Category: Golfchick Performance And Progress (page 1 of 8)

Five Things To Practice To Improve Your Mental Game

I get a lot of requests to submit content for this site. They usually want to buy the space somehow, whether it’s a paid post or just links within a post. I always turn them down because of my policy to keep this site authentic and unpaid. The only advertising I offer is in the sidebars, and clearly marked as such. Recently I was contacted by Paul Bradshaw, a South African golf professional, who offered to write exclusive content for The Golf Chick, and offered a number of topics for me to choose from.

As someone who struggled to break 80, and a big proponent of the mental game being critical to playing better golf, I jumped on the chance to share his thoughts on the topic (unpaid). So I’m publishing this rare guest post in the hopes it will help someone else crack whatever milestone they’re trying to reach. There’s a lot to learn in this post, and I hope you enjoy it. And, for the record, the 5th tip in this post is what I believe tipped the scale for me when I finally broke 80.

Five Things To Practice To Improve Your Mental Game

by Paul Bradshaw

Embrace Tough Conditions

You arrive at the golf course and it’s freezing cold outside. Basically snowing. And miserable. All you want to do is stay inside the clubhouse and sip on a hot cup of coffee and keep warm! Well unfortunately (or fortunately) for you play has not been suspended and you have no choice. You’re going out.

This is your opportunity to get ahead of the game and your opposition. As Jack Nicklaus said “In torrid conditions half the field has already given up – so you’re actually only up against the other half”. You have to realize that scores are not going to be great in these conditions and par is your friend.

Play sensibly and don’t go for risky aggressive shots that you might usually do in calm conditions. You have a blow out on a hole and then you’re going to be playing catch up all day long.

Your aim is to churn out the pars and if a birdie comes along at any point then grab it with both hands as you’ve just beaten the field by a shot and a half on that particular hole.

Be Clear Cut In Terms Of Shot Ahead

This is where most amateurs and players in general are not top drawer. Too many of us get over the golf ball and almost forget about what their target or distance is when hitting their shot. This causes indirect doubt and doesn’t allow your body to put a confident swing on the ball.

Visualize this scenario. You’re playing a par 5 with a wide creek running through the fairway at 120 yards from the green. You’ve got 300 yards left to the hole. You realize that taking out a fairway wood and trying to clear the water is risky as if you don’t catch it you’ll be penalized. You need to take the correct club in order to fully commit to the shot, but still end up short of the water. If you were to take a long iron you’re going to subconsciously doubt yourself and whether it’s too much club so you bail out of it and strike it poorly. You leave yourself a lot further away now and having to work harder than you would ideally like. And on top of this your mind is also now thinking about how poorly you did strike that last shot.

Establish yardage, establish target and establish wind direction and strength. And then commit yourself to the shot knowing it’s the correct club in hand.

Change From Result To Process Driven

This is so difficult to master, but you need to start trying to! We all want the best results possible for each and every shot and let’s face it. That’s just not going to happen. There are outside influences beyond your control that will also affect your golf shot. You have to accept that before you’ve struck the golf ball otherwise you’re going to fighting with yourself mentally all round long.

Create small mental goals/targets for yourself before the round and perhaps remind yourself of these along the way. Say things like “I will consistently execute my pre-shot routine each and every time,” and “I will execute each golf shot as best as I can,” and “Each and every club I get my hands on today I will love.” Things like that.

You keep doing the right mental things and those process goals will turn into successful results. Don’t put a time frame on that either and start putting pressure on yourself unnecessarily.

Visualize Each And Every Shot

Jason Day is a perfect example here. He stands behind every golf shot, holds his club and the end of his glove together and closes his eyes for roughly 5 – 10 seconds depending on the shot at hand.

He is visualizing the shot he ideally wants to play. Right from impact he visualizes the strike, the launch, the trajectory, the shot shape and finally the ball descending toward the target and coming to a stop.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve done this when I really needed to hit a quality shot in a pressure situation and my actual shot was basically a repeat of my visualization. And that feels so good! It gets your mind into the correct state when addressing the ball rather than still doubting certain things and not being sure if you want to draw it or cut it for example.

Implement this as soon as possible and build it into something that just happens rather than you consciously thinking about doing it.

Rather ‘Under Care’ Than ‘Over Care’

Now I’m not saying hit the ball on the walk or finish off your putts from 20 feet while your partners take their time over their shots. What I’m saying is that the outcome really isn’t the end of the world. If you notch up a high number one round and almost embarrassed yourself – don’t care so much!

Come back the following round with a character building low one and set the record straight. If you post another poor one – then keep reminding yourself it’s just a game. You’ve got to have fun more importantly than anything else. When you do that you’re going to start performing better as well.

By not phasing yourself too much with outcomes you’ve also got to stay in the present. Don’t even think one shot ahead and that is TOUGH! But it is so important.

If you get to a tee box and think to yourself “Man this is definitely a birdie hole”…you’ve already jumped the gun. You’re way ahead of yourself – slow down!

So there you have it! I hope you found this guest post useful. Thanks, Paul! You can find out more about Paul Bradshaw on his website: www.golfassessor.com.

Golf is a Man. He Abuses Me, But I’m Staying With Him.

July 12, 2012 / golfchick / 9 Comments

Golf must be a man, because he’s so frustrating! He pleases and punishes. Can’t live with him, can’t kill him. Just when I think we have one issue sorted out, another one arises. If golf wasn’t hard challenging, I wouldn’t be interested. As far as I know, there’s no shelter for abused golfers and besides, the way I’ve been playing, it seems more like I’m the abuser – but golf had it coming!

In my open letter to golf, I declared my love for him and many of the reasons I feel the way I do. It has been a torrid love affair since then. We’ve had our differences for sure, but there are few conditions that will keep me away from golf. I even appreciate a sloppy, wet round. When conditions aren’t ideal for going out, I always want them to be. I can’t think of a time I haven’t wanted to play golf or wished I could when I couldn’t! I recently experienced a new level of that obsession. Last weekend, I actually dreaded going out to play golf. Â It wasn’t the weather, which couldn’t have been more perfect, and it wasn’t a personal distraction or some kind of illness or injury. It wasn’t a mandatory business round with some kind of douchebag, it was with friends whose company I really enjoy. No, the whole reason I was sour for the entire 24 hours leading up to my tee time was because I was incredibly disheartened due to my own ineptitude. Yet there was no way I wasn’t going. I was still absolutely compelled to get out there, like the true sadomasochist golf has made me.

My newest golf training aid

State of the Union

For about a year now, I’ve been struggling with “The Process.” You know, the one when you make a swing change and nothing will ever be the same? I want to get better. The goal is to break 80. My scores ballooned and now I don’t remember the last time I even broke 90, and it’s a “good” day when I break 100. At first, I was okay with that – it was somewhat expected, though aggravating all the same. I had breakthroughs and saw improvement. I had hope. Even when I sucked or regressed, I was convinced I could power through and it would all be worth it. Then it became embarrassing. And infuriating. And counter-productive. Â Bad thoughts didn’t just creep in, they infested my brain.

I’m keenly aware of the mental aspect of golf and understand these thoughts are debilitating and feed on themselves. Like any golfer, I have plenty of reasons/excuses why this is happening, like my focus being challenged with stresses and my patience being sapped by other aspects of my life. But I know that’s bullshit. I know what I’m capable of and I take pride in my ability to adjust my mindset and change my mind with authority. But this was brutal. I was in a golfer’s shame spiral.

The last few times I’ve played, I’ve managed to hit a few shots that were decent enough to allow me to cling to hope. On the range, it’s been a different story. Perhaps it’s because the good shots don’t really show results, but they became fewer and fewer until I could barely hit a ball at all. Topping it, shanking it, yanking it, worm burning it, spraying it every which way — everything but even the hint of good contact with my irons. After all that work! I went to the course on Saturday with the intention of playing 18 if I could hit a few good shots on the range. I couldn’t. It was a complete nightmare. It finally came crashing down to destroy me mentally.

I have never felt less athletic or more uncoordinated in my life. Humiliated, defeated, and utterly disheartened, I was actually a little nervous at the thought of lifting my bag and carrying it to my car, in case this palsy would affect my ability to walk as well. I managed to make the walk of shame without falling or freezing up and drove home holding back tears. I know – there’s no crying in golf! But that’s how much it means to me.

Thank You, Sir, May I Have Another?

This is where the dread comes in. I had agreed to join my friends the next day for a Sunday Funday round. Though we never mentioned it, we all knew we would also be practicing for our club matches at the same course the following weekend. After feeling like I hit rock bottom (that better be the lowest!), I planned to arrive early enough to give myself a nice, unrushed hour of time on the range, with highest hopes of sucking less, and lowest pathetic goal of just making solid contact a few times to boost my spirits so I could be a fun golfer for my friends. I left home with enough time to carry out that plan, but an overturned semi on the freeway shutting down all lanes had a better idea for me.

Best Laid… Plans

After taking a back way through a winding canyon, I made it to the course right at tee time, checked in & raced to the tee just as my friends finished their drives. So, with nothing but the practice swing of my drive routine, I started my round. Decent drive, just off the fairway to the right, about 150 uphill left to the flag. With an easy swing I made the green with my next shot and two putted for par. What. The. Fuck. It was as though I forgot that I couldn’t play golf. The rest of the round had its ups and downs, much like a normal golf round, not a disastrous one. I made some really good shots, several hard pulls (which had been my primary miss until I started not making contact), and some irritating short game shots including at least 4 3-putts, but was more than pleased with my round of 92.

On the last four holes, I hit three great drives up the middle and 4 solid shots onto the greens. I really felt like I had something figured out on those iron shots. When the round was over, all I wanted to do was go hit another golf ball, and another one after that, but Sir Vito was waiting for me.

We Can Work It Out

I am encouraged, and am holding onto these positive feelings! In case I’m stupid enough to start thinking again, I hope that the simple swing thought I used on those last four holes continues to be effective. Sometimes I can successfully fake my brain out like I’m too naive to the game to understand what’s happening but I think it’s time I give up that tactic. I’m not falling for my own shit anymore. Golf is a man. He tries to act like he doesn’t care about me but I know he doesn’t want me to leave him. Now we’re both mature enough to know that if we want it to be, and I’m patient enough, this partnership will be amazing. If we can get through this, we can get through anything.

Golf can be an asshole, but I’m in love. And I’m not going anywhere.

Next post.

Breakthrough at the Range. We All Have ’em. Swing Progress.

March 31, 2012 / golfchick / 6 Comments

I often have “breakthroughs” on the range. Don’t we all? Today was one of those days. This one had me feeling kinda brilliant. No, I mean more than when we just find a new trigger that works or “discover” a better tempo or tiny move that makes all the difference. This was more “scientific” in nature.

This type of situation can probably only happen with a physical problem like I was having. Recently, I experiencedÂ a strange problem a few times which was particularly frustrating and baffling. Â I even asked my favorite golf pro about it and got no resolution (apparently it’s useful to actually SEE the swing). What was happening was, I’d be going along fine (thankfully it had only happened during practice) and all of a sudden, my irons started freaking out, spitting balls out to the right in that S-word fashion or worm burning or I was topping it. The only consistent thing about the results was the ugliness. Every swing. No matter how I slowed it down or shortened my swing to get it back. So maddening!

Each time, I felt my club turn in my hands and saw it finish completely rotated forward in my grip. I’ve had grip and hand problems before, but these times were not pain related, nor was I having those pesky hand spasms (thankfullyÂ that has not happened lately – knock on wood). So I’d give it a good death grip and STILL the club would turn, twisting my glove all up and looking disgusting at the finish! I couldn’t stand it!

Always Gets Worse Before it Gets Better

I got good and mad and, knowing from experience this was a problem exclusive to my irons, I “hammer timed” a bunch of 3 woods and drivers for some good old fashioned anger management. I’m a huge fan of range therapy. It’s so soothing to watch that ball fly long and far after POUNDING it. Unnngh! (Also works for my alter ego, The Gun Chick, on a different range). Aaannnyway…

It occurred to me that since I’ve been working on a flatter swing with my long sticks but not my irons, maybe that had something to do with the problem only happening there. Then I thought of a bunch of other tips I’d heard on certain problems (including but not limited to mine) and my problem just kept getting worse.

I got so frustrated, I resorted to erasing all ideas, tips, etc., and trying to come up with my own idea, somehow.

The Breakthrough Aha Moment

I looked at my hands on the club in the finishing position and thought “how did that happen?” So I decided to reverse engineer the problem. I slowly moved the club back and forth, trying to figure what could possibly cause it to end up in that position in my hands, what kind of impact, and what position. I experimented. Not this, not that… until I had the impact. And what could cause that kind of fucked up impact? Backing up from there in the same kind of experiment, I realized that could only happen if I brought the club over the top (no, I wasn’t trying to emulate Tiger’s latest practice swing, so poop if you were thinking that). Once I had that, I was able to make the necessary adjustments and get my swing back to working condition. Instantly. What a relief!

I’ve been working very hard – pretty much on my own – on the rest of my swing changes and it’s finally starting to feel pretty comfortable despite some snags like this. I could trace the roots of the mental process that caused this particular problem but that might cause me to put those bad ideas back in my head. Sorry I am unwilling to do that for your benefit at this point. That’s also the reason I haven’t shared as much about my swing and game progress with you as I probably should have. It has been much more of a painful struggle than I ever thought it would be, and sharing that only leads to multiple external opinions/distractions that only make it harder. I even had to stop reading tips and magazines and listening to “experts” no matter their esteem or size of audience. I occasionally seek out specific ideas and try to implement where I can, but for the most part, they only serve to derail me.

It definitely got waaaayyyy worse before it got better. Actually, it hasn’t gotten better from before I began the process of changing just yet, but it’s finally starting to get better from the total breakdown that occurred when I really embraced the process and stopped reverting to my old swing. I am hopeful. And I think I might be close to officially Christening my new swing with a name of its own.

What’s your latest breakthrough? Where did it come from? Does help help?

Next post.

There’s Nothing Average About Par

November 1, 2011 / golfchick / 14 Comments

I have been thinking about how hard golf is and how most people never break 80, let alone shoot par, and remembered this article I wrote that originally published over at World Golf. It has been so long now since I wrote it I thought I’d share it with you here now. Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject of par!

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What is par? The American Heritage Dictionary defines par as “an amount or level considered to be average” or in sports usage “the number of golf strokes considered necessary to complete a hole or course in expert play.”

How — or more to the point, why — did a word meaning average get morphed into expert when it pertains to golf? Experts in golf are a tiny fraction of the golfing population. The rest of us are left struggling to achieve such a high standard which is, perhaps, one of golf’s addictive properties. But does it even have any relevance?

Why do golf holes and golf courses have numbers set for par? Whether par on a hole is 3, 4 or 5, if you shoot 5, your score is still 5. And if your total score for 18 holes is 85, does it really matter if par is 70 or 72? You know if 85 is a good score for you or not. Aren’t personal goals more relevant than par? I guess par can be a good reference point when setting your own goals. For example, if you’re playing a long or tricky “par 4” hole, you might be happy to make a 5 or 6 there. I know some people set their own personal pars that might be equal to an “official” bogey or double bogey on any given hole. So what difference does par make to the average (not par) golfer?

According to the USGA, any hole measuring 400 yards or longer is a par 5 for women, regardless of what the scorecard states. If the scorecard lists a hole at 425 yards as a par 4 and a male and a female both shoot a 4, she gets to feel better about it and consider it a birdie? Yawn. At the end of a round, my score is still what it is so who cares? Handicap calculations are based on the USGA course and slope ratings for both genders from a given set of tees and the formula doesn’t consider par. In fact, the USGA offers a formula for determining the Bogey Rating of a course and recommends that “every golfer worse than a scratch” use it as a “truer yardstick of the challenge.”

I recently played a course with my boyfriend and we both played from the same set of tees at 6575 yards. Here is an example of the Bogey Rating in action:
Him: Slope Rating (121) divided by 5.381 (set value for men), plus the Course Rating (69.0) = Target score of 91.48. Actual score: 88
Me: Slope Rating (138) divided by 4.24 (set value for women), plus the Course Rating (75.2) = Target score of 107.74. Actual score: 100

*Interesting side note: if I use the men’s ratings with the women’s set value or the women’s ratings with the men’s set value, the result is much closer to my actual score.

I have my own, more precise calculator that uses my actual handicap index rather than just a standard bogey golfer index and it gave me a target score of 94, so the 100 I shot was 6 over. Greg’s target would have been 83 so his 88 was 5 over.

On the scorecard, par is 72, but there are 4 “par 4” holes from these tees longer than 400 yards which adds four more strokes to par for women for a 76. If we compared our scores to par instead of our targets, I would have been 24 over and Greg would have been 16 over. Like many golfers of our skill levels (our indices only differ by 2.3), he actually does compare his score to par. I just don’t see the point.

Considering that most golfers aren’t experts, if we’re going to put par on a card, shouldn’t we also list some kind of a bogey golfer par? Since par is synonymous with average, Par could be the higher number for the average player target score and the lower number that is currently called par could be called Expert Target Score (ETS).

In golf, there is nothing average about par.

Next post.

Breaking 80 Golf Game Progress Report – Getting Closer!

August 2, 2011 / golfchick / 20 Comments

After I posted that last video of my swing when I thought I had a real breakthrough, my swing coach, Jay Lim, left me some notes in the comments for things to work on. At first glance it seemed like a whole lot to think about and change and I felt a little overwhelmed. But when I started to implement it I realized it was pretty much all the same thing – setup. Nothing to feel deflated about. In fact, as soon as I took those ideas to the range and called Jay to clarify his meaning about tilt, it started working right away. In fact, it made the other things I was doing even easier to repeat. Brilliant. I continued practicing it throughout the week and, once again, was eager to go try it on a golf course.

On Friday afternoon I rushed to a local course and since I wanted a good chance of finishing my round before dark, I skipped my warm up. As a result, my first few holes were disastrous and it took a few more to really get the feel of my new swing anywhere near comfortable. (I also had some trouble holding onto the club – details at end of post if you’re interested – but as this is something I’m just going to have to deal with, it is not something that I will allow to account for a poor swing or score.) I played alone for the first 5 holes until another single jumped a foursome and joined me. My swing improved a bit but never really got in the groove. My new walking buddy was impressed but I felt down and frustrated as I posted my 102! (White tees, 6000 yards, ratings 75.6/132.) It’s the identical score to the last two times I played there earlier in the month. Where’s the improvement? Can’t even break 100? How long until 80 now???

Then I soothed my mind and body with a nice relaxing bubble bath and a couple giant martinis. I got my head right, found my smile and shook off any discouragement. I would play the next day and try again, but this time with the right kind of warm up for my swing and mental game. I decided to try the little executive course where I played my first 18 hole round when I took up golf. I figured it was a great place for me when I was just starting out and since I’m essentially doing that again, maybe I can recapture some of that mojo. I hadn’t been there in years. I was excited!

golf chick warhol

Getting Closer!

I stretched, hit a small bucket of balls and my swing was feeling good. Did a little chipping and some ninja putting drills and hit the course. I played the back tees, which are only 4961 yards (par 67, 68.4 CR/112 slope). I went to the first tee alone and could see the foursome approaching the green up ahead on this 293 yard par 4. My tee shot went straight up the middle and I waited in the fairway 70 yards from the flag while the 4 guys finished. I stuck the green and two putted from about 8 feet for a ho-hum par. That was the only green I hit on the front nine, but with 15 putts I salvaged a 41*, making me 6 over at the turn. A twosome joined me on the second hole and we ended up playing through those guys in front of us and joining another single on the back nine. On the back I had two doubles, 3 bogeys and finished with 4 pars, which felt great and totaled 40. I posted an 81. *After I got home I realized I had forgotten to give myself a penalty stroke for moving my ball off a tree root in an effort to save my wrist. I should have posted an 82.

If I had broken 80 that day, I would not have counted it as achieving my goal (though I would have awarded a prize to Billy D, who chose that date in my Break 80 pool). I want to achieve it from the white tees at a regular “grown up” course. However, my personal best score is an 82, the same I shot on Saturday, and itÂ occurredÂ to me Â to look up the length and ratings on that course, since we played the red tees. Turns out it was only 4799 yards, par 71, 66.5/111 rating. I count that as my previous personal best! Should I? Should I reconsider allowing myself to feel like I accomplished this goal if I break 80 from the red tees? Does it matter? In golf, everything matters mentally, and you know I believe I can do whatever I think I can. The really good news is, I felt like I easily should have broken 80 on this course and shot my 82 with relative ease. Friday’s disaster and realization was merely the stumbling block I needed to make mental adjustments and try a different route. I am beyond encouraged. Nice try, Friday! (c:

Video Update

The video here includes a couple of my honey badger practice swings on the range on Thursday as well as my tee shots on the last two holes of this round (two of my pars – the par 3 17th (pitching wedge) and the par 4 18th). Sorry – it had a cool tune with it but was disabled for copyright snags. Maybe I can get Big Head Todd to approve it. Meanwhile, hope you enjoy the silent movie.

The details I promised about my grip

I think I have mentioned the aggravating pain in my hands and wrists that hasn’t really bothered me since I was a kid but has returned. It’s actually not always painful per se. Sometimes it’s just more of a discomfort with irritating spasms, locking up certain fingers and joints in odd positions and making it difficult to hold onto things. After the week of practice, my right hand was really getting frisky on Friday (in previous weeks it was more my left). My buddy Jay over atÂ Jaysgolf.com has a better understanding of such challenges than I do and we joked together about the “death grip” we subsequently put on our golf clubs, tearing through gloves and creating callouses faster than rolling O’s.

I understand the more I keep exercising the joints in the manner that aggravates them, the less they will hurt over time. Kind of hard to believe the morning after I’ve played golf and I can’t even grip my toothbrush but golf is certainly better than no golf so you know I will find out if it’s true! Meanwhile, I’m primarily treating the pain by deciding not to feel it or care, along with over the counter and over the bar medicine, and trying to control the spasms with my ninja mind. I don’t have insurance.

Next post.

Tested My New Honey Badger Swing at Charity Golf Tourney

July 24, 2011 / golfchick / 9 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a little breakthrough with my golf swing progress last week. After some exciting practice sessions, I was eager to try it out on a golf course, and I had a great opportunity to do just that on Friday.

golf chick honey badger smile

I played with two friends (the 4th canceled last minute) in a fun charity tournament to benefit TheÂ AmericanÂ Cancer Society. Since it was a scramble format, there was no real pressure on my swing to tempt me back to comfort since I had two others to back me up if all went wrong. However, with their 35 and 40 indexes, I did have some work to do. They were actually quick to point out that when I went last and we really needed to hit a green, that’s when I performed the best. Not really a surprise to me; I dig the pressure.

Photo right- honey badger that ate the canary

Photo below – gallery on 18 at tourney

Gallery on 18

golfchick wins kp

My swing felt great. Sure, I had a few that missed the mark but overall I am striking the ball much better. I should have counted the greens I hit but we were having too much fun. We shot even par so you know I had to have hit a bunch of them. I was sticking them pretty tight, too. I also had a nice chip-in for birdie. Made a few fantastic putts as well. I love this game!

There was only one hole in the closest to the pin contest and it was for all golfers, not split by gender (although we did have about a 15 yard advantage – 135 vs 150). Honey badger nailed it! 7 iron, no roll – sat right next to its ball mark about a flag length below the hole. Photo left – with tournament organizer & not unhappy about winning.

I got some more practice in yesterday – below is the 7 iron swing that won me 110 clams. You can see it’s still a little loose on top so I have even more room for improvement. Â As I remember shouting a couple times on Friday – THIS IS FUN! Some more practice this week and maybe I’ll go test it out in my own scoring round. Breaking 80 is still the goal!

Next post.

When Will The Golf Chick Break 80? Pool Announcement and Progress Report

July 21, 2011 / golfchick / 8 Comments

As my golf swing continues to progress, I started the pool about when I will break 80 over on my Golf Chick Facebook page last week and people are getting their votes in. There is an over/under for the less adventuresome but some people are also naming specific dates. I’ll tell you something – there will likely be a prize or two and it will be a lot harder to choose a winner from people who only picked over or under. Just saying. Wagering amongst one another is up to you and the laws that govern you (does that cover my ass?).

People who read this blog regularly will have an advantage because you’ll know the progress I’m making. Scores I’m shooting, how practice is going, how dedicated I am (or not) day to day, week to week, how I’m feeling about it all, etc. Some people are choosing the “over” in the pool, which I perceive as an underestimation of me – one I look forward to proving wrong. Perhaps they’re doing it on purpose to motivate me, but if you haven’t voted and are considering the same – here’s another clue: I’m plenty motivated now. That grenade has been jumped on. Pick a more winning date.

A couple people have chosen their own birthdays as my break 80 date, which I think is fantastic. I wish I could give that birthday gift – the first one is next week though! Zoinks! Plus, I should tell you potential pool participants that while I do manage to play during the week at times, I’m much more likely to play on weekends. By the way, if you don’t use Facebook, feel free to make your pick here in the comments of this post. If you are dropping by my FB page to make your pick, I’d love it if you would click its “like” button if you haven’t yet!

Quick answers and summary of progress: People have asked me on Facebook and Twitter about my progress. All my golf and swing progress is documented here on my blog. Quick review to date – best score before swing change: 82. Best score since swing change: 86, however that was too soon and I don’t feel it was my authentic new swing. I played 5 rounds with a flawed new swing and am now back to only practicing to get it more ingrained and it’s feeling better already (details below). I’m playing a scramble charity event this Friday (July 22) and plan to continue to grind away at the range after that. I will throw in a round from time to time to keep practice interesting. As I mentioned earlier, weekends are far more likely for such rounds to occur but some weekdays are possible.

Golf Swing Progress Update:

I had three amazing practice sessions the last three nights. I focused only on my irons and really had them working well. Getting back to the fundamentals after so many days on the course really made a difference and I was able to focus on how what I should be doing and feeling rather than the outcome of each shot on a course. I was striking the ball very well and more consistently than ever. Not just since I got my new swing but EVER. Which, according to Jay Lim, my swing coach, (and perhaps every other instructor) is precisely the objective. ConsistentÂ repeat-ability. I’m getting there and it feels amazing.

Golf Tip – From the Horse’s Mouth – Am to Am Translation

I’m sure it has been spoken and written countless times but something occurred to me on the range the past couple days that really made a difference for me and felt like a breakthrough. One of my weaknesses Jay has been coaching me on is how I lead with the hands or arms instead of the shoulders on the backswing. He keeps telling me the shoulders need to start the swing. If he explained why I don’t recall but the reason I just figured out on my own is that it makes it 10 times easier to keep my left arm straight(er) and control the steepness of my swing plane. Jay usually speaks my language very well, which is important in a student/swing coach relationship, but whatever he said or I read about consistency and leading with the shoulders did not really click for me until I came to this revelation two days ago and reinforced last night and tonight. I share it with you now in the hopes it might do the same for someone else. To put it the way it made sense in MY head: lead, almost push back, with the front shoulder to keep the arm “connected” in the swing. If I lead with my hands or club, the shoulders have a hard time keeping up and it’s almost impossible not to bend my left elbow. If I turn my shoulders first, it practically keeps itself straight! Then if I keep my plane (which I’m doing better by keeping my right knee bent), it’s much easier to contact the ball consistently because my arm doesn’t have to “figure out” where to go. It has already been there.

Romance in the Air

I am falling in love with my new golf swing so I need to name it now more than ever. You know, before I start calling it some cutesy name like “Cupcake” instead of a fierce name like a honey badger deserves. I’m considering Chuck, or Norris (not both – I can’t see myself loving Chuck Norris but he could be my swing’s namesake). I am so excited. I seriously cannot stop thinking about my swing and when I’ll be able to spend more time with it. It feels like new love. For a golf nerd. If you read this far, I bet you know just how I feel. Admit it.

UPDATE: I DID IT! July 11, 2015.

Took me long enough, but I finally broke 80! I shot 78 at Falcon Ridge golf course from the maroon tees (4440 yards). I normally play the gold tees there but we played with another couple and I decided to step up and play the forward tees since the woman was playing there and the guys were split, so rather than stop at four sets of tees… you know how that goes. Anyway, even though it’s exceptionally short, it’s still a challenging course and you have to make the shots. So it counts! 😛

Then, less than a week later we went back and I played the gold tees (5279 – still short, but with a 124 slope that’s my spot). After breaking 80 from the forward tees, breaking 80 from here was my next goal. Guess what? NAILED IT! Shot a smooth 77 for a new personal best!

Haven’t seen the 70’s again since, but my new goal is to break 80 at any other golf course. Then just try to keep it in the 70’s.

I’ve always been pretty chill on the golf course because, well, I’m “not good enough to get mad.” But now that I’ve seen and felt the 70’s, I find myself feeling more frustrated out there when I don’t play well. Maybe I need to look into meditation.

~May they all roll true.

Honey Badger Don’t Care – But My Golf Swing Needs More Progress!

July 18, 2011 / golfchick / 3 Comments

Rather than practice like a good girl this weekend, I went out and played golf. Why? Because I’m a honey badger and I don’t care! I may be a ninja on the greens (stealthy, smooth and fierce) but when my swing is ready, it’s going to be badass honey badger all the way. If you’re a honey badger you won’t care but the hilarious video below contains language that may be inappropriate for sensitive ears & environments.

I can pull off honey badger attitude today, however, the swing portion still needs some training. After some seriously mediocre play on Friday and Saturday, the only golf I did on Sunday was to watch Darren Clarke win the British Open and spend some time smacking balls at the range with my irons. My execution was less than stellar and I found myself having to access databanks in my brain to basically re-learn some of the aspects of my new swing. Which means, I was not doing it right on the course. Not at all.

So my practice session was actually quite valuable. I was reminded of The Almighty Process and that I need to get back to it. The swing just is not ingrained in me yet and without the time and thought process that goes along with practicing, it seems I’m mostly reverting to my old swing with maybe a couple new aspects thrown in. Not effective. I am determined to do this right. I have a charity tourney on Friday but other than that it’s going to be mostly practice for me for awhile. Sure, I’ll have to thrown in a round here and there but strictly as practice – where I don’t care about the outcome of the swing (no competition) and just try to put the correct new swing to use on course. Have to keep practice fun or it becomes a chore, right?

Saturday was a club tournament and I played with my friend Cristen. She’s awesome and you will be seeing/hearing more about her in the future here on TGC. She suggested the name “Minx” for my swing. It may become bold and impudent but does my swing seem flirtatious or of low morals to you? Haha I kind of like the name though. Think it may have to be more along the honey badger lines though. Any more ideas?

Speaking of honey badger (again), I want to give a shout out to my friend Brad Schott, whom I know through twitter, for turning me onto this honey badger thing. I am now an official member of the Honey Badger Golf Club, which is something Brad is developing for a potential launch this fall. I can’t really share any details with you for now but I think it’s going to be a lot of fun! If you’re interested, you can follow him on Twitter for now until he gets a website up for it. He’s @GolfSchott andÂ @HoneyBadgerGolf. Are you a honey badger?

Cute statue at home on Sterling Hills Golf Club, where we played Saturday.

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Breaking 80 Progress: Golf’s Little Victories

July 13, 2011 / golfchick / 2 Comments

Not every day can be a huge leap forward in progress when you’re working on overhauling your golf swing and improving your game. In fact, many say “it will get worse before it gets better.” I haven’t had many days like that, but I have had my frustrations. This past weekend I planned on practicing, not playing, since I played three days the weekend before and struggled to find time to practice much in the week since. On Friday, I had a last minute request for a meeting the next day for a nine-hole par-3 round. I could not turn it down.

Saturday Shenanigans

Since I’m still not even comfortable with my new swing, my routine when I play lately is to be sure to stretch well and warm up sufficiently so that I have last minute reminders of how it’s supposed to feel. That didn’t happen Saturday as I met with this client in advance and arrived at the course at the same time – so I followed his lead: Car, shoes, check in, first tee. Okay then. That used to be my way as well.

It took me several swings to find the proper impact position, and since every hole was a par 3 (and there were only nine of them), you can imagine how that effected my score. Luckily, it did not effect the business relationship. He understands about swing changes and trying to improve. Probably even appreciated it more than he let on. My chipping was decent and my putting was fair (though business talk and unnecessary amounts of chatter in general hindered that as well). Overall, I never really got warmed up and feeling the golf and I shot 38 on the par 27 course. I thought we were finished with the business and planned to stick around and smack about 100 balls on the range. I got tempted away with more business talk and, more importantly, the promise of a cold adult beverage. Over the course of the rest of the meeting, I agreed to the extra 20 hours/week I mentioned in my last post. It’s an excellent move for my income and spark but it’s adding to the challenge of improving my golf game due to the time constraints. I’m still convinced I can do it all. Like this hawk, who evidently tee’d off just before we arrived, then grabbed dinner and flew away.

Sunday, Not So Funday

After the afternoon cold one and the summer heat, I found myself having an uncharacteristically Kristen Saturday night. I guess I figured that night and the next day might be my last chance to really relax for awhile. I caught up with some friends, phone calls, emails, texts and Facebook, and think I went into overload. I shut down. I even shut down my twitter. Yup, someone get a thermometer. I decided to make Sunday a day of what I consider luxury. No work, no practice. Just decadence and things I enjoy:

1. Sleep late as possible. 2. Play with and take care of Vito’s needs. 3. Brunch (must include bacon, potatoes & bloody mary). 4. Golf (round, not practice) 4. More quality Vito time. 5. Bubble bath (must include adult beverages, candlelight and wonderful music) 6. More sleep.

Well, put up the mission accomplished banner because I did all those things. Yet somehow I was not fulfilled. I even threw in a bonus – in light of the previous day’s meeting and seeing someÂ irresistibleÂ shoes in the pro shop, I purchased them on the spot and wore them on the course. That, alone, would usually give me permagrin for the day. The last time I was at this course, a guy I played with said I “brought the giddy.” Saturday? I couldn’t find a single authentic smile to pose for my trademark Golfchick self portrait for you. It was sad.

My mind was in so many places and so distracted, I was anything but a ninja on the greens. I had five 3-putts. Yes, FIVE. 38 total putts. I played the white tees and shot a 102. It felt awful, scoring wise. Probably because of the putting. But I also had some terrible iron shots despite a successful stretch and warm up before the round. I wasn’t too bad off the tee until a few holes on the back nine after I started feeling demoralized. It was a strangely sad day despite all my best efforts to make it delightful.

Of course I had to share the harsh truth with you.

HOWEVER… If you know anything about my mental game on and off the course, you must have figured I’d come up with a silver lining to use moving forward. (Not to mention the title of this blog post might have given you a clue.) And, naturally, the one I found relates to my swing. Well, aside from having some kickass new shoes. (See The Golf ChickÂ shoe album on Facebook for that update if you missed it.) That silver lining is my chipping. It was spot on. I was almost Seve-like. Had a couple decidedly Phil shots as well. Chipped one in like a ninja. The guys I played with repeatedly commented positively on my short game skills and they sure as hell weren’t talking about my putting.

So that felt really good. And I’m sure my score would have been a lot higher without it. Especially with five three putts and no iron game to speak of. In fact, a couple months ago, I might have killed for a 102 from the whites. It did post with a differential below my index! I am far from discouraged. Now I’m just busy as hell and even more hell bent on finding time to practice, play, improve and break 80!

Still looking for a way to set up an online pool so people can choose a date for me to break 80. Any ideas? I have been looking at baby pool templates since they use dates but nothing seems to work just right. My friend Meg has me down in her calendar for Oct 29 and suggests an over under. Anyone else have any ideas?

Best golf and human interaction to you all. May they all roll true!

xoxo – Kristen

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Is Time Running Out For The Golf Chick’s Golf?

July 11, 2011 / golfchick / 1 Comment

I had a meeting yesterday (which started on a golf course but ended in a living room) during which I basically committed to yet another 20 hours a week on a project. With pesky sleep, household & single (with shared custody) dog mom duties, I’m running out of hours in the day. I’m afraid that my current bill paying projects may take away from my golf practice & progress toward breaking 80, not to mention my blogging, tweeting and facebooking about it all. However, I will do all I can to do all the above and continue to pretend to be remain sane. If I tweet, FB or blog less, feel free to smack me around a bit. Beware, I may smack back – heehee. This mad pace should be temporary, but may fluctuate up until November 2012.

My personal golf improvement goal remains as well as my desire to bring you tons of TGC material in text, merchandise, events and fun over the coming seasons. This is kind of starting to sound like a non-announcement announcement or just a vague Tiger presser. I’m just trying to keep you all informed on my situation! If you’ve been here long, you know I’m painfully honest and probably overshare at times, but hey, at least you know what you’re getting! Best of golf to you all, may they all roll true, and I hope to “see” you back here a couple times a week!

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The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

Category: Golfchick Performance And Progress (page 1 of 8)