Format: Stableford
Venue: [Home course]
Score: 28pts
Handicap mark: 14
Themes in reply: Too much golf; self-acknowledgement.
Dear Colin,
Yes I did play on Tuesday and had an unhappy round. I had a gross score of 100, net 86. Scores generally were poor because we don’t play medal rounds too often. Difficult to put my finger on why I scored badly but I did feel lethargic after playing the previous day at Newport in a Seniors match and of course having returned from France on Sunday where we played 5 times in a week!
I played today in the Friday swindle. We rushed to the 4th tee and I got the score-card written out, I rushed my tee shot which went straight into the rough on the right. I found the ball and tried to play it back to the fairway but then lost it.
I managed a 4 on the 5th, put a ball out of bounds on the 6th, and then played reasonable golf without much luck on the next few holes.
My partner and I went 4 down and were in danger of humiliation. At this stage I felt unable to raise much enthusiasm and I was beginning to wonder about the whole golf thing. A lot of time with little to show .
I hit a good drive on the 15th, a poorish second, a third to the right, a pitch on and 2 putts for 6.
I suddenly felt competitive and scored a 4 on the 16th – almost a 3 – and won the hole.
A great drive on the 17th and won the hole.
I birdied the 18th and won the hole.
One down, 3 to play.
A 5 on the 1st for a half; a 3 on the 2nd for a half with a great second putt and then 1 down with 1 to play.
A great drive down the 3rd, a beautiful wedge to 3 feet and a birdie.
Unfortunately one of our opponents also birdied the hole so we lost by 1 but I felt good about the last few holes. So much in the mind. I do find it hard to be competitive sometimes.
I look forward to your comments. I`m glad your blog is coming together.
Best wishes,
Matthew
Dear Matthew,
Thanks for the e-mail.
That’s a lot of golf in a short space of time! As you know, my view is that all hitting and throwing sports are played by the subconscious. For the body, having the subconscious on high alert duty over a long period, is an energy-expensive activity. Maintaining standards and competitiveness whilst playing a lot in a short space of time requires energy conservation, which is what my concentration “zoning” technique aims to achieve.
You are obviously competitive or else you would never have been able to play first class rugby. I think your frustration with your golf stems from the fact that the action of hitting a little ball accurately over a huge range of distances using unwieldy implements is very difficult at the best of times and thus requires the player to be fully focused at all times; any reduction in concentration, or focus, will be ruthlessly exposed by the fragile hitting mechanism that is the golf swing. When, through a slight dip in concentration, you lose competency, I think you read too much into it and blame your technique; whereas, in reality, it is simply that you are a little jaded.
From what little I have seen of you actually hitting a golf ball, I think your technique is very good and works across the complete range of shots. I think this competency is based on your naturally athletic swing. Also, it seems to me, you are a natural competitor who occasionally has difficulty expressing that competitiveness.
My methods are based on the notion that “timing” is the be-all and end-all of getting a ball from position A to desired position B; that “timing” is a subconscious activity and thus requires the player to behave in a precise way in order to maximise the chances of “timing” occurring under any particular set of circumstances; that the greatest threat to “timing” comes from the player’s conscious interference in the attempts of the subconscious to elicit “timing” from the complex set of jointed bones and muscles that is the body.
“Timing” is achieved when the pendulum that is the arms, and the pendulum that is the club, both swing in pendulumic motion, and both pendulums’ motion is synchronised. Perfect synchronicity can only be achieved by the subconscious.
So, where does all this leave you?
- You need to acknowledge yourself for being the good player that you are. Anyone that can birdie the 18th and the 3rd under pressure is by definition a very good player.
- Those shots that emanated from your body and resulted in birdies are not flukes: they are the result of your talent for finding “timing” when you most need it.
- Simply re-read what I have sent you so far and “get” that playing golf is a matter of locating your “timing” as quickly as you can in the round, and then taking that pendulumic rhythm from shot to shot to shot.
I think it would be a good idea if we could play a round together soon. It would give me the chance to reinforce the important fact that every shot on a golf course is fundamentally the same; that is, the ball needs to move from position A to desired position B; this requires the application of a specific force; the body finds this specific force and applies it through the mechanism of “timing”.
My methods simplify the experience of playing golf, which results in more enjoyment and feeling jaded less often.
Have a think and let me know.
Regards,
Colin
