I don't remember too much of my back 9, other than it was into the wind. My playing partner and fellow competitor Bob had been a wee bit down about playing into the wind, which was pretty stiff but I felt I could make some shots and if I focused on making these shots I'd do fine. There was a little nagging doubt that I'd ruined my card as I'd made 15 in total on the 5th & 6th whilst waiting for the medications to kick in, but every time I caught myself thinking like that I simply labelled it thus: "That's the past. Come back to the present" and re-committed to focusing on each and every shot. Even if my card was wrecked (by no means certain, as it proved) I still had my process score to play for, and I wanted to beat last week's score. I also did the same towards the end of the round when Bob (to be encouraging) told me on the 16th tee I'd played one under level 5's on the back 9 and thoughts of the future crept in. I had some bad luck at 16 (ball through green into back bunker against the back edge) and a wee wobble at 17 (lipped out from 2 feet). The wobble at 17 took some thought to shake off, but I managed to do so to get up and down on 18 (slightly mishit my tee shot and got a slightly thinned low fade short of the green, but stuck a great chip that I thought for a second might drop & which ran 3 feet past, leaving me a 3 footer for par and another back 9 of 44. I knew that my 95 would mean I'd be safely in the category 4 "buffer zone" meaning no handicap rise, and that I had an outside chance of a cut in view of the wind (Par is 71, competition scratch score is usually 69 but rises if it's wet/windy). I got in to the club house to discover I was leading my division by 2, but anticipated I'd be knocked off my perch by a later starter. I certainly didn't anticipate a net 70 winning, but I found myself itching to make my excuses, leave our guests on Saturday night to check. Mrs Geek asked if it might be online; this reminded me I'd seen a poster for howdidIdo.com at the club. I registered & discovered I'd won. The advantage of checking scores online is that there is no chance of your fellow member witnessinging your victory dance.
What to improve? Focus over the first 6 holes. There's mitigation this time, but I often start OK then peter out until the 7th. I was in good time for this round and feel missing the medicine dose did contribute, as my game improved as it started to "kick in". I'm going to divide the round into groups of 6 holes, trying to get a similar process score for each.
I made one very poor decision. I thinned into a bunker on the 5th, a pretty deep greenside one and was right up against the face. I had no stance as right leg in, left out (thinking about it now, I could have looked at kneeling with my left), and ended up taking 3 to get out & I was still pretty distant from the hole. I should have taken an unplayable drop, even said I was going to as I approached but still didn't and paid the price.
My process focus score (I'm going to call it as my P-score from now on for ease of reference) was 80%, rising to 84% on the back 9. I think I hit a wee bit of a trance-like state on the back 9, I don't recall anything terribly clearly until about 16-ish; I use a lot of hypnosis/NLP so this trance state is a good thing to get into on course. I seem to be getting better at pointing my putter in the correct direction and I'm going to use a similar target focus on my short game and full shots. I also seem to be getting a much better inner appreciation of my optimal tempo which can only be a good thing
I'm obviously absolutely delighted by this win; I'd been close before and my goal competitively had been just to be in contention (top 5 with a chance to win) at the start of the season. My handicap is now 24.9 with my goal of 24 this year looking like it might be achievable. It might not look that I'm improving but my cluster of scores has focused on the lower end of my range for some time now, and of course this is from the medal tees. What's also different is how I'm getting there as my play is much improved and much more steady. When scoring in the mid to low 90's now I don't feel at the limit of my ability, as I did before. There is a new "low score" in me, and if I keep going as I have been it will come around. Fun times indeed.
Friday 20 August 2010
Reflection
It's late, my tee time is 0830 after a busy week, so not a long post tonight, but I couldn't let the week pass without reflecting a little on last week's round. I'm still proud of what I achieved & I'm itching to try to get to the same place, perhaps even further and/or more often tomorrow. I really started to understand exactly what focusing on the process meant and how to get there.
Certain holes stand out. I played a nice drive on the 8th, a shortish par 4 with penal bunkers in front of the green with the flag tucked behind one. I hit a 3/4 9iron in with a fade, but it just ran to the back of the green, 20ft away from the flag, before nearly holing my 1st putt & tapping in. On the subsequent hole, I had pull hooked my drive, and ended up 130 yards out on the wrong side of the fairway. I took my 6 wood, made a half swing and hit a low ball that ran to pin high. Not a shot I'd ever played with that club, but one I knew I could hit & it happened exactly as I'd envisioned. Hit a couple of towering draws with clubs I'd been under-confident with (6 iron & 5 wood) after I'd realised I was getting caught up in the result of the shot to it's detriment thus putting the past into the future.
Trying to measure how many shots I was focused on process really helped, as did committing to a target of 75% on Twitter (67%, for the record, a good solid start). Knowing I'd have to fess up made me really commit to doing this.
I'm reading Extraordinary Golf and I've tried the club throwing drill in the past with good results. I was very impressed with the picture series he shows (will talk more about this later if anyone would like) which illustrate how good a swing we make instinctively when focusing on transferring energy toward the target, rather than the ball being the target ("backswing obsession" may be another manifestation of this). I'm now focusing on swinging to transmit energy to my target. To do this, you need to pick a target & know where it is in space in relation to your position.
I was also struck by the change in my practice swing. Instead of being an "ornamental" flail at the ball, it became a much slower more deliberate movement where I really rehearsed the swing I intended- something I've tried to do before, but by only trying to slow the swing rather than focusing on the process- really mistaking an "Effect" for a "Cause". This is the way forward for me, and I'm really excited. Process target is still 75%. Will let you know how I get on.
PS: I'm so process over results now that I'm not going to tell you I came home in 44 for another 3rd place finish, or that I won my first cash because the boy that came 1st wasn't in the Sweep. I'm not that guy ;-)
Certain holes stand out. I played a nice drive on the 8th, a shortish par 4 with penal bunkers in front of the green with the flag tucked behind one. I hit a 3/4 9iron in with a fade, but it just ran to the back of the green, 20ft away from the flag, before nearly holing my 1st putt & tapping in. On the subsequent hole, I had pull hooked my drive, and ended up 130 yards out on the wrong side of the fairway. I took my 6 wood, made a half swing and hit a low ball that ran to pin high. Not a shot I'd ever played with that club, but one I knew I could hit & it happened exactly as I'd envisioned. Hit a couple of towering draws with clubs I'd been under-confident with (6 iron & 5 wood) after I'd realised I was getting caught up in the result of the shot to it's detriment thus putting the past into the future.
Trying to measure how many shots I was focused on process really helped, as did committing to a target of 75% on Twitter (67%, for the record, a good solid start). Knowing I'd have to fess up made me really commit to doing this.
I'm reading Extraordinary Golf and I've tried the club throwing drill in the past with good results. I was very impressed with the picture series he shows (will talk more about this later if anyone would like) which illustrate how good a swing we make instinctively when focusing on transferring energy toward the target, rather than the ball being the target ("backswing obsession" may be another manifestation of this). I'm now focusing on swinging to transmit energy to my target. To do this, you need to pick a target & know where it is in space in relation to your position.
I was also struck by the change in my practice swing. Instead of being an "ornamental" flail at the ball, it became a much slower more deliberate movement where I really rehearsed the swing I intended- something I've tried to do before, but by only trying to slow the swing rather than focusing on the process- really mistaking an "Effect" for a "Cause". This is the way forward for me, and I'm really excited. Process target is still 75%. Will let you know how I get on.
PS: I'm so process over results now that I'm not going to tell you I came home in 44 for another 3rd place finish, or that I won my first cash because the boy that came 1st wasn't in the Sweep. I'm not that guy ;-)
Saturday 14 August 2010
A breach of protocol...
...I'm breaching my usual protocol of Saturdays being golf free after my medal round to make a quick blog post. I'm really excited about today's round. Not so much by the score, a reasonable-to-good 94, as to how it was achieved.
I'm resolved to ignore score on the course, instead I'm focusing on being absorbed in the process on every shot. I was by no means perfect today (I kept a rough scorecard of how many shots I was in the process, will work it out and post later), but I really started to get the feeling of being process focused on a number of shots. I also played creatively, and I'm really proud of quite a few of the shots I managed to create. I also had 6 or 7 2 putts where the 1st putt looked like it might drop, and the 2nd putt was a tap-in. Although I lost my focus and got caught up in results on a couple of shots on 16, I managed to pull it together for the last couple of holes. But by goodness, the tendency to return to a results focus is strong, but this should fade as my trust in the process focus is reinforced. I also noticed that when I alter my initial gut reaction (for example put more or less force in my swing from my initial practice swing) I wished I'd trusted my original instinct. I'm therefore going to trust my first instinct! I'm going to have the very enjoyable difficulty of working out just which of my good shots I'll record at 3 good shots.
Much to enjoy, and to be proud of. I'm excited about the future. The lingering feeling? The feeling you get as you "come to" from focusing on the process of hitting a shot (almost a fugue state) and realise with a frisson of pleasure that the ball is doing exactly what you planned.
This of course means you've executed the shot exactly as planned - because the ball always does what it's told.
(Thanks to Kendal & Scott for that one ;-)
I'm resolved to ignore score on the course, instead I'm focusing on being absorbed in the process on every shot. I was by no means perfect today (I kept a rough scorecard of how many shots I was in the process, will work it out and post later), but I really started to get the feeling of being process focused on a number of shots. I also played creatively, and I'm really proud of quite a few of the shots I managed to create. I also had 6 or 7 2 putts where the 1st putt looked like it might drop, and the 2nd putt was a tap-in. Although I lost my focus and got caught up in results on a couple of shots on 16, I managed to pull it together for the last couple of holes. But by goodness, the tendency to return to a results focus is strong, but this should fade as my trust in the process focus is reinforced. I also noticed that when I alter my initial gut reaction (for example put more or less force in my swing from my initial practice swing) I wished I'd trusted my original instinct. I'm therefore going to trust my first instinct! I'm going to have the very enjoyable difficulty of working out just which of my good shots I'll record at 3 good shots.
Much to enjoy, and to be proud of. I'm excited about the future. The lingering feeling? The feeling you get as you "come to" from focusing on the process of hitting a shot (almost a fugue state) and realise with a frisson of pleasure that the ball is doing exactly what you planned.
This of course means you've executed the shot exactly as planned - because the ball always does what it's told.
(Thanks to Kendal & Scott for that one ;-)
Thursday 12 August 2010
Lessons from the links - 2."The Secret"
You don't have to spend too long browsing golf web sites before you come across large banner ads suggesting that the secret to good golf scores lies but a click away. Click on one, however, and you'll soon realise that several clicks and crucially your credit card details are required before this information is divulged. The sheer number of these sites means there must be a market for them. I'm very dubious about these claims and yet still find myself tempted in my weaker moments.
This phenomenon is of course not just limited to golf. The Internet is awash with purchasable "secrets" that promise quick fixes without the work and it's tempting to dismiss it as a symptom of that most modern of maladies, the so-called "quick fix culture". I'm not certain this is the case. I think there's a fair amount of evidence to suggest that this is a symptom of human nature, a perpetual victory of hope over experience. If you're in any doubt as to the veracity of this, think of the "snake-oil" salesmen in the Old West, and look at the whole industry around diet and fitness.
It's easy to get confused and you might worry that you'll never be able to negotiate your way through all the available information without either getting ripped off or missing out on the vital piece of the jigsaw, the one that magically takes your game from struggling round the weekly medal to the European Tour, or at the very least the latter stages of the British Amateur.
But fear not, for today, here & now, I am going to reveal, for free, the secret.
The secret is that there is no secret.
There is no magic move that will instantly take 10 shots off your game after an evening's practice. There is no single bit of information that will make a 26 handicapper into a world beater. There is no way to lose weight other than eating fewer calories than you expend over a prolonged period of time and although some devotees of Dr Atkins would dispute that last statement this is indeed how the Atkins diet works. You eat unlimited protein (which seems to fill you up) and fat (which most people find unpalatable in large quantities) and by excluding carbohydrates you limit the opportunity to indulge in more pleasurable fatty foods like hot buttered toast and french fries/chips.
Why then pretend there is a secret? The most obvious reason is that if you can make people believe you have a secret, you can make money from them. We would all love there to be a shortcut for long processes, such as skills acquisition in golf, and thus we're tempted when the possibility is dangled in front of us. The golfing press, and magazines in particular, probably depend on our belief in "the secret" for their very existence. Look at the cover of any golf magazine and you'll find the word "secret"- "secrets of the short game", " the secret to longer and straighter" etc etc. I went quickly from a 4 magazine a month addiction to no magazines at all after I stopped believing in these secrets, and I think many others would too.
There's another reason to pretend there's a secret, one that has nothing to do with people trying to put their hands in our pockets. Often the solution to the difficulties we face and would love to bypass are so elegantly obvious that we quite simply refuse to believe it. Want to lose weight? eat fewer calories than you expend, that's what's at the root of all successful diets, even that of the hideous poo lady (who can no longer call herself a doctor as she #hasnoPhD, Twitteratti ;-). Want to improve at golf? work hard, making sure your focus is on the correct areas (putting, short game, strategy probably ahead of full swing) working with a qualified coach in whom you have faith and concentrating on playing one shot at a time whilst on the course. If you invent a contrived, pseudo-scientific explanation for your "secret" it can often improve your credibility in the eyes of the credulous public, but eventually it only serves to complicate and obfuscate the true picture. In golf this has happened so much that many of us are not at all certain where the true path lies.
I said it was simple; I didn't for a second imply it was easy!
Now, to be clear, I'm not saying that none of the mooted techniques work. On the contrary, I've used some to good effect (Carey Mumford's clearkey and Andy Morrison's "glued tongue", apparently both examples of a "pattern interrupt" in NLPese which have helped me a lot). What I'm saying is that there's an awful lot of snake oil being sold out there from the frankly unhelpful to the slightly more useful but still potentially frustrating old idea dressed in new clothes. We should be cautious of any claims and try to find independent corroboration. One of the reasons I'm so fond of the Golf Smarter podcast is that it allows me to hear a coach discuss their philosophy and techniques in detail, whilst being quizzed by the host. And if there's no corroboration available how significant a secret can it have been in the first place?
As ever, please feel free to comment, either below or to @The_Golf_Geek on Twitter.
I've had a fantastic response to this post, both in the comment below & on Twitter. I've had an interesting back-and-forth discussion with Michael Landgrebe of Confident Golf, who gently explored whether my instruction to "work hard" at golf might have been better expressed. It's pretty clear from our discussion that we're coming from the same place on this issue, so I just wanted to post a wee clarification.
I do stand by what I said- golf isn't easy, and it's a good thing it isn't. If golf were easy we'd never know the joy of achievement that we get from a new low round, or from hitting a draw from a slice lie into a 2 club wind which lands 4 feet from the hole. But golf is a game, and at it's heart should lie playfulness, enjoyment and fun. I've worked hard at my golf, but never once has it felt like hard work.
I have many demands on my time, with family and career, and if golf weren't fun I simply wouldn't do it. My coaches advocate a game which is joyfully creative, and I know if golf ever ceases to be enjoyable for me they will quickly help me reconnect with why I fell head over heels in love with the game. If golf is feeling like hard work for you, might it be time to consider a change in coaching?
This phenomenon is of course not just limited to golf. The Internet is awash with purchasable "secrets" that promise quick fixes without the work and it's tempting to dismiss it as a symptom of that most modern of maladies, the so-called "quick fix culture". I'm not certain this is the case. I think there's a fair amount of evidence to suggest that this is a symptom of human nature, a perpetual victory of hope over experience. If you're in any doubt as to the veracity of this, think of the "snake-oil" salesmen in the Old West, and look at the whole industry around diet and fitness.
It's easy to get confused and you might worry that you'll never be able to negotiate your way through all the available information without either getting ripped off or missing out on the vital piece of the jigsaw, the one that magically takes your game from struggling round the weekly medal to the European Tour, or at the very least the latter stages of the British Amateur.
But fear not, for today, here & now, I am going to reveal, for free, the secret.
The secret is that there is no secret.
There is no magic move that will instantly take 10 shots off your game after an evening's practice. There is no single bit of information that will make a 26 handicapper into a world beater. There is no way to lose weight other than eating fewer calories than you expend over a prolonged period of time and although some devotees of Dr Atkins would dispute that last statement this is indeed how the Atkins diet works. You eat unlimited protein (which seems to fill you up) and fat (which most people find unpalatable in large quantities) and by excluding carbohydrates you limit the opportunity to indulge in more pleasurable fatty foods like hot buttered toast and french fries/chips.
Why then pretend there is a secret? The most obvious reason is that if you can make people believe you have a secret, you can make money from them. We would all love there to be a shortcut for long processes, such as skills acquisition in golf, and thus we're tempted when the possibility is dangled in front of us. The golfing press, and magazines in particular, probably depend on our belief in "the secret" for their very existence. Look at the cover of any golf magazine and you'll find the word "secret"- "secrets of the short game", " the secret to longer and straighter" etc etc. I went quickly from a 4 magazine a month addiction to no magazines at all after I stopped believing in these secrets, and I think many others would too.
There's another reason to pretend there's a secret, one that has nothing to do with people trying to put their hands in our pockets. Often the solution to the difficulties we face and would love to bypass are so elegantly obvious that we quite simply refuse to believe it. Want to lose weight? eat fewer calories than you expend, that's what's at the root of all successful diets, even that of the hideous poo lady (who can no longer call herself a doctor as she #hasnoPhD, Twitteratti ;-). Want to improve at golf? work hard, making sure your focus is on the correct areas (putting, short game, strategy probably ahead of full swing) working with a qualified coach in whom you have faith and concentrating on playing one shot at a time whilst on the course. If you invent a contrived, pseudo-scientific explanation for your "secret" it can often improve your credibility in the eyes of the credulous public, but eventually it only serves to complicate and obfuscate the true picture. In golf this has happened so much that many of us are not at all certain where the true path lies.
I said it was simple; I didn't for a second imply it was easy!
Now, to be clear, I'm not saying that none of the mooted techniques work. On the contrary, I've used some to good effect (Carey Mumford's clearkey and Andy Morrison's "glued tongue", apparently both examples of a "pattern interrupt" in NLPese which have helped me a lot). What I'm saying is that there's an awful lot of snake oil being sold out there from the frankly unhelpful to the slightly more useful but still potentially frustrating old idea dressed in new clothes. We should be cautious of any claims and try to find independent corroboration. One of the reasons I'm so fond of the Golf Smarter podcast is that it allows me to hear a coach discuss their philosophy and techniques in detail, whilst being quizzed by the host. And if there's no corroboration available how significant a secret can it have been in the first place?
As ever, please feel free to comment, either below or to @The_Golf_Geek on Twitter.
I've had a fantastic response to this post, both in the comment below & on Twitter. I've had an interesting back-and-forth discussion with Michael Landgrebe of Confident Golf, who gently explored whether my instruction to "work hard" at golf might have been better expressed. It's pretty clear from our discussion that we're coming from the same place on this issue, so I just wanted to post a wee clarification.
I do stand by what I said- golf isn't easy, and it's a good thing it isn't. If golf were easy we'd never know the joy of achievement that we get from a new low round, or from hitting a draw from a slice lie into a 2 club wind which lands 4 feet from the hole. But golf is a game, and at it's heart should lie playfulness, enjoyment and fun. I've worked hard at my golf, but never once has it felt like hard work.
I have many demands on my time, with family and career, and if golf weren't fun I simply wouldn't do it. My coaches advocate a game which is joyfully creative, and I know if golf ever ceases to be enjoyable for me they will quickly help me reconnect with why I fell head over heels in love with the game. If golf is feeling like hard work for you, might it be time to consider a change in coaching?
Tuesday 10 August 2010
Hiatus...
..well, a brief one for me from all things golf. This was due to a combination of working a weekend, and then heading off to the Tartan Heart music festival (better known as Belladrum, the name of the estate). A hectic work week in the intervening time meant I didn't even get out to practice. This was the biggest break I've had from golf since starting this blog, but to be honest it feels good as I'm really hungry to get back playing. It was also a lot of fun. Although we felt Master Geek was a bit young at 11 months, the festival focuses on being family orientated so we took a very excited Miss Geek along with us, camping in the designated "family" camping area and had an awful lot of fun. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a festival suitable for kids who was able to get up to Inverness.
Although I hadn't been able to get out to practice, I have still been able to get quite a bit of practice in, some of it really quite relevant to what I feel my current focus should be (playing shots absorbed in the process, thus managing to stay in the present). I've hit an awful lot of putts on my downstairs hall. This might elicit a bit of a "so what?" reaction, but my goal was to complete my full pre-shot routine for each putt. This has two effects. Firstly it cements my routine into place, making it more likely that I'll use it in competition and secondly it allows me to perform it more and more slickly as I become more practiced at it, and streamline it by dropping out any extraneous steps. I've also worked on a couple of skills tests - playing between two poles, ensuring that the ball touches neither of them (starting with a 4, then 3 then 2 ball width separation between poles) and also using my putt pucks as a "rebound" tool, to ensure I'm not pushing/pulling the ball; with a bit of practice I can get the ball rebounding straight back form 4-5 feet with regularity- hopefully something that should help hole more 3 footers. I have of course continued with my stretching program (although not when camping!) and my Golfer Within hypnosis and NLP. I can't overstate how much both of these things have helped my game.
What might be less predictable is how much an hour spent at the Belladrum festival is going to help my game. This may well seem an unlikely claim, perhaps the fevered ramblings of one in the throws of delirium tremens following a weekend of bacchanalian overindulgence. All I can say in my defence is that I consumed no alcohol at the festival. There was an area of the festival known as the "Hielan Fields"- a play on words, as Hielan' is the local dialect for Highlands (where the festival is situated) as well as being phonetically close to "healing"- and in this area was a large dome tent from a Buddhist monastery. I happened to notice that they were offering an introduction to meditation, with a session on mindfulness of breathing. This is something mentioned by Dr Parent in both Zen Golf and Zen Putting,and it's something that intrigued me. The session was quite an experience, and it's a practice I think I'll be looking to develop as the sensation of relaxed concentration I found as a result would I think be very exciting to use on the golf course- and in the rest of life. I think y they call it a "practice" as it's looking to develop skills that we can use to stay awake to the present moment more often than we currently do. In short, it's a practice for life.
(I make no claims to be a student of these matters, and certainly don't have a lot of knowledge or experience of them. Should any reader wish to correct or amend anything I've said, please use the comments section to set me straight!)
I've got a few more blog posts up my sleeve, and will be back on the course this week. I'm going to shift my goals. My "playing focus" for the next while will be to stay "awake" in the present moment whilst swinging the club, keeping track of how often I'm absorbed in the process rather than the more complex stat log I've been gathering. (I may still look at the number of putts, and the number of up & downs as I'm hoping to decrease the former and increase the latter, and I'm hoping awareness & measurement will aid this).
I hadn't planned to read too many more golf books, but had to make an exception for Extraordinary Golf and it's attempts to drastically alter the world view of golfers. Mastery by George Leonard is next on this Geek's reading list, followed by Yoga for Golfers. My plan is to have quite a good hard look at flexibility and core strength over the winter months, as my job this year is going to be pretty hectic, which along with the demands of family life and the weather in the North East of Scotland may well limit my opportunities to play 18 holes. I shall of course post a detailed list of my goals and practice plan for the close season as well as the 2011 season when the time comes.
If anything posted above makes you want to comment whether it be to agree or disagree with the above or any other content on the blog, I'd love to hear from you, and to open up a debate. Leave your thoughts in the comment box below!
Although I hadn't been able to get out to practice, I have still been able to get quite a bit of practice in, some of it really quite relevant to what I feel my current focus should be (playing shots absorbed in the process, thus managing to stay in the present). I've hit an awful lot of putts on my downstairs hall. This might elicit a bit of a "so what?" reaction, but my goal was to complete my full pre-shot routine for each putt. This has two effects. Firstly it cements my routine into place, making it more likely that I'll use it in competition and secondly it allows me to perform it more and more slickly as I become more practiced at it, and streamline it by dropping out any extraneous steps. I've also worked on a couple of skills tests - playing between two poles, ensuring that the ball touches neither of them (starting with a 4, then 3 then 2 ball width separation between poles) and also using my putt pucks as a "rebound" tool, to ensure I'm not pushing/pulling the ball; with a bit of practice I can get the ball rebounding straight back form 4-5 feet with regularity- hopefully something that should help hole more 3 footers. I have of course continued with my stretching program (although not when camping!) and my Golfer Within hypnosis and NLP. I can't overstate how much both of these things have helped my game.
What might be less predictable is how much an hour spent at the Belladrum festival is going to help my game. This may well seem an unlikely claim, perhaps the fevered ramblings of one in the throws of delirium tremens following a weekend of bacchanalian overindulgence. All I can say in my defence is that I consumed no alcohol at the festival. There was an area of the festival known as the "Hielan Fields"- a play on words, as Hielan' is the local dialect for Highlands (where the festival is situated) as well as being phonetically close to "healing"- and in this area was a large dome tent from a Buddhist monastery. I happened to notice that they were offering an introduction to meditation, with a session on mindfulness of breathing. This is something mentioned by Dr Parent in both Zen Golf and Zen Putting,and it's something that intrigued me. The session was quite an experience, and it's a practice I think I'll be looking to develop as the sensation of relaxed concentration I found as a result would I think be very exciting to use on the golf course- and in the rest of life. I think y they call it a "practice" as it's looking to develop skills that we can use to stay awake to the present moment more often than we currently do. In short, it's a practice for life.
(I make no claims to be a student of these matters, and certainly don't have a lot of knowledge or experience of them. Should any reader wish to correct or amend anything I've said, please use the comments section to set me straight!)
I've got a few more blog posts up my sleeve, and will be back on the course this week. I'm going to shift my goals. My "playing focus" for the next while will be to stay "awake" in the present moment whilst swinging the club, keeping track of how often I'm absorbed in the process rather than the more complex stat log I've been gathering. (I may still look at the number of putts, and the number of up & downs as I'm hoping to decrease the former and increase the latter, and I'm hoping awareness & measurement will aid this).
I hadn't planned to read too many more golf books, but had to make an exception for Extraordinary Golf and it's attempts to drastically alter the world view of golfers. Mastery by George Leonard is next on this Geek's reading list, followed by Yoga for Golfers. My plan is to have quite a good hard look at flexibility and core strength over the winter months, as my job this year is going to be pretty hectic, which along with the demands of family life and the weather in the North East of Scotland may well limit my opportunities to play 18 holes. I shall of course post a detailed list of my goals and practice plan for the close season as well as the 2011 season when the time comes.
If anything posted above makes you want to comment whether it be to agree or disagree with the above or any other content on the blog, I'd love to hear from you, and to open up a debate. Leave your thoughts in the comment box below!
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