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How To Achieve Your Golf Goals
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Would you be happy if you shot what might be your best score ever in an important event or tournament, then shot a disappointing score the next round? Would you celebrate or would you lament?
This is the story of a Golfer that I’ll call Jim.
Jim has been playing golf for a number of years and generally has played pretty good, though he always wanted to get better – probably just like you hope to do. Jim enjoyed playing and competing in his county’s Amateur Golf Tournament every year. Yet, there’s been this nagging feeling that he desperately wanted to play in the Championship Flight - which wasn’t a terrible stretch since Jim has competed in the First Flight numerous times.
But, there was a formidable barrier standing in his way. To qualify for the Championship Flight you needed to be a 3.0 handicap or less!
So Jim set a goal after the 2006 County Championship to work on his game so that he would qualify for the Championship Flight in 2007. Now there’s two ways you, as the reader, can go from here: One – you could say ‘who’s Jim and why should I care about him. He could be a fictional character for all that I know. Besides, I’m not even close to playing in my Championship Flight (or I don’t even compete in my County Golf Championship), so what does this have to do with me?’
Or
Two – you could say ‘This could be interesting. Marc might give me some strategies that Jim used to improve his golf game that I could use to improve mine. Trying to make it to the Championship Flight or trying to break 90 or 100 for the first time are relatively the same goals – aren’t they?’
Now, fast forward to this past weekend – Jim playing in the Championship Flight played the greatest round of his life. Playing against Golfers that he’s looked up to for years, Jim went out and shot a 2 under par 70! After the round he telephoned the GMS Office and his first words to me where – ‘I now know that I can play with the best in the county.’
Tell me if you think he was excited?
In the coming weeks, I hope to give you more detail on how Jim made this incredible improvement in such a short period of time. I’ll display the techniques and strategies Jim and I used and I believe that you’ll also improve like he did. Maybe not go from scoring 105 to the Championship Flight in one year (Jim was a pretty good Golfer before we started), but I believe that the 105 Golfer should realistically see an 89 within a year and a 95 Golfer should see the low 80’s.
But at this point, I want to illustrate what Jim did on the golf course this past weekend and see if you could do the same.
He was the leader for much of the first day until one Golfer scored 68 and another 69. But still, 3rd place was pretty dang good!
So knowing that he was in third place starting the second round – Jim scored a 46 on the front nine. Now, a lot of Golfers reading this might be happy with a 46. Though, Jim was coming off the round of his life. And 10 over par for the first nine holes pretty much had to be a major letdown.
Have you ever done the same? Played a great 18 holes – then the next day you come out and it doesn’t feel like you can do anything right - nothing feels good and you struggle. Well, there’s two ways you could go at this point. One – you could start “Fiddling” with your golf swing and your PLAN trying figure to out what’s wrong.
Or
Two – you could do what Jim did and say to yourself ‘You know, I’ve been playing really good golf in the weeks leading up to this point in addition to playing better than ever yesterday. So, I played a crappy nine holes. I know if I stick with my swing, with my PLAN – I could turn this round around.’
So what do you think happened on the back nine? He played holes 10 through 16 at even Par before three putting holes 17 and 18 to score a 38. An excellent 38 - not that there ever is a 38 that’s not excellent.
What would most Golfers have done? Would they have chosen number One or number Two above? Which would you have chosen? The Golfer that chooses number One and starts “Fiddling” with their golf swing and PLAN might find something to get back on track, but in my experience of watching Golfers – 7 out of 8 will end up getting more confused and start playing even worse.
However, the Golfers that choose number Two experience more positives. One being that at the very worst they wouldn’t start playing worse like the Golfer that chooses to “Fiddle” with their swing and the other is that they most likely would get over the bad nine holes, smooth out their swing and play much better.
Jim obviously made the best decision. And ultimately led Jim into having a positive attitude going into the third and final round where he scored a very respectable 80. As opposed to the Golfer who might have chosen the other path after the first nine holes of the second round (by “Fiddling” with their swing and forgetting about their PLAN) and continued to play poorly or worse on the back nine. What kind of attitude would they have coming into their next round? And because of that attitude, how much fun would they have had and how poorly do you think they would’ve played?
Jim sent me an email after his 3rd round and I want to highlight a couple of things he said:
One – ‘Sunday I met my second objective of this year (the first of course was qualifying for the Championship Flight), the second was that I teed off with the top 20 golfers on the front side (golfers in 21st to 40th place started their round on #10). I had 4 birdies in the round of 80 and birdied 3 of the 4 par fives. I am totally jacked up.’
Two – ‘You live by the sword and die by the sword.....the putter. I must become an excellent putter, not just a good putter.’
What are you going to do the next time you play a bad nine holes? Are you going to “Fiddle” with your golf swing or are you going to think of Jim?
The Monkey will panic after a bad 9 holes and then search for anything that’ll work
The Player takes a deep breath, clears their mind and stays with what they know
Go Ahead, Be A Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com
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Jeff,
We had so much fun and you did a great job teaching. I have played a couple times and am excited about the possibilities! It is still a bit of a struggle for me to stay focused for the entire 18 holes, but when I do stick with my Plan, Pace of Swing, and avoid mental clutter it is amazing! I actually had 2 birdies on Sunday.... I don't think I had 2 in the prior 8 months! I am using a larger head driver and you were so right about that as well.
Thanks again for everything! I am sure I will be back to GMS in the future.
Molly C – Mesa Verde, California – Sent August 14th, 2007
Attended Lake Tahoe Location on August 6th to 8th, 2007
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Hi Hayden,
Yes I owe you one!! First off, I am the first woman ever in the 100 year history of Pine Hills Country Club to get a hole in one on hole #5.
My handicap has improved to 23 and my trend is improving...that means on my course I shoot in the 90's. I also had an 88 this year - my best score ever. I just keep making my Plan and saying my Tick Tock. Its so much fun for me! How is you wife and son? He must be getting big.
Regards,
Terri B – Sheboygan, Wisconsin – Sent July 30th, 2007
Attended Amelia Island location April 7th to 9th, 2006
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Sunset @ Whitehawk Ranch Golf Club
This week I need to share a photograph with you that was taken by a Golfer that came to see us at our Lake Tahoe area location at Whitehawk Ranch Golf Club. Doug was sitting on the porch of the cabin he was staying in at the Lodge at Whitehawk Ranch when he snapped this photo. He then sent it to us with the message :
Here's a pic of the sunset from the porch of my cabin last week. Enjoy! Doug Gallacher
The feedback we’ve received from our first year at Whitehawk Ranch has exceeded our expectations and we hope to return for 2008. Wait, what’s that?
Ohhhh, Marc’s telling me that we still have a month and half left of classes up at Lake Tahoe and that we still have classes available. And yes we do! We still have availability over Labor Day weekend and all the way through the end of September. And by the way – from what we’ve heard, September offers some of the best weather the Lake Tahoe area has to offer.
And as GMS Mentor Hayden Lewis, who was just up to Whitehawk for two GMS Programs (including a Level 2 Program), said upon his return to the GMS office – ‘Whitehawk Ranch is the best golf course I have ever played. I only had a chance to play the front nine, but it was awesome!’
Give me a call to set-up your GMS Program at Whitehawk Ranch so that you can improve your golf game and possibly experience a sunset like Doug.
Regards,
Alex – Director, Golf Made Simple Inc.
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Hitting The Ball Close To The Hole
How far should your shots to the green from over 30 yards away end up from the hole? For many Golfers, they feel they should be getting the ball within a few feet and certainly within 10 or 20 feet on most shots. Would you agree?
Yet, Tiger Woods’ golf shots to the green from over 30 yards away end up an average of 33 feet away from the hole. And to go into more detail, his shots from over 200 yards away end up an average of 43 ½ feet from the hole. And 200 yards to him might be equivalent to 140 yards or so for you because Tiger is most likely hitting a 5 or 6 iron from 200 yards.
Now Tiger is the best Player on the Planet - and you’re nowhere even close to his abilities. So what should you be expecting? I say this because how many times have you hit a golf shot that ended up 20 feet to the right of the hole and then complained – “Ooohhh, why did I push that one? Why can’t I hit the ball better? What did I do wrong on that swing?”
If you’re 20 feet away from the hole, be happy – you just hit a better golf shot than the Best Player On The Planet!
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Golf Improvement Weekly
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2007
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How much effort do you put into reading the golf course? How much time before your shot do you look at the different options you have towards playing the hole? Most Golfers stand around with their head in the clouds as the others in the group are hitting - as opposed to making a PLAN for the hole.
What are you doing before each shot? Are you reading the golf course? Or are you just standing there like a Monkey?
The Player isn’t just aiming down the middle on every tee shot like you are. They put more effort into their PLAN than you do. And because deep down inside they know that they’re prepared for their next shot – they end up making a better golf swing. As opposed to the Monkey who doesn’t have a PLAN and ends up with a random golf swing that’s based on “hitting and hoping.”
Marc Solomon - 'Your Instructor for Life'
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This photo (see above) is credited to GMS Golfer Doug Gallacher. Photographed from the porch of his cabin at The Whitehawk Ranch.
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