Format: Stableford
Venue: [Home course]
Score: 37pts
Handicap mark: 3.5
Themes in reply: Poor rounds; swing thoughts; driving your coach bonkers.
Hi Colin,
Well done on winning your game at the weekend.
When I was young, and didn’t have lots of things going on, I could remember all my shots from all my rounds. As I get older with work, home etc etc this becomes ever more difficult. This applies to a greater degree if it’s a poor round so as a consequence I can hardly remember my round from 28th July. All I can remember is that I played pretty poorly and ended up with 26 points in tough conditions.
Lately I have been losing quite a few shots right and not striking (timing) the ball at all well. It was the same on Friday night. Before playing on Sat we went to the practice ground and I decided to hit everything with a draw. Although I overdid it with a few shots the flight of the ball was much better and hardly any went right. I took this into the round with my only swing thought of hitting through the ball to the right of the target. In doing this it made me get through the ball much better.
As a result I played much better only losing 1 drive to the right. I even hit it down the left of the 2nd!!
I putted really well and didn’t 3 putt once although a few birdie chances went begging. I was level par after the 11th, dropped a shot on the 12th after driving into the RH rough. Dropped a shot on the 13th after pulling a 7 iron approach to the left. On the 17th I was just short in 2 with a chip of about 30 yards. I was looking to get it close for a birdie but shanked it into the rough and took 3 more to get down so 1 point instead of 2 or 3! I parred the 18th for 17 points on the back 9 to add to the 20 points going out.
This Sunday and Monday I am playing in the South Wales Seniors Open at the Rolls of Monmouth. It should be good and if you fancy a trip to watch let me know.
Regards,
John
Dear John,
Many thanks for the e-mail.
Poor rounds – On Saturday, the rink I skip won quite comfortably. A skip plays well when he pulls off the crucial shots. So, for instance, if you are bowling last and you are already holding three shots in the head, then it is a very good idea if you can put your wood close enough to score a fourth. (There are dangers, however, because it is all too easy to hit one of their woods or move the jack and alter the head completely so that you end up losing the end.) However, if you fail to score a fourth, although it is mildly disappointing it is hardly critical.
If the game is poised and you are three shots down and you need to do something drastic, and you manage to shift the jack so that you end up lying two shots to the good, then it is obviously a critical play that you have pulled off.
On Saturday, I pulled off the crucial shots (except one) and so felt that I had played well. However, after the game my mind kept going back to those ends where I didn’t do what I had wanted to do. Because I had won, the ruminations faded by Sunday evening! When I lose, I can ponder my poor play for a couple of days. (I’m not proud to admit to any of this.)
I’m not sure if you are like me or not, but if you are then I think you should consider writing to me after every poor round (and every poor stretch of holes) so that you can “put it to bed” quickly and not let it interfere with your next round. This ought to have the effect of reducing large variations of form as you go through the season.
Since my father died, I haven’t known anyone who understands bowls enough and so can talk to me about my poor play. I miss it.
Swing thoughts – Swing thoughts are like employing hit-men: they have a habit of providing solutions in the short-term but creating bigger problems than they solve in the longer-term.
I mess about with swing thoughts all the time with my bowls swing and can often get myself into a right tangle, especially during the game. I have noticed that my need to have swing thoughts decreases the more I play.
Swing thoughts are less dangerous if you always go back to the principle of the pendulum and start from there. They are most dangerous when something seems to work and then you concentrate on this one thing, which starts to overwhelm the conscious process which produces “timing”, and then your “timing” goes but you think it is NOT doing the one thing that was working, and so you resolve to concentrate on this one thing even more etc etc.
I think that this season has been very difficult for you because of the weather: the constant wind, rain and poor temperatures; the thick rough, the damp course, slow greens etc. It has been very stop-start and I think that you probably feel short of playing time. This will have the effect of making you feel “un-grooved” and get you looking for something to give you a consistent feeling swing.
In that context, I think it is to your credit that you have been able to maintain your handicap mark, that you have won a couple of times, that you have improved your chipping and that no part of your game has worsened.
In terms of the theory, the moment the ball starts going “right” off the tee then it is almost definitely because you are getting quick at the top. All sorts of swing thoughts will have the effect of slowing you down at the top – which is fine – but you have to remember at all times that it is not the thought itself but the delay it causes that straightens your shots out.
17th – You drive me mad. All that good play and you lose the competition with a shanked chip: the very part of your game that has improved. And to get to within 30yards in two!
It’s very pleasing to hear that you putted well. No 3-putts is brilliant.
Sunday and Monday – I would love to come and watch. Let me know what the deal is.
Regards,
Colin
