MISCELLANEOUS
(71).."IN THE ZONE"
Ever looked at one of your playing buddies and said, "boy ! you are in the zone"?
We've all had the days we've been in that wonderful place. You beat everyone in sight. Any shot was easy. You didn't even think about your swing. Your feelings were totally within bounds. Every shot popped on command. We're talking "zone" here.
It's to bad these days don't happen more often, but these moments don't have to be rare. The good news is that you cannot make yourself get into the zone, so you can stop trying. The other good news is that you can create a normal psychology for yourself that promotes the zone.
Your belief plays an important role here. Obviously if you don't believe you can make a shot, you're in trouble from the getgo. This is why practice is more than working on your stroke. With practice comes not just skill but a KNOWING that you have the skill. When you know what you can do, and plan your game within those limits, then you are always in the zone in that you are maximizing your skills.You will probably find your self letting the swing happen instead of thinking about ten different thing and swinging the club. That's why a child can be in the zone even if they hardly have any skills. Being in the zone is all about KNOWING who you are and appreciating your own ability to live up to your PERSONAL expectations. That's the zone. Miracle shots? That's Michael Jordan territory. Your personal best? Zone time!
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(72).."PACE OF PLAY"
"Have you ever had one of those rounds where you had to wait on every shot? I've played behind people that. I swear if they went any slower they'd be playing the course backwards... I hate it. I like to play fast. I think if you play fast you'll have more fun and you might even play better. Here are a few things you can do to speed up play.
First off---If YOU are holding some one up...Let them play through. It is the correct thing to do and the less people will be hollering at you.
Second...The key is to be prepared. You've got be prepared to hit the golf shot when it's your turn. So get your yardage when you walk up to the ball. Don't pay attention to your playing partner because their shot doesn't matter to you. Just get ready to hit your shot so when your partner is done, you're ready to go. Follow this simple step in the fairway and you'll get to the green much faster.
Third... There are a of couple things you need to do on the green to speed up play as well. The first one is to read the putt while you wait. When your playing partner is done you can go ahead and play. The second thing you can do if you don't make your putt, just putt it out. There is no reason to stick your hand in your pocket for some change, go ahead and putt it out and you'll probably make more putts. That my friends will make the round go much quicker. But don't be in too much of a hurry that you forget to repair you ball mark!
Forth... When it's cart path only. Once you get your yardage, take the club you're going to hit and then also take one club above and one club below. This way you will have the club you want without having to come back to the cart.
If your partner is "away" in the fairway don't wait in the cart - wait next to your ball so you're ready to play.
Fifth...When you've finished putting and you go back to the cart...Don't set there filling out your score card, opening a can of beer and removing clubs for the next hole.Drive up to the next tee and then do that stuff.
Sixth..A couple years ago I started playing "Ready Golf" With my Friends and even with strangers if they are agreeable, the rule is quite simple...If you are ready and the guy with the honors is not,go ahead and hit.
I hope these tips help you play faster golf. Pass this along to your partners. A round of golf should be played in about four hours and remember, no one likes to wait.
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(73).."FAIRWAY BUNKERS"
Getting up and out of fairway bunker trouble:
When your luck goes south, you shouldn't. Don't panic..There's no reason why the ability to keep calm isn't as automatic as your swing.
When you find your self in a fairway bunker that has a big high lip that is too high for a normal shot with, say, your seven iron, then you have to go back to the six or the five iron. With these clubs you need now to open the face a bit and choke down about two inches. Also, widen your stance and play the ball dead center.
On these bunkers, you want to hit the ball first. Only dig into the sand with your target side foot and thus put more weight on it to support impact as you descend. Set your back foot too, of course, but only slightly. Don't take a full backswing. Three fourths is enough, because you have a longer club. With the open face, allow for a fade. Play smart...If you can't get there because of the lip, then hit a higher lip clearing shorter advancing shot that will leave you with a chip and putt and not added stokes.
Practice this and see that you're getting the distance without the crush, and the shots will stop quicker on the greens. Practice this with several irons. The more loft the less fade.
Shooting on the upslope of the fairway bunker doesn't have to be the bad break it often presents itself as. Adjustments make this an ordinary shot. As above, move one or two clubs down and open the face a bit while choking down about two inches. The ball should be forward in the stance. Now you should have more weight on the back foot with your right shoulder dropped a bit.
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(74).."BIFOCAL WOES"
Last week a friend stopped in for a couple new grips and our conversation got around to the trouble he was having with his golf swing because of the bifocal line in his glasses.
I had the same problem when I first got my bifocals a few years ago. The bifocal line interfered not only with my golf swing, but with my work. I found myself raising and lowering my head constantly...I probably looked like one of those head boobing dogs that set on the back shelf of some cars.
I fixed my problem with some masking tape. I grabbed a club, put a ball on the floor. I put a piece of masking tape across my glasses about half way down the bifocal line and took a swing. I kept lowering the tape until I made a swing and the top edge of the tape was not interfering with my vision. I then moved the tape so the bottom edge of the tape was were the top edge was. I now lowered my eyes and made sure that I was comfortable with the smaller bifocal when reading or working with close objects. Once I was satisfied I moved the top edge of the tape back down to were the bottom edge was. Took them in, masking tape still on the glasses and told em to make the bifocal just the way its marked with the tape. What a difference, no jumping golf ball during my swing and no more bobbing head when I'm working.
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(75).."PLAYING IN THE RAIN"
"The forecast is for rain, but don't let that stop you from teeing it up. Let me give give you a couple of tips that will help keep you dry."
For those of you that wear gloves, you know that in dry weather you only need one glove for a round. But if it is going to rain, bring a couple extra new or old. When one gets a little damp, you'll want to be able to have a dry one handy.
There are a couple of dry places to keep your gloves. One place is your bag, but as you begin to switch they might stick together and get wet.A much better place is to keep them under your umbrella. So just open up your umbrella and hook one or two up in the spine and then keep swapping them out. Three gloves should last you the 18 holes.
As everyone knows another good idea when it's raining is to keep your clubs and grips dry. Most people pull out their club, dry off the grip and go hit their shot. In the meantime the grip has gotten wet and the club is immediately put back into the bag.
So next time you go to pull out any other club the grip has gotten damp and will be much harder to dry. So re-dry the grip before you put it in the bag, it doesn't take that much more time. This way you'll make sure the grips stay as dry as possible. Hang one of your towels on the umbrella ribs next to your gloves. Also remember to put additional towels in your bag which will also help to keep you dry! A couple to keep those grips dry and one to keep the cart seat dry.
I keep a dry pair of socks in my bag also..waterproof shoes.."yeh right" ,step in the creek..done that. It's nice to have dry feet when the rounds over.
Most importantly, if the rain turns into a storm and there is lightening in the area, return to the clubhouse immediately. Don't mess with "Mother Nature" you'll lose. If you are far from the clubhouse find a shelter, they are usually marked on your scorecard.
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(76).."PLAY YOUR GAME"
Like most of you, I have a great many responsibilities that keep me off the golf course, and therefore have to limit my practice time. So here are some tips that will help you play and ultimately score better.
Accept the fact that you and I are not Tour pros and won't play like them, so find your personal par.
72-75 might be mine.
82-85 might be yours.
That means my focus has to be making 3's, 4's and 5's. Your's might be 4's, 5's and 6's. Select the holes that you can birdie. For single handicappers you should be birdie bound on par 5's for example. For 10-15 handicappers, you should look to the par 3's for par and one of the par 5's to birdie. For 15+ handicappers, don't quit! Keep your focus on working for the best possible number and take advantage of my golf tips, your gane will im;rove.
Play your game..If you hit your 5iron 150 yards and your buds are hitting 7 irons..Big Deal.. The minute you try and play their club selection will be the time you start going in the woods. Don't do.
1..Practice your short game....65% of your srokes occur from 100 yards in!
3,,Spend some quality time on your putting...40% of your strokes happen on the dance floor!
3..Don't think "mechanics" on the golf course. Think "target"-not ball.
-Try to finish every swing in balance.
Don't "make" the club go fast, just relax and "let" the club go fast.
4..Do your self a favor, Learn from a teaching professional, not from your golfing pals.
Being a good golfer does not qualify you as a golf instructor. Being told to keep your head down, move your hands here, open you stance, point your toes out, YAH-DA YAH-DA and then to do these things while playing a round of golf will totally srew up any chance you may have to improve your game.
6..Work on your swing problems away from the golf course and whether at the range or in the back yard..ONLY work on one thing and one thing only per session.
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(77).."DOWN HILL LIES"
The first thing you want to do when faced with a downhill lie is to level your body, hips and shoulders with the plane of the ground.
This will posture you as if you are hitting in the middle of the level fairway. Do this by creating a slight bend in your left knee to bring your shoulder parallel to the ground.
Since your weight will be tilted downhill, your body will want to go forward, falling down the hill. This will make your club come through the ball in a more open position.
To compensate for the open club face, aim a little left of the target.
Your club will also be delofted because of the angle of the club face at impact, so you'll also want to take one less club to keep the ball from flying too far past the pin.
With your body and shoulders now in alignment with the ground, swing down at the ball as if making a normal swing.
In a uphill lie, you will want to again align your shoulders and hips to the ground. Then, do the opposite of what you would do in the downhill lie.
In this instance, your body will want to fall back down the hill, so the club is actually going to want to close at impact, causing you to hook the ball.
Aim a little to the right of your target to compensate for the club coming in past your body
Remember to also take one more club than you would think for the uphill lie. Since the angle of the shot will cause the face to have more loft, you'll need more club to get it to the hole.
With both shots remember to stay down on the ball and follow through completely to the target.
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(78).."PROCESS NOT RESULTS"
Detach From Results and Become Process Oriented
As we play a round of golf, we are constantly checking on the results of our actions with keen interest. "Did I carry the sand trap?" "Is it in the water?" "Am I on the green?" We have trained ourselves to be very interested in and emotionally attached to the results of our actions. After all, we have taken the time to hit the shot, so we deserve the right to care about the results.
While it is true that we deserve this right, exercising it is detrimental to our performance. "If I make this putt I'll be 2 up." "If I par this hole I will finally break (e.g.) 100 or 90, etc." Thoughts that express concern about the results of a shot or a hole, lead most of us to anxiety, doubt or fear. These three feelings are not welcome visitors in our efforts to perform at our peak.
The foundation of a sound mental game is having the ability to detach from results. It is only after we have successfully detached from results that we are in position to becoming process oriented. Process orientation means getting involved in doing what it takes to achieve a successful shot. For example, a perfectly struck shot with a wrong club will go over the green and lead to a double bogey; a perfect drive at a poorly selected target will end up through the fairway and under a tree. These physical game successes (the good shots) are of no help if we donšt win the mental game (the process of choosing the right shot).
Winning the mental game requires process orientation. Our attention and our thoughts need to be on all that is involved in attaining successful results, not on the results themselves. When we feel more pressure on a 10-foot putt to win a match than we did on a 10-foot putt earlier in a match, we are result oriented. When we are more nervous on a second putt of four feet (because we donšt like to 3 putt) than we are on a four-footer after a chip, we are result oriented.
Process orientation transcends circumstance. A 10-foot putt is a 10-foot putt. Period. It requires a putt hit at a certain speed on a certain line. If our minds are going crazy with thoughts and concerns about results, it will not be open to process orientation; that is, figuring out the line and feeling the speed.
The challenge we face while performing is to stay in touch with the fact that a 10-footer is a 10-footer. Make this commitment and start today: "I will spend less energy concerning myself with the results of my shots and I will begin to get more involved in the process of choosing my shots.
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(79).."CHIP, PITCH, LOB ?"
Question: What is the difference between the chip shot, the pitch shot and the lob shot?
Answer:
A chip shot is a shot which lands on the green and rolls farther than it flies.
A pitch shot flies further than it rolls after hitting the green.
The lob shot rolls very little when it hits the green,
Two things are important, club choice and technique. Here are
some points to remember:
CLUB CHOICE
1) A 7-iron will fly about one-third of the distance to the hole and roll two-thirds.
2) A nine-iron will fly about halfway and roll halfway.
3) A sand wedge will fly about two-thirds and roll a third. (Therefore, it
becomes a pitch shot)
CHIP SHOT-TECHNIQUE
1) Use a narrow stance with the ball played back off the right foot.
2) Lean all the weight forward on your left foot.
3) Move your hands forward so your left hand blocks the vision of your left knee.
4) Keep the wrists firm and stroke the ball like a putt. After I have gripped the club I rotate my right hand until the back of my hand is almost pointing up at the sky. This really helps me stop any wrist movement and results in very consistant chips. You must not allow the wrist to break to assure crist contact of the ball. It gives me the feel of stroking instead of hitting the ball.
A pitch shot is a shot which flies farther than it rolls. A high, soft pitch, also called a lob shot, may be used to go over a bunker, especially if the pin is very close. A low, rolling pitch, also called a pitch & run, may be used when there is more green with which to work. Here are some points to remember on both shots:
PITCH & RUN-TECHNIQUE
1) A pitching wedge or 9-iron may be used for this shot to allow the ball to roll.
2) Use an open stance with the ball back, off the inside of your right foot, with about 75 percent of your weight on your left foot.
3) Make a shorter back swing, with just a little play in your wrists. The wrists should remain firm, but not rigid, throughout this shot.
4) Extend your arms and the club head fully to the target on the finish.
LOB SHOT-TECHNIQUE
1) A sand wedge or a 60-degree lob wedge is the proper club to use for this shot.
2) Use an open stance with the ball forward, off the inside of your left foot, with your weight evenly distributed.
3) Allow your arms to hang freely from your shoulders. Don't force your hands forward on this shot.
4) Make a fairly long backswing, allowing your wrists to hinge.
5) Make a very soft downswing, allowing the weight of the club head to do the work.
6) Extend both arms and the club head to the target on the follow-through.
These are great stroke-saving shots. You can recover from lots of miserable shots by having the ability to get up and down from around the greens. Use the information above and put in some time around the practice green and get ready to watch your handicap drop.
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