Play the way that suits your day



I can reduce your handicap by ten shots over a year by
following the ideas laid out below, and in the process you
will become a calmer person, a pleasure to play with,
and also happy in the knowledge your game is improving,
and will continue to improve.

This will cost you absolutely nothing, as I do not charge for
this article, and my only interest is to promote a method of
playing the game, and approaching life in a way, which greatly
benefits not only yourself, but those you currently play with,
and will play with in the future.

You will become, if you are not so already, the person people
choose to play with rather than one of those, we have all
known, who happens to make up the fourhands.

Right, now to outline the ideas which will assuredly knock
ten shots off your handicap in a year even if single figures
as we speak, if followed until they become second nature.

In those circles for the club player there are many influences
striving to catch the attention, mostly geared up to profit
for someone else. Many books, magazines and videos abound
on swing techniques, so much that you could quite easily
forget how to swing your club and hit your ball in the process.

I will take the swing you have now, and show you how to
improve immeasurably by your own standards with that
swing. You may well improve your swing in the future
mechanically, that is the scientific and practical side
where there is no problem in finding literature to
help out, in fact there is so much literature, often
conflicting, that there is a danger you could lose
your natural eye and swing in the process of pursuing
an elusive perfect arc and incomparable faultless style.

I have never had a lesson in my life, having had polio in
my right arm aged six, yet I hit the ball
cleanly where I aim for, most of the time.

Many people will tell you all kinds of methods where
you should place the ball in relation to your body.
Also how to swing, where your wrists arms elbows knees
and collar studs should be, how to keep things stiffly
immobile, and where to put your weight, always
seemingly assuming you are the perfect shape,
fully fit, and super nourished on all the right foods,
and carrying your enviable array of brightly shined up
irons blended in with your space age bag, and matching
apparel, which though obligatory on any serious
course, would probably get you locked up if you
turned up like that anywhere else.

Whatever turns you on, this is all peripheral
to what we will be trying to achieve here,
to whit, knocking a full ten shots off your
handicap in a year.

I take your swing, and your position, and your address,
and your weird dress sense, and your ninth set of clubs in
four months to go with your eighth putter as read.

I do some simple things, which I had to think about
as they are purely natural things added up in
dribs and drabs over the years. I list these here as aids
to the mechanical side, but not really the crux of
gaining our ten shots, purely really as glimmerings of
common sense help aimed predominately at pure beginners.

So, I achieve the mechanical side of this by making sure

1. I have my small and immobile target, preferably slightly
elevated and aim towards that. Often a pylon or tree in the distance, but
somewhat more even, namely a specific branch or specific piece of
the pylon. On every single shot I take all the way around.
The smaller that the target is, the better that the
brain will attempt to sharply focus attention.

2. I always try to clip the grass on my arc of swing back.

3. I always am still watching where the tee was a second or so
after I have actually hit the ball. It helps to know you have a
trusted partner watching your ball and you in turn watch his.
This achieves minimal head movement on any shot.

4. Then I look quite intently at my target, look then at my ball,
and then I simply hit the ball towards the target.

Thus ends the sum total of my mechanics.
I reckon my subconscious brain will work out the correct
swing and hit the ball where I really want it to go, I just give it a
target, have a good look at the ball right through the shot, and
am still looking at where the ball was after it has gone.

Job done. Sorted.

Its what up until now I have left out of being alone
on the tee that will make you into a ten shot better
player in a year.

The things I dont bring to the tee are

1. Confusion
2. Anger
3. Brooding
4. Thinking ahead
5. Hole by meticulous hole scoring
6. Worry over others scores
7. Fear
8. what others are thinking
9. what others are doing.
10. Delusions of grandeur

I am human, just an average player, I will make about seven
or eight mistakes in a round of eighteen holes on a good day.

Always.

Surprisingly, most pros make at least three per round,
but not quite equating to our level of bad.

Equally surprisingly, few winners of Majors ever had better
than two rounds of the four as outstanding.

So even the absolute best, who practice daily, and whose living
depends on it, play around three to seven bad shots a round,
though not often out into the pub car park next door or
seven off the tee admittedly.

So what chance have we got of emulating this level.

Very little, we mostly play two or three times a week tops,
and chip some balls, putt, or hit a couple of bucketfuls a week
down the range. So we should realistically hit about ten bad
shots a round, maybe five on a really good day.

Or else we would be pros. And we arent.

So we must address the best way to cope with this, as we have
sworn enemies of any sportsmen otherwise, anger, fear, worry
and brooding leading to confusion.

What we want at the time of impact on any shot is

a. Absolute certainty we are holding the right club.
b. Complete calmness and relaxed mindset
c. total focus on the shot in hand
d. complete faith we are hitting the right shot
for the situation.
e. Complete faith that on the day in question we are
infinitely capable of hitting the shot we have chosen.
f. A good feeling to be playing a game in beautiful
surroundings.

There are worse things than to be hitting your ball
around in beautiful weather in an idyllic setting,
surrounded by birds, creatures, flowers and blue skies.

Soak in the serenity around as you play, or else
you will lose tranquility in your game.

Let us approach the way we must think to eliminate
the bad vibes above and accentuate the good.

It is ultimately how clearly we think, and what
mood we are in which governs our standard of play
on any given day, no matter how good bad or
indifferent we feel physically on that day.

The crux of all this is something absolutely simple
that may take you a lifetime to achieve successfully.



Always follow the same routine in any situation.

Then hit your ball.

Then no matter where it ends up, accept what has
happened to it and move on untroubled.

Treat every shot you play with the same focus,
the same thought, the same routine, and always
live with the outcome no matter what.

Treat a round of any course being a series of shots,
and focus totally on each shot, just a single shot a time,
do your level best with it, then whether it is brilliant,
awful, or mundane just accept it as history, and without
anger, grief, shouting, raving, ecstasy or agony, clear
your mind ready for your next shot.

And never ever hit a ball until you are SURE you
are completely ready to hit it.

And that is it in a nutshell.

We will now look at the points above in this light.

1. Confusion.

If you are in two minds you will do neither. In many ways it is better
to be determined on a course of action than absolutely correct
about it. Any indecision over a shot is fatal.

Pick the shot, pick the club, and when you are sure,
and only when you are absolutely sure, hit it.

2. Anger.

Given you are accepting shots for where they land, anger should
not exist. This is ideally what you are striving for.
What few grant as true is that you have total self will and
total control over your destiny when playing.

It is one of the few games where legally at least your opponents cannot
affect they way you play or influence it one iota, not like a centre
half can stop you scoring on your best day. This accounts for
all the gamesmanship or just plain cheating so many employ,
but basically if you ignore or blank that all out, no one can
stop you playing well on any given day except yourself.

Other distractions often deliberately used are tradition,
class, length of time in the game, level of competition,
anything to erode your confidence or distract your mind.

Remember you only need to concentrate for the minute you are
over your shot utterly and completely, the rest of the time is enjoying
the scenery, and the company, most of the time anyway.
And if you fully concentrate over a shot you wont even hear
mobile phones, keys or coins, if you do then you are not fully
focused on the shot. I hear NOTHING when I am fully focused.

So never hit a ball in anger, calm down, stall, regroup,
then when finally self possessed hit the ball well.

Anyway.
If you accept shots for where they actually land there will be no anger.

3. Brooding.

Shots played are shots gone, history. You cannot replay them.
Move on immediately, otherwise they will affect future shots.
Spilt milk need not curdle the rest of your game.

4. Thinking ahead of yourself.

We are playing in the present, focussing purely on the current shot,
do not allow thoughts like, can I par the last three, or I am three
under par with seven left, to creep into your thinking. or you will
surely lose focus, concentration, thinking and the game.

5. Hole by meticulous hole scoring

Ideally you should not know your score until the end, not have
any idea of it, which obviously is impractical in club competition,
but even then it is best to just mark down the hole score almost abstractly,
and certainly do not keep a running count. Your head needs to be uncluttered of
facts, much as mine is all of the time.

6. Worry over others scores.

Just as others cannot change your final score, you cannot change theirs.
I cope with this by playing against the course rather than playing the others on it.
In some ways then, as well, you can enjoy playing the same course alone
in the future knowing your old score from the past.
You can only play the course so well as your brain, fitness, and the course
and weather conditions allow on any given day.

Worrying over others scores will only detrimentally affect your own,
just do the level best you can on your day against the course.

7. Fear.

You can only do your best. Others know this and see if you try to achieve that.

I have few nerves or fear at all, so it is hard for me to actually relate to
this, or offer ideas for something I dont really feel myself.

However, in anything that I try to do, I practice hard and am invariably
prepared for what is coming, which may forestall fear a little if you then feel
you at least have some control over your own destiny and have prepared to a
sufficient level and not cut any corners that will come back to haunt you.

So dont shirk proper preparation, and give it your best
shot on the day, and also actually enjoy being there.

Above all, it is a game, enjoy.

8. What others are thinking

If you worry about what others are thinking you will
be forever trying to please an insatiable master.

You can only ever do your best , and no one
can reasonably expect any more.

When I play doubles, all I expect of my partner is that
they always try their very best. I dont offer advice on their game
unless prompted, as I trust totally in their ability.

They will make bad mistakes, just as I will, but they
will make less with my support rather than someone
with them that somehow they sense and feel is just
hovering, waiting for an error to critiscise.

Although you should play your own game regardless,
whether singles or doubles, it does not hurt to encourage
others rather than to critiscise, for they know better
than anyone when they have been stupid, without
being reminded .

What goes around always comes around, so if you treat others
well, it stores up support when you fall down yourself.

There are some people who try to make themselves big
by trying to make you look small, however it makes them
more puny to others. Some advise to help, others to
try and elevate their own standing in their own eyes.

If you do unto others as you would have yourself,
and try your hardest without getting out of control,
you will make more friends than enemies.

In any event.

Everyone misses.

Everyone had to learn.

If they were that much better than you
they would surely not be playing with you
in the first place. Let those without
fault cast the first stone.

9. What others are doing.

Many people cheat. They may not own up to it, but
they do. Some call it gamesmanship, but I prefer to call it cheating.

We all know how, many subtle and not so subtle ways.

In all events, pure focus and concentration on the shot for
a minute is all that is required to blank it out.

Or extreme violence, which unfortunately currently
as we write, is not allowable without penalty.

I usuallyreact towards someone I know a couple of holes into eighteen
is hell bent on destroying my focus, by thinking I will try to play
my absolute best to constitute the most effective response, plus if people
see you cannot be flustered they invariably quit trying.

Do not be annoyed, as in trying to distract you they detract from their
own game, and will be doubly distracted if they have no effect on
you at all with their dubious, odious underhanded methods.

Do what you are doing, well, and focus fully on each and
every shot, they will soon give up.

10. Delusions of Grandeur.

It is easy to dream a triumphant entry to the clubhouse
when you are five shots clear with two holes to go, and
start planning your speech and how to receive the applause.

It is better to do that at the 19th.

Further thoughts on the game and how it should be approached are itemized below.

1. On any given day you may feel under par, which could put your
game over par. Know your limitations.

On such a day, your short game must be rock solid, even if your
long game is poor, as to all intents and purposes it matters little
how you get to short iron distance of 100 yards or so from a hole,
given that you close it all off in two shots from there,
anywhere within 100 yards of the hole.

I firmly believe the driver, long irons and woods can be recovered from intact, but
once you are within 100 yards there is no leeway. Your short game is absolutely
crucial. I practice almost exclusively with wedge and short irons and bunker shots
purely with the intent of getting up and down from anywhere within 100 yards in two.

I hit a few long putts to get the speed, and some short to get confidence before
a game, then ten or so chips. I hit a drive or so simply to loosen up, but the
wedge and putter are for real, as they do absolutely all of the scoring.

A lot of tee shots and approach shots can be clawed back, but chips and putts
are absolutely crucial.

2. Muscle men

Many people I play with insist on carrying 82 clubs and their piano round on their
back for 18 holes, de rigueur. They fail to realise the statistics for the last
6 holes or so.
You need to be sharp, alert, and functional the last six holes, not stumbling
under the weight of an army pack up the Pennines.

I also take my bottle of half Red Bull half water for the last six holes to sip then
to keep sharper focus mentally. It works well. My mind otherwise tends to drift
due to post polio syndrome.

4. Manners

Remember always you are playing with others. When your game is obviously
irredeemable some weeks, theirs is not.

I tend to think of it as us against the course, always, so whenever I cannot make it
into the clubhouse with a good score, then I will encourage those with me so they
might do when I cant.

If you do this, another week they might well encourage you.

5. Your opponent.

I like to try and praise my opponent where due, not try to put him off.
A sort of fair fight no holds barred, but above board.

I would rather beat someone at their very best than triumph
over a man in despair, plus I think that if your opponent plays well
it will lift your own game, and both of you will enjoy it more.

Above all, it is a GAME, it is about FUN.

I have been guilty as anyone for taking it far too seriously,
but it is only when you relax and accept wherever your shots go,
and get on with it regardless, cheerfully, that it all starts
to drop into place.

A friend used to say he was always waiting for the bad hole to happen,
he had been a great centre half at football.

I asked him if he thought in a football game,
when will I make my mistake,
its certain that I will let a goal in sooner or later this game due to an error.

He saw that if you are playing really well there is no need for error, and
in fact at our game, the longer you go without an error the more
fluid, supple and homed in you are, the less likely physically
it can actually occur, barring tiredness and pianos.

Once you have done a round without a 6 on the card you can start
believing it is always possible, with the confidence of having
done it all before. One of the problems is that the game seems so hard
to master that until you have managed say a round without
a six on the card, you will not ever really truly believe it possible of
yourself, even though you regularly see others achieving it.

Though you start in the hundred plus brigade, eventually
you may one day hit level par. It is possible.

That starts with one shot, then another, until you have hit 68
of them reasonably well. That day you will have truly won.

That day you will also have hit about five bad shots.





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