Next!

One of the things I love about golf is the anticipation. Looking forward to the next round, the next match, the next hole and the next swing. 

Now of course there have been days when all I was really looking forward to was the 19th hole and some adult beverages. Days when maintaining a positive expectancy for the next shot was all but impossible. Those days are fewer now.

If golf is all about the next shot shouldn't we practice that way? My favorite practice/learning method for my students and for me is what I call the "Rule of five".

Take five balls set them several feet behind your teeing area. Make a decision about what swing action you want to improve on. Weight transfer,  tempo, rhythm, alignment or whatever. As long as it is some action not a result.

On any driving range you can ask those gathered, "what are you working on?" Nearly every answer will be a results statement.  The two most common are "I want to hit it farther." "I want to be more consistent." Ask them what they are doing to achieve such lofty outcomes and most likely you'll get a blank stare as a response.

The 'Rule of five' requires that you decide on a specific action that if done correctly should produce something close to the desired outcome. Let's say your chosen action is to strike the ball with a descending blow leaving a divot well past the ball. Step 1 is to take a practice swing smooth and slow attempting to hit the ground after the spot where the ball would have been. After the swing ask yourself,  "what do I need to do better on the NEXT swing?" Then attempt to do it. Do it five times! Then you place a ball down and attempt to execute the action you have been rehearsing. Do not judge the result by how far you hit the ball, or how straight, or by anything other than did you accomplish the action you wanted.

Step 2 is to repeat step1. And so on. Twenty five practice swings and five ball swings on purpose and with a purpose.

Then pick a new action.

A little bit more slow play

Watching the Ryder Cup matches had me thinking once again about the nemesis of slow play. Even on alternate shot the play was slow.

So I have some questions for all my golfer friends out there.

1. How long should a round of golf on a "regulation" course take?

2. What can a ranger do to actually manage the pace of play?

3. What can be done to a golf course to speed up play?

4. What can the individual golfer do to speed up play?

5. What can members of a foursome do to speed up play.

6. What can leagues do?

7. Is speed of play or pace of play the issue?

8. Does it really matter?

9. Why are we in such a hurry?

My Grandfather's wisdom

My Grandfather would always tell me, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly!" Of course he didn't mean that one should keep doing it poorly, or even get better at doing it poorly. Rather he wanted me to understand that greatness is always preceded by failure. He would also say that one of the most powerful impediments to greatness, is to be "pretty good".  The time, effort and money it takes to get from "pretty good" to great, can be overwhelming.

The goal therefor can never be to become great, but to become willing to do those important things poorly long enough that you can become pretty good. Then with desire, commitment and focused effort you can become great.

So what is focused effort? In the golf swing focused effort is not putting all your physical effort in hitting the ball as far as possible, or putting all your mental effort in staying smooth and graceful. Focused effort is what you actually do before, during and after a round of golf. Focused effort is your commitment to some type of practice or physical conditioning. Focused effort is what your mind and body do together when you swing the club. It's never mind over matter, it's always mind and matter.

My business mentor Paul J Meyer often said, "Tell me where you really spend you time, effort and money and I'll tell what you are really committed to."

Pace of play

Thursday at the finals of the FedEx cup a golfer played alone and everyone was pleased that he played in just over 3 hours. That still seems pretty slow to me.

I play a lot of golf with players of differing abilities and genders.  Slow play seems to not be dependent on either ability or gender.

Played the other day in a foursome at Kingsway.  We played right along,  a little slower than I like but at a good pace. We never saw the groups behind or in front of us. On the fourth fairway the ranger let us know that we were 2 minutes off the expected pace. It was clear to me that an effort was being made to instill a culture of faster play and ready golf. The ranger didn't wait until there was a problem.  He was polite and let us know we didn't need to rush but that playing ready golf seemed to keep the pace up at Kingsway.
A few years ago my friend Don and I joined with another golfer for a three some at Sunnybreeze.  We agreed to play ready golf to beat the expected afternoon summer rains. As Don and I finished putting on the first hole we looked back  down the fairway to watch Joe line up his third shot from about 200 yards out.  4 more swings and Joe was finally putting.  So much for ready golf.

I am not sure what is the secret to faster play. Do you have any ideas?

Etiquette

These are images from the internet. What are some of the courtesy fails on the Golf Course you would like to see changed.

These are a few more internet finds.

is playing ready golf an etiquette issue?

Should you pick up after double bofie?

How do you do that?

But I paid to play the whole golf course!

Mulligans???

Can you really read a greeen?

What really causes slow play?

A recent issue of this blog created feedback that seemed to infer that every problem with golf was the solidly on the shoulders of the course management..

My question is what can golfers do to alleviate the number one gripe all golfers share. SLOW PLAY?

The Pro-Patch

This is just a quick note about a practice routine that will improve your iron play and make things a bit easier for the greens-keeper and crew.

Iron practice, specially with wedges can do a lot of damage to the tee area of the practice range. When practicing your irons try to tear up the smallest patch of ground you can. The method I use I copied while watching Vijay Singh warm up for the PGA when it was played just outside Seattle.

Vijay started with his wedges taking his beautiful, graceful and immensely powerful swing he took a healthy divot. The next ball was carefully placed even with the start of the previous divot just a tiny bit to the left. After another swing, exactly like the previous one, the divots created an even straight lined box. After about 6 or 7 more balls Vijay selected another club.  The ball this time was placed directly behind the first divot just the tiniest bit back from where the first divot started. Once again swing after swing produced a smooth straight edged square of removed turf.

When Vijay was finished with his iron practice all that was left behind was a bare patch of ground with even edges and a smooth surface.  It took his caddie a few seconds to cover the area with divot mix. He wasn't the only caddie that tidied things up a bit after his golfer.

When you look at the tee area of most ranges you will see a random globs of divots of various lengths,  depths and directions.

When you practice try to leave behind the "Pro-Patch". Smooth even divots.

Why we play where we play

Golf course owners and managers are constantly trying to find the magic wand to wave that will bring in more golfers.

Gee if we could just have a nicer clubhouse or better food we would get more people.  Maybe.

Let's make the greens faster....slower..
..bigger....smaller....more natural....more plush, then we would get the play we need. Maybe.

How about growing the best grass like Augusta or the most natural look like this year's US Open.  Deeper rough like the British or no rough like the Player's. That will work. Maybe.

Don't forget greens fees, membership deals and special rates for special times. Surely if we just lowered our rates, gave away free beer, free range balls and lessons we can get more golfers. Maybe.

If we just made the course longer....shorter....wider....tighter then they will certainly come. Maybe.

Pages of paper could be filled with ideas, brainstorm sessions could drag on for hours all delivering exciting new ideas that will most certainly bring more golfers. MAYBE.

The truth is that the vast majority of golfers play the courses they play because someone invited them. Golf for the amateur is first and foremost a social event. Golfers will continue to play 'their'  course as long as they feel invited and look forward to playing with the ladies or the guys or whatever group they belong to. Loyalty to the group first, loyalty to the course 2nd or maybe not at all!

Being successful in business is all about being successful in relationships.  Golf course managers need to focus a significant amount of time, energy and money on managing significant relationships.  Not just the manager's relationship with the golfers but key and important golfer to golfer relationships.

Create an environment that fosters friendships,  on and off the golf course.

As a diagnosed incurable entrepreneur I have learned that the key to success in business lies in relationships with people I call 'Centers Of Influence'. Those rare individuals who always seem to have something going on. They attract others like bears to honey.  When they decide to do a local watering hole for wings on a Friday evening it grows to a dozen people. Their foursomes become  8 golfers then a league that has tee times two or three times a week.

Centers Of Influence have traits in common. They love success,  not just their own but the success of those around them. The C.O.I. is willing and able to help others. The C.O.I.  has a warm and open personality that invites others to come along.

The golf course owner/manager would be well served to take the time to identify those C.O.I. already at the course and build an honest relationship with them.  Further take the time to identify other possible C.O.I in the community and get to know them.

Now you can simply create a golf course environment that excites you the owner/manager and the 10 or so C.O.I. that you can count on to build a strong and loyal following. Make it easy and appealing for the C.O.I.  to bring friends and family to the course and they will, no maybe about it.

Make the mistake of alleinating the C.O.I. and you're going to lose them, the people they brought along and all those golfers that are going to follow them to the next course. No maybe there.