Stuff I've been thinking about lately

[adamsgolfer]

Obviously it is best to have a technically perfect swing that is repeatable, but you could also play well with a sound swing which is not perfect if it is still repeatable. A swing that isn't repeatable is not good and a swing that is really bad (eg. shanks) and repeatable (eg. many shanks) is not good either.

Then there is feel. Some people need to be very mechanical to have a repeatable swing and others rely solely on feel and for these people mechanics actually get in the way. My personal opinion is that neither is better than the other but to get the most out of your golf you need to be less mechanical and more feel if you are a feel person and vice versa. I think I have been a feel person that has been relying too much on mechanics.

What about people whose main objective even subconsciously is the perfect swing. They may not even know that they are searching for the perfect swing shot after shot and any slight miss hit is bad. This is me. The flip side to this are people that just want to score and accept that they might only have 1 or 2 perfect shots a round. They keep their chin up, manage their mis-hits, get up and down and still score low. One type will spend more time on the range whilst the other will spend more time on the practice green. One type will keep a blade 3 iron in the bag no matter how badly they hit it, the other type will throw in some hybrids instead.

People (me) who try to buy a game by changing clubs often, sometimes even after 9 holes or a range session (I've done this far too often) never get the game they are looking for. I don't know how many thousands of dollars have I spent chasing a perfect swing and lower score by changing clubs. I could have used the money to take my family on an overseas holiday. My local Power Golf store have a lot to answer for.

Lessons with are good pro can be good. Lessons with a bad pro is bad. No lessons can be good or bad depending on the person. My mate was a 6 with no lessons and and now scores mid to high 80's after taking lessons. His mind is messed up with all sorts of new thoughts when he stands over the ball. I have seen 4 different pros in the last 8 years all with totally different philosophies. Oh I almost forgot the online lessons I did so I guess that makes 5 different philosophies. This might be the reason why I find myself losing my swing for weeks at a time. Just stick with 1 pro.

As with everything in life, you have to be disciplined. Disciplined enough to practice short game instead of long game, disciplined enough to walk into a golf store for balls and not come out with a new driver, disciplined enough to not search out the next 'snake oil swing fix guru' that comes along after a bad round.

I think too much.

[Steve57]

Nike!
Just do it!!!!!

[mrbluu]

Caffeine is hell of a drug ;-)

[3Puttpete]

people whose main objective even subconsciously is the perfect swing. They may not even know that they are searching for the perfect swing shot after shot and any slight miss hit is bad. This is me.




This can never be correct

[adamsgolfer]

Caffeine is hell of a drug ;-)

Rick James!!!

[wizard_of_oz]

If you aren't playing golf for a living then you really don't need a mechanically perfect swing to have enjoyment from the game. The pros have talent, time and money to seek for the swing that works for them and then spend thousands of hours prefecting it. It really depends to how much of those things that you have that will limit your golf game. Changing equipment and tweaking really should be just for fun and as a hobby, as long as you understand that, you are fine. Placebo effect on new gear never ceases to amaze me, where people genuinely think that it has improved over the previous version, but yet their handicaps stay the same.

[Buzz]

The golf manufacturing economy would collapse overnight without that placebo effect :)

[Coldtopper]

Hey AG you cant be serious (JMc). Sorry but if you honestly have that much going on in your head with all your posts of late going on before you hit a golf ball then there is not much hope of it going anywhere consistently. Simple game consisting of aim, swing and walk its not that hard.

[Slothman]

AG...

Dr Bob Rotella's book addresses EVERYTHING in your post :)

Your current system is not working, you have pointed that out in your post, so stop doing the same thing :)

Time to change your approach, its what you are trying to do here, you can see it in your posts. Honestly...get hold of Golf is Not a Game of Perfect......some snippets to get you thinking :)

- Why is it amatuers will hold onto that bad shot and "get down" on themselves immediately after hitting a bad shot, when pro's seem to accept their bad shots. Yes they get annoyed with themselves, but they move on quickly. They accept it is not a game of perfect. Even pro's don't hit "perfect" shots every time.

- Minimise your mistakes. Another words, play within your own ability and understand your ability. If you cannot reach the green, why rip out a 3 wood from the rough in a crappy lie to try and pump it to 15 meters short. Would it not be easier to take an 8 iron, hit it solid to the distance which you are comfortable with hitting?

- Do you have a pre shot routine that gets you physically and mentally ready?? Or just a pre shot routine??

- Do you worry about the shots you have hit? Why its done, the best you can do is think about your next shot and playing that shot to the best of your ability.

- Lessons are only effective if you have a plan. A pro would prefer 6 lessons with agreed practice times in between over 1 lesson to add a bandaid. It takes time to change a swing to a level that your body reverts back to your dominant habbit under stress. It doesn't happen on one lesson.

Honestly, I think you would get a MASSIVE amount from that one book :)

[rubin]

we need an adamsgolfer thread - like the shortylook thread.

[Iain]

we need an adamsgolfer thread - like the shortylook thread.

I was wondering if shortylook had a brother.

[BUSHY]

I've seen a video comparing Jim Furyk and Ben Hogan, showing their swings side by side then highlighting the impact position for both. Completely different swings yet they look almost identical at impact. The ball doesn't know if your taking it too far inside or across the line at the top or on the outside on the downswing. The ball only responds to the physics at impact. It's as simple as that really, for me anyway.

[Buzz]

I'm really looking forward to reading that Rotella book !!

[LarryLong]

I think you've been thinking about too much stuff lately. I don't think about that much stuff in an entire round of golf if I can help it.

[markTHEblake]

Golfers with sound mechanics don't need feel, touch, rhythm. Their bad shots are not going to be bad.

The golfer with swing flaws relies on compensations to get by ( if he can't then he is just shit at golf)and he will be relying on timing, rythym and feel. So on his off days he will be really shit.

Any golfer who thinks he needs to hit a bucket of balls before he plays to find out how he is hitting them or find his timing falls into this category.

[Jackson]

Any golfer who thinks he needs to hit a bucket of balls before he plays to find out how he is hitting them or find his timing falls into this category.

I was always like that, but since moving to a club that has a warm up net I have changed my mind. For the last 2 rounds I have just hit 10x 7i, a few hybrids and a couple of driver shots into the net focussing on making good contact and have had better starts than I usually would. Hackers like me hit too many bad shots, and if you hit a full bucket before a round its just more bad shots in your subconscious when standing on the first tee.

[wizard_of_oz]

Marktheblake...you mentioned in another thread that you suffer from flipping at the ball. You play off of a 2 handicap. I would think that is fairly good evidence that you don't need perfect swing mechanics in order to play good golf?

[LeftyHoges]

I was always like that, but since moving to a club that has a warm up net I have changed my mind. For the last 2 rounds I have just hit 10x 7i, a few hybrids and a couple of driver shots into the net focussing on making good contact and have had better starts than I usually would. Hackers like me hit too many bad shots, and if you hit a full bucket before a round its just more bad shots in your subconscious when standing on the first tee.

That's not necessarily finding your timing or finding out how you're hitting them though Jackson, that's more just pure warm-up, which everyone probably should do.

I see the point you're trying to make though.

[rubin]

Golfers with sound mechanics don't need feel, touch, rhythm. Their bad shots are not going to be bad.

The golfer with swing flaws relies on compensations to get by ( if he can't then he is just shit at golf)and he will be relying on timing, rythym and feel. So on his off days he will be really shit.

Any golfer who thinks he needs to hit a bucket of balls before he plays to find out how he is hitting them or find his timing falls into this category.

I'm not sure Luke Donald, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson etc do.... They all say (in their own ways) they head to the range to see how they are hitting them that day, and work with what they have. They don't all wake up striping the ball every single day.

[adamsgolfer]

Hey AG you cant be serious (JMc). Sorry but if you honestly have that much going on in your head with all your posts of late going on before you hit a golf ball then there is not much hope of it going anywhere consistently. Simple game consisting of aim, swing and walk its not that hard.

I'm half serious. It's not quite like I typed up but it's floating around up in there.....

[Jackson]

That's not necessarily finding your timing or finding out how you're hitting them though Jackson, that's more just pure warm-up, which everyone probably should do.

I see the point you're trying to make though.


That's what I'm saying sorry, that I used to do a warm up that involved finding out how I was hitting them, usually a full bucket of balls. Since scrapping that and warming up without worrying about ball flight etc I'm playing much better.

[adamsgolfer]

AG...

Dr Bob Rotella's book addresses EVERYTHING in your post :)

Your current system is not working, you have pointed that out in your post, so stop doing the same thing :)

Time to change your approach, its what you are trying to do here, you can see it in your posts. Honestly...get hold of Golf is Not a Game of Perfect......some snippets to get you thinking :)

- Why is it amatuers will hold onto that bad shot and "get down" on themselves immediately after hitting a bad shot, when pro's seem to accept their bad shots. Yes they get annoyed with themselves, but they move on quickly. They accept it is not a game of perfect. Even pro's don't hit "perfect" shots every time.

- Minimise your mistakes. Another words, play within your own ability and understand your ability. If you cannot reach the green, why rip out a 3 wood from the rough in a crappy lie to try and pump it to 15 meters short. Would it not be easier to take an 8 iron, hit it solid to the distance which you are comfortable with hitting?

- Do you have a pre shot routine that gets you physically and mentally ready?? Or just a pre shot routine??

- Do you worry about the shots you have hit? Why its done, the best you can do is think about your next shot and playing that shot to the best of your ability.

- Lessons are only effective if you have a plan. A pro would prefer 6 lessons with agreed practice times in between over 1 lesson to add a bandaid. It takes time to change a swing to a level that your body reverts back to your dominant habbit under stress. It doesn't happen on one lesson.

Honestly, I think you would get a MASSIVE amount from that one book :)

I'm glad that someone can see that my posts of late stem from me trying to do something different anc change my approach.

I'll look into that Rotella book. Sounds like it has changed your outlook for the better and your enthusiasm for the game comes thru in your posts.

[adamsgolfer]

I was wondering if shortylook had a brother.

Who is shortlylook?

[rubin]

Who is shortlylook?

http://www.ozgolf.net/search.php?searchid=6023725

Its a goldmine of entertainment

[Slothman]

I'm glad that someone can see that my posts of late stem from me trying to do something different anc change my approach.

I'll look into that Rotella book. Sounds like it has changed your outlook for the better and your enthusiasm for the game comes thru in your posts.

Yep you are at the same spot I was at, my pro tried to get me to read Bob Rotella...I resisted because "surely it can't be that simple" and "pffft...tree hugging hippy garbage"....

For some reason I could understand what he was trying to say. Its not like he has anything new to say, its just I could understand the way he was trying to say it :)

[markTHEblake]

I would think that is fairly good evidence that you don't need perfect swing mechanics in order to play good golf? That's right.

[Ferrins]

I don't try for ten rounds and then concentrate for the next 10.

[timah!]

I think too much.


End thread. Seriously, just play golf.

[adamsgolfer]

End thread. Seriously, just play golf.

Then we might as well close the whole forum down, forums are full of people who think too much.

[Shortylook]

I was wondering if shortylook had a brother.
Bloody nasty

[3Puttpete]

forums are full of people who think too much.

You bet.


All on red.


I mean black.




Due to the lack of information....I also agree with Lagerlover....


Hookers and blow.

Waste the rest.

[rubin]

Then we might as well close the whole forum down, forums are full of people who think too much.


Theres thinking too much, and there is this:

Obviously it is best to have a technically perfect swing that is repeatable, but you could also play well with a sound swing which is not perfect if it is still repeatable. A swing that isn't repeatable is not good and a swing that is really bad (eg. shanks) and repeatable (eg. many shanks) is not good either.

Then there is feel. Some people need to be very mechanical to have a repeatable swing and others rely solely on feel and for these people mechanics actually get in the way. My personal opinion is that neither is better than the other but to get the most out of your golf you need to be less mechanical and more feel if you are a feel person and vice versa. I think I have been a feel person that has been relying too much on mechanics.

What about people whose main objective even subconsciously is the perfect swing. They may not even know that they are searching for the perfect swing shot after shot and any slight miss hit is bad. This is me. The flip side to this are people that just want to score and accept that they might only have 1 or 2 perfect shots a round. They keep their chin up, manage their mis-hits, get up and down and still score low. One type will spend more time on the range whilst the other will spend more time on the practice green. One type will keep a blade 3 iron in the bag no matter how badly they hit it, the other type will throw in some hybrids instead.

People (me) who try to buy a game by changing clubs often, sometimes even after 9 holes or a range session (I've done this far too often) never get the game they are looking for. I don't know how many thousands of dollars have I spent chasing a perfect swing and lower score by changing clubs. I could have used the money to take my family on an overseas holiday. My local Power Golf store have a lot to answer for.

Lessons with are good pro can be good. Lessons with a bad pro is bad. No lessons can be good or bad depending on the person. My mate was a 6 with no lessons and and now scores mid to high 80's after taking lessons. His mind is messed up with all sorts of new thoughts when he stands over the ball. I have seen 4 different pros in the last 8 years all with totally different philosophies. Oh I almost forgot the online lessons I did so I guess that makes 5 different philosophies. This might be the reason why I find myself losing my swing for weeks at a time. Just stick with 1 pro.

As with everything in life, you have to be disciplined. Disciplined enough to practice short game instead of long game, disciplined enough to walk into a golf store for balls and not come out with a new driver, disciplined enough to not search out the next 'snake oil swing fix guru' that comes along after a bad round.

I think too much.

[adamsgolfer]

Theres thinking too much, and there is this:


Either way.... I've managed to spend most of the day chatting away with you blokes about stuff and somehow my day at work has flown by and been less of a pain in the arse than it otherwsie would have been.

[Jarro]

I've been thinking about boobies

[PeteyD]

Boobies!

[Jarro]

Well you can't think about just one :roll:

[golfbound]

Malaysian flight missing have a friend on board. What does everyone think happened

[Jarro]

Malaysian flight missing have a friend on board. What does everyone think happened

Hijacking.

Sorry about your friend :(

[3Puttpete]

Sorry to hear that Ben.

I have no idea what or how it happened. PtP is the one who'll have an idea of the possibilities, if not the actual events.

[mrbluu]

I think SMS said it best have a root or a wank before your round!!!

[Buzz]

I think SMS said it best have a root or a wank before your round!!! The thinking behind this is ...??Not that I disagree :)

[mrbluu]

The thinking behind this is ...??Not that I disagree :)

I'm assuming that either way you will be relaxed!!!

[Buzz]

I'm assuming that either way you will be relaxed!!! Seriously considering broaching this with the wife as part of the regular pre-golf routine.Suspect advice will be for the solo warm up!

[mrbluu]

Seriously considering broaching this with the wife as part of the regular pre-golf routine.Suspect advice will be for the solo warm up!

So status quo.....

[Coldtopper]

Seriously considering broaching this with the wife as part of the regular pre-golf routine.Suspect advice will be for the solo warm up! Cool sit on opposite hand for 10 minutes then crank it up! Post the results in what did you shoot this week . Play well

[WBennett]

Wow.

Golf is something you do with friends, to enjoy yourself, relax etc. If you hit a bad shot or have a bad day, there is always next shot, next hole, next week.

People who blow up because they don't hit the ball like a robot or are looking for the impossible dream should give golf away. There is too many 'outside factors' such as luck, wind, biorhythms, your playing partner sneezing during your shot etc.

Worst day on course is still better than work.

[Buzz]

So status quo..... Maybe not only married last September ;-)

[markTHEblake]

Mr Bluu added to list of golfers not to shake hands with before we hit off the first.

[mrbluu]

Mr Bluu added to list of golfers not to shake hands with before we hit off the first.

Why??? I dont subscribe to that theory cos I'm happy with a couple of beers.

[markTHEblake]

Just in case you shoook SMS hand first then

[hacker]

http://www.golfwrx.com/192639/are-your-expectations-killing-your-progress/

I am guilty of this also as it seems many are.

Then again post number 40 could have its merits.

[FoxGolf]

I think SMS said it best have a root or a wank before your round!!!

Tried this today. Worked great for the front nine but the magic wore off a bit round the back nine.

Maybe I need the wife to come out and visit near the 8th green without the kids.

[Johnny Canuck]

Tried this today. Worked great for the front nine but the magic wore off a bit round the back nine.

Maybe I need the wife to come out and visit near the 8th green without the kids.

Or play in a two ball with Rubin.

[sms316]

I think SMS said it best have a root or a wank before your round!!! Pennant semi final this morning so a preparation is key. Confidence is high.

[Captain Nemo]

After trying to read thru all this I think you think too much.....

[adamsgolfer]

Man how do I recover from this thread.

I just want to talk golf, be more active on this forum and get better at this game.

Sure I think too much, not just about golf mind you, but that's just me and at least I'm not a dick. Me thinking too much about how to get better at golf and taking it too seriously is nothing compared to some people that are around.

Point taken though, I'll take a chill pill and just have fun with the game.

[timah!]

29317

[Captain Nemo]

Man how do I recover from this thread.

I just want to talk golf, be more active on this forum and get better at this game.

Sure I think too much, not just about golf mind you, but that's just me and at least I'm not a dick. Me thinking too much about how to get better at golf and taking it too seriously is nothing compared to some people that are around.

Point taken though, I'll take a chill pill and just have fun with the game.

:smt023

[PeteyD]

Keep thinking, if that is your thing. I go through cycles, sometimes, like now, I just play hit and find and shrug at the bad shots (and there are a lot of them). Other times I get into practice and being technical.

[Slothman]

Man how do I recover from this thread.

I just want to talk golf, be more active on this forum and get better at this game.

Sure I think too much, not just about golf mind you, but that's just me and at least I'm not a dick. Me thinking too much about how to get better at golf and taking it too seriously is nothing compared to some people that are around.

Point taken though, I'll take a chill pill and just have fun with the game.

Hehehe....don't worry champ. This game is more based in mental control than any other sport I have played. Most others you could overcome bad physical play with getting mad, pumping the adrenaline and going nuts. That just doesn't work on the golf course, so I have discovered :)

If getting your mind in the right space requires that "nutting out" of the thought process, do what you got to do.

Some just get it, people like myself and you have to work our way through it.