The Golfchick

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Category: Mental Game (page 2 of 2)

Commentary on The Masters and a proposed new PGA Tour slogan

April 9, 2007 / / 3 Comments

These Guys are Good Pretty Good Better than You.

Whether it’s all part of the hoax or not, Tiger Woods looked almost human at The Masters.

In fact, Augusta National Golf Club made a bunch of professional golfers look silly this year. The combination of the weather, the rock hard course conditions, insanely slick greens and magnitude of the event made for unprecedented high scores at The Masters this year. The more it gets to you, the more it’ll get to you.

The shot that doesn’t fly as far as you’d expect and spins back into the water starts you thinking.

Now that you’re thinking, you miss a putt by less than an inch and it ends up 10 feet away from the hole which makes you nervous.

Now that you’re nervous, your next tee shot finds the trees and forces you to lay up (if you can get out) and now you’re scared.

Now that you’re scared, you remember where you are and you try too hard instead of just playing your game.

Now that you’ve abandoned your game, you’ll be lucky to shoot even par.

Don’t try to tell me these guys made bad swings, poor decisions and squeaky putts because their skill sets weren’t strong enough. They should be able to adapt to difficult course conditions, formulate sound strategies, club up and calm down. They got rattled on that first demanding day and their mental games failed them.

The strangest thing about it all for me is that every golf writer or blogger I’ve read is complaining that it was no fun to watch! Au contraire!

Now it’s not that I enjoy watching people suffer (not that anyone who gets invited to play at Augusta – in The Masters, no less – should be considered to be suffering at any time) but watching them struggle a bit allowed me to relate a little better to the players.

Of course, if in some parallel universe I actually got to play that course in those conditions from a special set of tees at a reasonable distance even without the added pressure of the event, I’d be lucky to break 100. But the point is, their struggles were recognizable. I am very familiar with punching out from the trees and hitting from drop areas and three putting. I could practically feel myself there doing it.

Unlike Zach Johnson whose dream of playing in The Masters was realistic, most of us will have to settle for watching others do it. Perhaps a realistic dream for mere mortals is to watch them do it in a recognizable fashion.

For me, this tournament was not only not boring, it took entertainment to a new level for golf. Even if my skills could improve enough so I could play more like the pros, this may have been the closest I’ll ever get to playing Augusta.

Next post.

Playing to miss???!!!

January 21, 2007 / / 1 Comment

The mental game is the most important part of golf. Personally, I don’t think that’s an opinion, I think it’s a fact. With that in mind, I can’t believe I haven’t written more about it or started a category on it yet. I’m going to change that now.

I hear a lot of people talking about “playing to miss.” From amateurs I play with to commentators and pro golfers, I hear them say such things as “if you’re going to miss, you don’t want to miss left.” Huh? I never got that.

I understand there are worse places to miss than others and if there’s trouble on the left and a friendly spot on the right, it would be better to end up on that side. If you miss. However, if you approach your shot from a mental standpoint of not wanting to end up on the right, doesn’t that mean you err to the left in your setup, swing and, in fact, aim? Even if it’s only subconscious, it still effects your swing. And doesn’t that mean you’re not really going for your target so you’re essentially playing to miss? How are you going to make it if you aim to miss? HOW?

Of course I guess it’s different for professional golfers on Tour. Brains are programmable and for the most part, theirs are already out of beta testing. A safe strategy for them can make the difference in a few hundred grand in earnings. For me and others like me, it means we’re programming our brains to miss, thus we will never have the luxury of playing it safe with a comfortable lead.

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Improving my putting skills

December 6, 2006 / / 6 Comments

Perhaps I mis-titled this post. I guess I should say developing some putting skills instead of improving. Improving implies that I had some skills to begin with. I didn’t. I used to putt like a stoned chihuahua – spazzing out and either timidly leaving it way short or nervously hammering it past the hole with a freakish jolt. In either situation, I would often completely misread the putt in the first place so whether it was short or long it was way off line. Three putts were standard fare and I’d throw in a four or five putt for good measure, especially when I had a “good round” going. I used to dread going to the green to putt and just wanted to get to the next hole so I could take some more swings. My favorite thing about getting a hole-in-one was not having to putt.

Then the one and only Luke Swilor responded to one of my posts lamenting about my putting woes and he recommended the book Putting Out of Your Mind. Dog bless Luke Swilor. And Dog bless Dr. Bob Rotella for writing the book. Now I love putting. I can’t wait to get up there and try to knock it in the hole. That’s my real scoring opportunity!

Book Report – Putting Out of Your Mind, by Dr. Bob Rotella with Bob Cullen


There is really no big mystery to putting. It’s just like it was when you were a kid on a mini-golf course. You look at the target, read the putting surface, choose your line and stroke the ball into the hole. For some reason, now that we’re “adults” and golfers, putting has become so important in our brains that we psych ourselves out about it. At least I did. Suddenly it’s not as simple as it used to be. It means so much more now so it must be more difficult. I must have to concentrate more and really really try. WRONG!

In Putting Out of Your Mind, Dr. Bob Rotella explains it all so simply. It’s not a book that teaches you putting mechanics like holding your triangle or keeping your head over the ball or any of that nonsense. Not that those aren’t things that might work for you, but they might not for someone else. Grips, stances, strokes and routines can vary immensely from golfer to golfer and none is necessarily better than the other. What does have a big impact on every putt no matter who you are is what happens in your head.

This book taught me to develop a solid, repetitive routine. That much is pretty common knowledge, however overlooked or disregarded it can be in any given round. But I also learned not to over-read greens or second guess my lines. Not to stress over speed. “But, but, but… I don’t want to leave it short… I don’t want to end up 10 feet past the hole.” Forget it! If you putt just to get it close, you’re putting to miss. I now putt every putt with the full intention of making it. And guess what? I make a lot more! Sure, I still have the occasional three putt and I’m sure I always will, but I have a lot fewer of them now. More importantly, I make a lot more one-putts.

How can that be? Just by putting to make it? Well, I guess you have to read the book to really have it sink in and be convinced of the overall concept that makes it successful: trust your putt. Just like you have to trust your swing. Speaking of trusting your swing, I have also read and highly recommend Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, also by Dr. Bob Rotella. Every shot I take from under 100 yards, I aim to make it in the hole. I actually chip it in more often now, too.

Of course it isn’t quite as easy as I’m making it out to be. These things take time and I have had some setbacks. But that’s why I decided to refresh my memory of this book by re-reading it and writing this book report.

Dr. Rotella is a psychologist who works with many professional golfers and has done so for years. The book includes many anecdotes from those interactions to illustrate just how important the mental aspect of putting (and golf in general) is. It’s a quick and easy read and can have such a big impact on your game – and your scores.

I highly recommend this book. It’ll make a great holiday gift for your favorite golfer (even if that’s not yourself). Like me, you’ll probably want to pass it along to someone else after you read it. Also like me, you should opt instead to get that person his own copy so you can keep yours on the shelf because you will probably want to read it again. And again.

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My theory on Tiger Woods – you heard it here first

August 31, 2006 / / 6 Comments

No human being can play golf that well so consistently. The kind of domination Tiger Woods wields over everyone in the world who plays golf requires a mental consistency of which no human being is capable. Therefore, Tiger Woods is not human. So what is he? Well, I have a few theories and stay with me because they kind of blend into each other. They are:

A. Tiger Woods is a robot
B. Tiger Woods is an alien
C. Tiger Woods is a changeling

First, you know we common folk aren’t aware of the truly cutting edge technology that exists and prototype testing that goes on in secret. Tiger could be the product of the uber-private robotics industry. This could either be done in the private sector or by a major government power. Given that he is an American, probably the United States government. I don’t see another country’s government just handing us a winner like that even if it meant a better cover.

Second, you know we are not alone. Not only in the universe, but here on Earth. Exhibit A: The praying mantis. A friend recently pointed out to me that they are, of course, actually aliens and I completely agree. Look at their cool demeanor and the way they observe the world and indeed, you. Look at the way they control their numbers on Earth in order to remain inconspicuous until they decide to take over: the females bite the heads off of the males after mating. I think they know that the human form has the greatest advantage over other species on the planet and they will take the form of humans once we have killed ourselves off with our stupidity. Tiger might just be their prototype. That’s where the third theory comes in and the blending begins.

Perhaps the aliens are capable of a changeling type of metamorphosis.

Is this what Tiger looked like before the change?

“Achieving trust is always the final step with a change.” – Tiger Woods
Maybe deep down, he wasn’t talking about his swing.

More than likely, their evolution is so far beyond our own that we couldn’t even comprehend the kind of mental discipline, intelligence and physical power they possess. Maybe they didn’t want to “waste” one of their own by experimenting with the form of a human. Instead, they developed a robotic simulation of themselves for the test. I guess the simplistic human equivalent would be like sending a monkey into space before a human.

How about when he doesn’t win?

If Tiger ever has a bad hole, four in a row, comes in second in a tournament or even misses a cut, you can bet it’s by design. They don’t want to blow their cover. It’s just that their little experiment has his own highly involved intelligence center (way beyond our simple brains). He’s fully capable of winning every tournament every time and they let him dominate the sport but he’s gotta make it look good. Lately, I think he disobeyed some of his orders and is drawing too much attention to himself. I wonder if they’ll rein him in a bit.

But he’s so emotional!

Oh, and what about that emotional display at the British Open? Was that some kind of flaw in the dominant mental system? Not at all. He became attached to his earthly father and probably has some true feelings there, but I think he never would have expressed them. The superiors were looking for a way to make him appear more human, so after his “father” died, they had him miss a cut and then activated his emotion chip on the 18th hole at the Open. I wonder if his earth family and Steve Williams are the biggest victims of the deception or if the aliens are using some kind of mind control in order to let them in on it.

Why Tiger?

Okay, so why would they choose to do this with a golfer? Easy. They wanted it to be an athletic figure so they could test the physical capabilities of the human body. They wanted him to be a public figure because it’s just fun to bamboozle so many people. Of the sports, golf is the most mentally challenging. But most importantly, it’s the sport with the most nature around so the mantis can observe unobtrusively. I’d like to see some of that nose-hair zoom camera work at the next PGA event focusing on the mantis leader.

So, there you have it. Tiger Woods is a robotic changeling alien. You heard it here first.

Photos courtesy Erich Mangl.

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I have bad news and I have good news (and bad news and good news and bad… )

August 13, 2006 / / 1 Comment

Which do you want first?

Okay, the bad news:

I went to the range Friday night before the tournament to see if I could swing a golf club. I could, but I was being so cautious with my back that I was swinging with all arms which caused disastrous results with the golf ball. I took about 20 swings and had to call it quits. I almost cried on the way home, but there’s no crying in golf. My pain increased throughout the night, possibly due to the exertion and I had a difficult time sleeping. I woke up on Saturday thinking there was no way I could possibly play golf.

The good news:

I went to the chiropractor as scheduled Saturday morning before the tournament. Even though I had to report a flare-up and backwards progress, I received my treatment which felt good. He followed that up with an amazingly positive attitude and when I told him I didn’t think I could play, he actually prescribed golf for therapy. He said “if you go home and lie around feeling lousy, that becomes your new condition.” He told me I need to get out there and continue to do what I do and that golf is good exercise for my back right now. He didn’t know the stakes of the round, but suggested that I just go out and try and get through as many holes as I could.

The bad news:

I revealed my condition to the board and asked if I could get consideration to reschedule my match. My competitor is on the board, so the cat was out of the bag.

The good news:

They granted me the continuance. I went out to play as much of the round anyway as my doctor “prescribed.” I didn’t waste any swings warming up since I wasn’t competing. I teed off first and hooked my first shot left into the trees but was in bounds and kind of playable. It hurt but I survived it. I was deep in thought as the rest of the foursome teed off. My would-be opponent hit a great tee shot well beyond mine and in the fairway. It occurred to me that it was lame and weak to be out there playing the round but pussying out of the match. After all, a lot of these guys are older men who play hurt nearly every time. After watching his great tee shot, I said “let’s play it.” He said “Are you sure? You don’t have to, but if we start, we finish.” I said “if I don’t finish, you win.” Game on.

The bad news:

I lost.

The good news:

I finished. I powered through it, and played pretty well considering. Actually, it would have been a pretty good round for a healthy me, and I was proud of that because of the pain I endured. But pretty good was not good enough. My opponent played a great round and earned the win. Under normal circumstances, it’s hard to say if the result would have been the same. I tend to think not, since I am a fierce competitor, but we’ll never know. What felt worse than swinging the club was teeing up and retrieving the ball from the cup, and the WORST was riding in the golf cart. I stood and walked as much as possible. Hitting out of the sand was the hardest of the swings and was usually followed with ginger swings which produced terrible results. I gave away a lot of strokes by taking swings trying to baby my back.

The rundown

I really battled on the front nine. I got three strokes on that side and used them well. After losing the 1st hole, we halved the 2nd (where I got a stroke) when I bogey’d and he par’d. One down. 3rd hole, we both bogey’d. Still one down. 4th hole, we both bogey’d but I got a stroke. All square. 5th hole, he bogeys, I double. Back to one down. 6th hole, I par, he doubles. All square. 7th hole, we both bogey but I get a stroke. One up. 8th hole, I bogey, he pars. All square. 9th hole, we both bogey. All square after nine.

At the turn, I used the privacy of the restroom to let out some of the winces and pained facial expressions I’d been suppressing. The soreness and fatigue were really wearing on me and I was amazed I was even giving this guy a run for his money. That was my downfall. Under normal competitive circumstances, such weakness in attitude doesn’t exist.

I got two strokes on the back nine and knew I had to start making some solid pars but instead of feeling the exhilaration of the challenge, I felt like it was an uphill battle at this point. 10th hole, he bogeys and I triple! One down. 11th hole, he pars and I double. I got a stroke on this hole and gave it away in the middle of the fairway. I still could have halved it on the green but missed a make-able 2nd putt. Doubt and lack of confidence had crept in. Two down. 12th hole, we both bogey, still two down. 13th hole, we both bogey, still two down. 14th hole, he pars, I bogey. Three down, four to go. 15th hole, I got a stroke but the exact same thing happened as on the 11th. I gave one away on the fairway and one on the green. He pars and I double. Match over. I finished the round with double, par, par. I was disappointed in the loss (my first match loss) and the mental weakness that caused it. But I was proud of my physical effort and courage to do battle.

The bad news:

I’m feeling the repercussions of all the strain I put on my back yesterday.

The good news:

Underneath the tenderness, I feel like it’s getting better and when the soreness from overuse subsides I’ll be well on my way back to normal. I’m continuing my stretches and have more follow up visits to the chiropractor scheduled.

More good news:

Greg won his match and advanced to the A-flight championship next month. (Incidentally, he played a worse round than I did, relatively speaking – he shot a net 76 and I shot a net 71.)

The bad news:

It won’t be me he faces. (Don’t think for a second I won’t be secretly keeping track at the next tournament to see who would win if we were playing each other.)

The mixed feelings news:

After the round, the board invited me to join them as Secretary. It took them about a half hour of persuading me before I caved in and accepted. I know they just want some sucker to fulfill those duties (mainly writing to keep members informed and promoting to recruit new members). I also know I’m pretty busy right now and don’t need more unpaid responsibility. However, as the only female member of the club, I was impressed they were willing to have a female on the board with voting power.

I think they were impressed with the way I handled the match situation. In fact, at the 19th hole, I noticed a marked difference in attitudes toward me from the members as well. It could just be that they were happy I got beat, but it also felt like an increase in respect. Too bad my decision to play came on the first tee, though. I bet that thwarted a lot of wagering that would have taken place had they known the match was on.

Next post.

Twenty dollars well spent

May 13, 2006 / / 2 Comments

On Wednesday, I lost my swing. Today, I went back to the scene of the crime to try to find it.

The course where I was going to play on Wednesday was Lost Canyons. I started by hitting some balls at the range and didn’t get any further than that as I explained in my last post.

I found out via the e-mail newsletter of Lost Canyons that this month is “National PGA Teaching Month” (someone should alert Hallmark) and in honor of it, they are holding three one-hour clinics for ladies on three Saturdays in May. I debated with myself over whether attending such a clinic would mess with my head even further or actually be useful and in the end, I won the debate. The clinic started at noon and at 11:45, I decided that it probably couldn’t hurt to go back to basics – not to mention the scene of the crime – and try to rebuild some confidence. As a true procrastinator, I was thrilled to find out that it was a great last minute decision.

The “clinic,” which was the first of three scheduled and was advertised as being for beginners and intermediates, had a low turnout on its first week. There were three of us: one who had never swung a club in her life, one who had been hitting balls at the driving range with her husband for two years but had never actually been on a golf course, and me.

The Lesson

After asking us about our golfing backgrounds, the pro in charge (Paul, you were great!) started with the grip. But having only an hour to work with, he quickly transitioned to the swing. He had us all swinging 7-irons, and after watching a few swings, he told me it didn’t look like I was having the trouble I had described. He said I had a great swing and called some of my shots “money.” Like taking your car to the mechanic and it won’t make that noise. I told him to keep watching. Sure enough, I proceeded to hit the ground before the ball and shank a few after that. Bless his little heart, he immediately said something like “oh, I see it… I can fix that easily.” Since I’m pretty sure my problem was mostly psychological, I think just hearing those words fixed me, but it was good to get some actual advice, and I bet it will actually improve my game beyond where I was before this problem started.

The Real Lesson

So what was the advice? Well, I paid 20 clams for it, but I’ll give it to you here for free, in case you have the same issue. Primarily, it was that I wasn’t shifting my weight correctly. On my backswing, I was transferring my weight to the front leg and on the follow through I was transferring it to my back leg – like a softball swing. DUH! When I say “duh,” it’s because I mean I know I’m supposed to transition my weight back and then front along with my swing in golf, I just wasn’t doing it. However, along with that, my head was staying on the ball, rather than moving back with my weight and then my head should stay back while my weight transitions forward. He actually stood in front of me and held my head while I took a few swings (which felt really awkward but I got the picture). That part I actually didn’t know. Herein lies the golf lesson. I paid the $20 for the confidence, and I got something extra!

His advice could have been “breathe through your eyes” like from Bull Durham and it might have worked to fix my mental problem. I just needed some psychological fix. But once I was feeling it, and it didn’t take long, all was well and I was just soaking up the lesson. We even moved on to chipping and putting and he went longer than the hour because “it was better than working inside.”

Lost Canyons is holding these clinics the next two weeks from noon to 1:00, and if you’re a lady and live anywhere near and want either instruction or confidence, I highly recommend going.

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Another milestone and I love match play

September 25, 2005 / / 7 Comments


I am the new B-flight champion of the Treehouse Golf Club. Up until the last six holes, it felt like the worst round I’d played in months. Even though I had a few decent holes in the beginning of the round, from #5 to #12, I had one par, one bogey, three triples, two quadruples and one +5 (fo shizzle my fizzle?)! Yikes! Luckily, it was match play. Before you roll your eyes and “pshaw” away my win or think I didn’t deserve it (I almost felt I didn’t), let me describe it further. Even though I took an 11 and two 9s in the round, those were just three holes. In stroke play, that would be a disaster, but I knew I still had a good chance to win if I could concentrate and focus.

Diagnosing the problem – adjust what you can control

I was one down after 12, went back to square on 13, stayed even on 14, then went one up, two up, three up in decisive fashion to win 3 and 1. If I hadn’t had such a strong finish and would have just squeaked by, I would have been ashamed to win. However, I put together some solid golf holes at the end after I guess I finally convinced myself I had to relax and play my game. I had been gripping my club so tightly I was actually hooking the ball, which I don’t normally do. I was tense and my swing felt awkward and I couldn’t seem to overcome my mental obstacles. I really wanted to win and I was psyching myself out and worrying about things I couldn’t control, like the fact that my opponent plays the course we were on every week in his men’s club. The handicap system doesn’t make adjustments for those kinds of advantages. Also, his handicap used to be just on the B-flight side of the cusp, and is currently solidly in the A-flight category. I guess you have to play out the competition in the flight where you began. I had to play the white tees with him but my course handicap was adjusted accordingly. Plus, I’m a relatively long hitter for a woman and he’s a relatively short hitter for a man but has a great short game. They do say that the handicap system is the great equalizer. We both ended up netting a 74. I knew if I played like I know I can play I could beat him. He was definitely a tough customer! After the disastrous middle of the round, I easily could have completely unraveled, but — did I mention — I really wanted to win! Throughout the round, even the embarassing holes, I kept a positive attitude and never became grumpy, which is always a struggle for me. I get so upset with myself when I do badly even on one hole, but it’s especially important in match play to leave bad holes behind. There’s definite difference between a positive attitude and a carefree one. If I get too happy-go-lucky, which can happen when trying too hard to let go of the bad stuff, my game can suffer just as much as if I get down on myself. Kind of the same way that a little bit of anger management on the tee can result in a great drive but letting the anger fester and boil can ruin not only your round but those of the players in your foursome. Sure, the game requires skill, but I think it’s mostly mental. I think playing it is also helping my general life skills. Practicing at the range can help build muscle memory and otherwise enhance my swing skills. Playing recreational or friendly competition rounds does that plus helps advance my situational golf skills and knowledge, and lets me develop and hone my mental game. Playing competitive tournament rounds lets me do all of the above with a serious emphasis on the mental side while testing my mettle.

Fight to the finish

I took some deep breaths and made some solid shots, getting my confidence back and turning the momentum in my favor. He never made it easy on me, either; we were really battling there towards the end. Two holes in a row, we tied with pars but I won them because I got a stroke on each. I’m not ashamed, but the win wasn’t as satisfying as my past wins because I didn’t play as strong of a round. In fact, according to my calculator, I played 2 over my handicap target which in stroke play probably shouldn’t be a tournament winning round. I guess that’s the beauty of match play. Ultimately, I made it happen when I had to.

After the round was over, I knew I hadn’t completely relaxed out there because I felt myself literally breathe a sigh of relief back at the clubhouse and I could feel my body release the tension. Today, a lot of muscles I don’t usually pay attention to feel fatigued, probably from that tension. And this was just for B-flight championship (best of the worst?) in a rinky-dink club in a rinky-dink town. Well, gotta start getting competitive golf experience somewhere, right?

In three weeks, I go up against the A-flight champion for the overall club championship. I posted some really good scores this month, so I expect my handicap to be lower and I know the slope rating will be lower, so I’ll probably end up getting fewer strokes from this guy than my B-flight opponent! And his tournament play has been so strong — he’s among the low net leaders for sure. I guess I’ll just have to bring my A game for the A-flight guy. And who knows… win or lose, next season I just might be in the A-flight with him.

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