Format: Stableford
Venue: [Home course]
Score: 32 and 33pts
Handicap mark: 15
Themes in reply: Analysis; practising; scoring.
Dear Colin,
It`s been some time since my last report. Golf, unfortunately has been almost non-existent.
During our week in northern Cyprus we had four games on a very challenging but superb course and we spent time at the golf academy with its driving range and practice facilities. I’m actually helping my wife with her timing and take-away and she is very receptive to “bite size” tips.
I played some very good shots when I allowed my swing to complete and not rush things. The thing that seems to make all the difference is if I can stay relaxed and loose. I try to breathe deeply, tense and then relax before starting the swing. When I do this I really do strike the ball well off the tee. For some reason I can`t always do this and then my “default” cuts in which is the push/blocked shot out to the right.
The greens were fantastic and after getting more used to their speed my putting was pretty good. I felt that I was playing quite well for probably 10 or 11 holes and then letting things go on the others.
Since being back I have played just twice with similar outcomes, good for about a dozen holes and then throwing in a wobbly which leads to double bogies. My Stableford scores were 32 and 33; not disastrous but annoying when I feel I can do better. I`m looking forward to getting better and playing more but I really want to practice more which is difficult with short days and poorish weather.
I hope you are keeping well and that you are enjoying the job. Perhaps we could manage a game together when things get back to normal.
Best wishes for now,
Matthew
Dear Matthew,
Your golf – Overall, I sense that you are benefiting from my musings. From your writing it seems as if you are enjoying playing; your improvements are across your game from tee to green; you are scoring quite well and you feel as if your scoring should be better; you are playing with some consistency (that is, at least the first 11 or 12 holes are all pretty good); and you mention “looking forward to getting better”, which is very encouraging.
However, there are some “giveaways” in your e-mail that I want to clear up.
Analysis – You write:
“… and then my ‘default’ cuts in, which is the push/blocked shot out to the right.”
This is a “giveaway” because it gives away the fact that you have analysed those shots that were less than satisfactory and come up with a diagnosis. Analysis is a waste of time and energy; it deprives your imagination of scarce energy and space; and it gives your conscious brain permission to interfere.
Why is analysis a waste of time? Because you know how to hit a golf ball; you know the challenges that face you each time you have to apply a specific force to a little white ball using an unwieldy metal stick. What happened during your last attempt does not alter what you need to do for your next shot, because what you need to do for your next shot NEVER alters.
Analysis takes up precious energy, time and imaginative space that should be devoted to creating vivid images and pendulumic rhythms for the next shot.
Furthermore, analysis exists in the conscious realm; it dissects, weighs up, sifts and looks for evidence based on observation. It is food and drink to your conscious brain and death to your subconscious.
Jack Nicklaus shanked a 5-iron fifty yards into the rough of the 15th fairway in the last round of the 1967 Bell South Classic. He then went birdie, birdie, eagle to win the tournament from 2 behind with four to play. When asked about the shank he replied that it went 50 yards left into the rough, then he paused, then he said “Like every other shot, it was history as soon as I hit it.”
There is nothing wrong with analysis it is just that it doesn’t work; and in many ways it is positively unhelpful. I can understand that you possibly find analysis seductive, especially as rational analysis is something that you are good at, and it is an ability that has served you well in the past, particularly professionally. Unfortunately, whereas it is mightily useful to headmasters, it is hopelessly unhelpful to golfers.
It is possible that as you move through your round you are progressively drawn to analysis, and that this contributes to your diminishing performance by giving you more and more to “think” about, and less and less time and space within which to find the rhythm that is going to produce “timing”.
For the record, your “default” push is easily explainable by reference to the double-pendulum diagram. At the top of the backswing, when the two pendulums are at right-angles to each other, any force towards the ball generated by your arm muscles will have the effect of rotating your “arm” pendulum around your spine without a matching rotation of your “club” pendulum around your wrist, because a force cannot have an effect at right-angles to itself. This slight mis-alignment of the two pendulums will result in the clubhead arriving at the contact point with the ball fractionally open, thereby causing a push. So, the more you are able to let your swing start its journey back to the ball “by itself”, the less likely you are to push the shot.
Practise – Being good at golf is about successfully applying a specific force to a golf ball, shot after shot after shot. On the practice ground it is impossible to replicate the circumstances of the shots you face in a round. Therefore, you should practise golf by playing it (and by following my method of looking for “timing” it is inevitable that playing golf will improve your golf). In your particular case, I think the practise range is a bad idea because it indulges your need to analyse; whereas, in my view, you need to practise going from shot to shot to shot trying to find the best pendulumic rhythm you can – from 1st tee to 18th green.
Scoring – This connects to the previous paragraph about practising. You are scoring well – 32, 33 points is good. I think that part of the reason your performance falls away on the inward nine is that you tighten up as the prospect of a very good score looms after a decent outward nine. It happens to John all the time. Playing rather than practising will get you more used to being the type of golfer who can score on every hole as you take your magical rhythm from shot to shot to shot. Inevitably your handicap mark will come down, which will in turn give you confidence, which will in turn make scoring right through the round and consistently from round to round a lot easier. My view is that you should aim to get to a single figure handicap by the middle of next season, and that you should use this winter to practise scoring by playing rounds.
Regards,
Colin
