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Pastimes : Golf! A thread for the hopelessly addicted! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (1617)	6/22/2000 10:23:00 AM
From: Magnatizer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 44005

John I am same of the same vein. This is what I do... First, you must know 3 (no more, no less) swing thoughts which work best for you. These are developed through trial and error. Example: When I focus on a solid, well balanced finish the rest of my swing tends to come together well. So "solid finish" is one of my 3 key swing thoughts. A good pro's swing is also a good swing though. I prefer Ernie Els. You will have to find yours. I feel this is best done on the golf course as opposed to the range. Most mental work should be done on the course as the range IS different. Range is more of a physical labor. K, now you have your 3 best swing thoughts. The thoughts can change as your game changes... The course you play on appears to have beautiful scenery. Absorb it, focus on it. When you are waiting for someone else to stroke a putt or hit a drive... take a look at the trees, animals, course... Take mind off of your next shot. Develop a pre shot routine. This is a combination of physical (lining up shot, practice swing) and mental (visualization). This can be done on practice range. My pre shot routine goes as follows: Start from behind ball and pick a spot a few feet in front of my ball on the intended line I want ball to start out on. I then visualize the shot. I can sometimes even "see" a line going through the air as to where the shot should travel. Not always, sometimes... Now I have my line selected and I have a mental image of the shot at hand. As I approach the ball I maintain focus on the target (a few feet in front of ball) and when I reach ball I immediately place club aiming at target. I now have confidence the club is lined up correctly. Next step is the body alignment. This may be harder to discribe... I put my feet together in a area where, if I brought club back directly toward body, it would split my feet. Then I step out with left foot on target line, then right. The step with left is how I get the ball in proper placement. If I want ball in middle of stance, the step is half width of stance. If I want ball in front of stance, there is no step at all, just a opening of the toe a bit. Then the right goes back to the proper stance width. I now have confidence in: 1: mental image 2: alignment 3: ball position. I then let my body take care of itself. If I am out of alignment with my torso or the wrong distance from the ball I will notice bad ball flight. I will work on those problems on the range. I then take my grip of the club. I assume I am taking a proper grip when I apply it. I do work on grip on the range but do not focus on placement when playing. Address position is now solid. I have confidence everything is in proper placement as I do the same routine every shot. So, this is no longer a weight on my mind. Now, the tricky part. Getting comfortable. Some waddle, some waggle, some take deep breath... I waddle and waggle then do a few trial take aways (with woods) Once I feel relaxed I focus on swing thought (ONE of the 3, not all 3 at once) Then I swing. What this will do for you is put you "in the moment" You can relax on the course and take in scenery, conversation with buddies, beer... whatever. But you must be "in the moment" when you swing. Pre shot routine gets you there. Once you can do this, your blow ups will become less and less common. ht Mag

To: Road Walker who wrote (1617)	6/22/2000 4:50:00 PM
From: thecow	Respond to of 44005

John From your comment about the blow-up holes being a combination of bad shots I would suggest paying closer attention to the risk-reward ratio of the shots you attempt while extricating yourself from a tricky situation. For example, once you have hit it in the woods, don't try a miracle recovery shot. Just get it back in play and avoid the triple. Don't try a desperation shot because what you'll usually end up with will be a disaster. In medal play, those will kill you. Mags advice on establishing a good pre-shot routine is excellent and I would like to add a suggestion on focusing. On a tight, penalizing course like you describe it is especially important to have a definite target on every shot. Don't get on the tee and try to hit one somewhere on the left side of the fairway and for sure don't hit a shot thinking "don't hit it over there." Aim at a divot, a tree, edge of a trap. In short, decide what you need to do and where you need to hit this shot to set up the next shot. On your comment about playing worse when you try too hard, that is a common problem. Forcing anything in golf causes tension in the muscles and death to the good swing. If you feel tense over the ball, back off a second and relax your shoulders and arms. Let your arms hang limp. Your take-away will be slower and smoother and your release better. Good shots and scores will follow....I hope. tc :-)