In the December 2007 issue of Golf Magazine, there was an interesting piece of instruction by Charlie King that I’m not sure I agree with. In the “Your Game” section (p. 68) in an article titled “How to Putt for Birdie Every Time“, King brings up an interesting concept in target selection in golf. He says that instead of shooting for the pin (in a situation that calls for it – fairway lie, center-cut hole), that you should instead give yourself a much bigger target than just the flag stick. He says that with such a precise target, you might tend to put too much pressure on yourself and tend to not swing freely. I agree with the part about not swinging freely if you put too much pressure on yourself, but I don’t believe the cause is a target that is too specific. Everything I recall reading and learning about the mental game says that the more specific the target, the better. The problem instead comes when we become results oriented. When we don’t
Wedge Gaps Part Deux
In July, I wrote a post concerning my move to four wedges to create better yardage gaps from within scoring range (100 yards). You might recall that I dropped my 4-iron and got a few new wedges, replacing my existing pitching wedge in the process. You may further recall that replacing the pitching wedge from my Callaway X-16 set with a Cleveland 588 left me with 3 additional degrees of loft on my pitching wedge. At the time, I had intended to get a degree or two added to my 9-iron (by having it bent to add loft), but I never did because I plan on getting new irons for next season. I thought I could make do, but it caused some problems. I went from 46 degrees to 49 degrees with my pitching wedge. Between that and the different model clubs, for a full finesse wedge swing, I went from about 130 yards with my old wedge to about 115 yards with the new one. My 9-iron carries close to 140 yards. That leaves
The Tougher the Climb, the Harder the Fall
Back in June, I did a post about what separates the best from the rest, a look at what elevates tour pros above scratch (or better) players. With that always in the back of my mind, I was recently reading Johnny Miller’s book, I Call the Shots while I’ve been recuperating from surgery. There’s a chapter in there about players that could give Tiger Woods a run for his money. The book was published in 2004 with most of the information current thorough 2003, but one of the players mentioned was David Duval. It mentions his decline after winning the British Open in 2001, but I think Miller and most everyone else figured he’d eventually turn it around. That had me thinking: what can cause such a radical decline for a player of that caliber? Duval was the number one player in the world in 1999. He shot a 59 in competition. He won a major. He had several other top 10 finishes in majors. He won 13 events on Tour. This year, he made
Target Awareness in Golf
One aspect of the mental game that I’ve been paying serious attention to recently is target awareness. Golf is a 100% target-oriented game. Can you ever think of a time when you hit a shot without a target in mind? That’s a bad idea, even on the practice range. Especially on the practice range. I’ve always known about the importance of targets in golf, at least on some level. However, I’m not sure I had a real awareness. It wasn’t until I was reading Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rotella (link to my review) recently that it all started to make more sense. There are many things he covers in the book, but three things resonated with me. It took random tips that had been fluttering around in the void that is my brain, and it turned them in to a process for improving my game. Those three things are: Pick as specific a target as possible. During the pre-shot routine and during the actual shot, think of the target,
Want Proof that Golf is Mostly Mental?
I’ve been struggling with my comeback and with my press onward. I’m spraying the ball all over the place. It’s gotten to the point where I made all my planned rounds optional with range sessions waiting to take their place. Up until now, even my range sessions were a struggle. I’ve taken a little time the last few days to recover some, with my new fitness regimen beating me down (I love it, but I just need to build up some endurance). With a little time to kill before heading over to a friend’s house for some July 4th festivities, I decided to hit the range. With the pressure of poor on-course performance removed, and with several days to let my head clear, I had the best range session I’ve had in a long time. Not every shot was perfect, but many were. And when I hit a bad shot, I followed it up with a correction and a good shot. I was like Tiger Woods on the range. Well, OK, that’s an exaggeration. But
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