The journey begins.

I've spent the day pondering why it is that I'm not a better Golfer than I am.

I know I can put my drives out there around 250 yards, somewhere near the fairway. (On bad days, the same zip code counts as the “near the fairway.”)

I know I can hit my 7 iron 150 yards consistently. I've sailed it 175 yards on occasion (no wind involved, just a magical feel to the impact. I'll come back to that in a minute.)

I have drained more than one 40 foot putt. I've also done it on one hole, only to miss the three footer on the next hole.

Exciting game this!

So I don't think it's strictly the mechanics of the game that are the problem. Well, not the whole problem.

It should be relatively easy to stand over any shot, remember how to do it right and cut loose. Should is the keyword.

I've concluded (prepare for big “No Duh!” moment) that it's all in my head.

Last time I played, the front nine was a disaster. It was as bad a round as some of my very first rounds. One of those front nines that make me consider giving up Golf and taking up something less demanding. Maybe tiddlywinks. Instead, after the 8^th hole went the same way as the first seven, I took stock of the situation.

I noticed that I was way tense and that I was focused on a number of things that were NOT my game.

I can tell I'm not in a good place when I don't hear the birds on the course. (I know this is the Kinetic Golfer, not the Auditory Golfer, but bear with me.) If I don't hear the birds, I'm not in the moment. Stopping and making myself listen for the birds (and the breeze in the trees, and so on....), forces me to inventory myself. Sure enough, the shoulders were up around my ears, I was hung up on the fact that I'd not managed anything better than a double so far. I was replaying every bad shot in my head (don't do that!!!) and I was trying to intellectualize how to get myself out of my funk.

Why do I do that??? I know that that way lies disaster, it should be easy enough to see it coming and head it off.

The good news is that I got my poop in a group after that little discovery session and relaxed a bit. Not stellar Golf but only one double, in a string of bogeys and pars. (Oh and one Birdie!!! :) )

So here's what I'm going to work on: Remember I mentioned those extra long 7 iron shots? I'm going to spend some time getting back in touch with the feeling of those swings. For me it's something like a totally relaxed (almost, but not quite, not putting any effort into it at all) back swing, a relaxed forward swing, but with a perfect release at the bottom, and a smooth follow through. Something like that. I'm going to capture that moment and embed it in my psyche. That's what I'm going to think of at every address on my next round. Yes, even the putts, there's something magical about that smooth flowing swing that applies here too....

I'll let you know how it works out.

If you decide to try it, or something like it, let me know.

Thanks for reading!!

Posted via email from Kinetic Golfer