GolfingZen.Home

A Comment... On "comments"

2006-04-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

I'm (usually) glad to receive the occasional comment posted by readers. It's nice to hear agreement or support, but I also certainly welcome differing views or constructive criticism.

But, you should know that Blogger provides the opportunity for me to screen comments before they become public. In the rare case of something personal, inappropriate, not responsive, or not constructive, I have the opportunity to reject the item. I would, and have, also reject a case where a lone individual misunderstands how to navigate the menu pages.

If you notice that your comment doesn't appear within the blog, send a second comment with your email address so that we can have a private exchange. (Dave, this would apply to you!)

New Today... A Podcast

2006-04-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

Click the Podcast Menu link for #23 in the series, A Playing Lesson.

A New Tip

2006-03-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

Check the "Tips" link for a new and very simple swing thought.

Always Another Sunday

2006-03-28T12:03:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you didn't miss last Sunday's tournament results: Stephen Ames won the PGA Player's Championship (the so-called 'fifth' major), and Jean Van de Velde won on the European tour — his first since his 1999 melt-down in the British Open.

You'll also remember that about a month ago Ames got his head handed to him by Tiger Woods in the first round of the World Match-Play Tournament. Ames had been asked if he had any chance, playing as the 64th seed against the #1-ranked player in the world. As he had to say, Ames said he certainly had a chance, but then went on to add, "especially where Tiger's hitting it right now." Tiger heard the comment, took offense, and proceeded to set a record for humiliation by beating him 9-8 (winning the first nine holes straight and tying the 10th)

Van de Velde, in 1999, came to the last hole of the British Open at Carnoustie with the tournament locked up, took a horrendous big number on the last hole, and ended up losing in a playoff to Paul Lawrie. This week he came to the last hole four up, made a double, but survived to win for the first time since his British Open debacle.

A clear and simple Zen lesson resides in both stories. The current Sunday is the only thing that matters. Former Sundays don't exist any more, and future ones haven't happened yet. The current moment is all you have... all you can ever have, so you might as well live it fully.

Moreover, regardless of the outcome, there is always another Sunday.

Thinking Without Thinking

2006-03-26T17:41:00.000-08:00

Lessons — golf and life lessons — come disguised in many different packages.

For example, I've been enjoying the great games in the current NCAA basketball championships.

One of the best was yesterday's win by LSU over Texas, and the game-breaking shot was an improbable 3-pointer by Glen "Big Baby" Davis, LSU's huge center. In today's paper, he described the shot as "thinking without thinking." He went on to say that he plays his best when he's aware and into the flow of the game, but when he's not thinking about the details. If he thinks about the mechanics of making such a shot, he said, he's unlikely to make it. On the other hand, when he's aware at a high level and into the flow, then the game comes to him.

And so it is in golf. We do our thinking and planning before the shot, and then turn off our chattering surface mind and move into the flow of our routine. Think and plan from behind the ball, then execute without control.

Easy?

Also... The newest podcast, on the subject of Yin and Yang, is available today. If you listen to it, you'll understand why I made a BIG mistake on my 2005 Christmas Cards when I boasted that I'd gone through 2005 without a single medical issue. And in the same way, if you listen, you'll understand why current events in my life may be better news than it may seem. I'll tell you all the details after there has been time to listen to the podcast. (Yes, that's a shameless teaser, intended to draw you into the podcast.)

Perfect Practice??

2006-03-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

We've been blessed with a generally mild winter here in the North-East: many days with temps over 50 degrees, with the occasional excursion into the 60's.

That's posed a small problem, because our practice range won't open until mid-April. In the usual winter, I don't start playing until the range opens, but this year I've been anxious to play while blocked from my usual practice routines.

That, however, has re-introduced me to the only option I had when I played and lived in semi-rural Ohio: a shag-bag and an open field. And I'm reminded that there is a strong correlation with the fact that Ohio was the last place where my handicap (however briefly) got down to 7.

Now that I've been exposed to it again, I would maintain that a shag-bag affords the very best form of practice. First, it's much more solitary; I tend to take more time and thought, and I don't have to deal with the various rhythms and frustrations coming from those around me.

But much more important is that, once you've hit out your 60-70 balls, you then have to pick them up. Even if I've hit them well, I've hit everything from my wedge to my 5-iron, so balls are scattered all over. The usual way to pick them up is to walk out with my wedge and hit every ball back toward the bag, which means that I hit every imaginable type of full and partial shot, from every imaginable type of lie. Even better, without a scorecard in my pocket (and the fear and pressure that brings) it becomes a simple game of "See the target... Hit the target."

I even take a hint from John Daly and hit some shots one-handed: both right and left handed. I think Daly's right; at the least I'm building golfing muscle, and training each arm in it's individual task just has to be beneficial. The fact that I can now hit a one-handed wedge 50 yards and on-line (when at one time I couldn't make contact) just has to be good... doesn't it?

As I do all that, whether each shot is successful or not, my brain has at least a hundred chances to observe cause-and-effect and to work out the feel of producing every imaginable type of ball flight. And, of course, I've talked often in this blog and on the podcast about the importance of shots inside 100 yards (it's ~80% of the game, including putts).

So, that leads me to a new resolution for this year. In the interests of time, my pre-round warm-up will continue to be at our formal practice area. But... my serious practice... that's happening in the solitude of the field.

New Today (3/19)

2006-03-19T05:47:00.000-08:00

The 3/19 Podcast is now available, and you'll find a very easy and very effective ball-striking drill on the "Tips" page.

Paying Attention

2006-03-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

I've made the point (several times!) that a big part of Zen, life — even golf — is paying attention. I received a personal reminder of that —twice! — in this past week.

I've been having trouble with my chipping and short pitch game since early last year. Because I had minor hand/finger surgery last week, the only thing I could do (when the weather permitted) was hit little shots of 20 yards and in, and so I took my shag bag to an open field with the intent of finding/fixing my problem. But I couldn't shake it. My prime issue was consistent trajectory, with most of my chips coming off the club low and hard; I couldn't seem to get any consistent loft.

After too long a period, I finally realized the basic flaw; even though I was playing the ball well back, my swing was bottoming out behind the ball, causing me to catch it, blade it, on the upswing. Worse, once I realized that, I had a devil of a time correcting it; I continued on, "chunking" almost all of my chips. The more I concentrated on hitting down on the ball, the more I must have been lowering my center of gravity and therefore my swing arc. As often in golf, the more I "tried hard" the more I failed.

Finally, I concentrated on the sound of contact and trying to reproduce the sound of the occasional good contact. That proved to be the solution and things improved quickly fromt there.

Then, at the end of the week I was cleared to play and about the only thing that did go well was my improved short game. Everything else was a struggle.

So, I and my shag bag returned to the practice area the next day. I was more than half-way through the bag, hitting shots that felt awful and went mostly off-line and short, when I finally realized that the grass/dirt build-up on my wedge was outside the sweet-spot, well toward the toe. Again, once I realized that, it took a maddeningly long time for me to stop making toe contact. I had to strive for a shank in order to get the contact back toward the face center but, once I did, the contact stopped feeling harsh and my normal lenghth came back.

My main point: against the very things I've been saying and writing here, I had failed to pay attention to what was happening and, as a result, my practice was utterly pointless until I recognized what was going on.

It's a point Jack Nicklaus makes over and over; when things go wrong, you'll always find the cause somewhere in the fundamentals.

Pay Attention!

New Today - Tips, Podcasts, Etc.

2006-03-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

Re: Podcasts. See the Podcast link. I'll be posting five programs over the next day or two, given that I'm going to have limited recording time over the next month. The "Podcast" page will explain how you'll get your usual dosage.

Re: Irony. The good news is that last week set a record for 'hits' on the site. The bad news is that last week was my least-active period for new postings. Am I to assume that there is a correlation? That I'll get more visitors if I post less?

Re: Tips. Check the "Tips" menu link for two new ideas.

New Today - Podcast 19

2006-03-07T13:32:00.000-08:00

Today's podcast is the last in my three-part series covering the Eightfold Path... the route to escape from suffering. As suffering golfers, doesn't that sound good?

Also included is the promised bonus: brief sound clips from Tour Tempo, the instructional book reviewed earlier this week.

Seven Truths??

2006-03-06T12:12:00.000-08:00

Today, after posting my double review (see most recent "Review" entry), I picked up my current issue of Philadelphia Golf Styles, and found a cover blurb advertising "The Seven Truths." As that sounded Zen-like — perhaps similar to what I've been covering here — I eagerly flipped to the article.

In the interest of fairness and complete disclosure, here is the essence of it. The author is Wayne DeFranesco, a PGA teaching pro with a 38-year history with the game. The full title is Searching for the Truth, and the sub-title or lead quote (Jim Carroll) is, "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."

Here are Wayne's seven truths:

If you're not that good, the only way you can buy improvement is to pay someone who really knows what he's doing to teach it to you.
If you don't invest the time, you simply cannot get better.
It's just as likely that any swing device or infomercial product will make you less competent.
You need to become a better putter. Someday, if you ever learn how to hit the ball well, your putting will reveal itself as weaker than you think.
Ignore the television announcers. Whatever they say about a golf swing has no relevance to you.
Get stronger. Strength is under-appreciated, while flexibility is vastly overemphasized.
Never stop learning. Nobody's figured out this game yet, including you and me.

I can't disagree with any of the seven, but the first and third are worth comment.

I think the key word in the first is "buy," and the key question is whether it is ever possible to buy a better game. I think the lead-in quote says it all; in the end, you'll have to discover it for yourself.

As to the third "truth" and my reviews:

I agree with DeFrancesco's truth itself, and that is the reason I'm afraid of Tour Tempo.

Your opinions??

New Today: A Comparison Review

2006-03-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

Check my 'Review' link for a comparison of John Novosel's instructional book,
Tour Tempo, and David Leadbetter's Swing Setter, a training gizmo.

I've posted my choice. Those of you that have used one or both, please weigh in with you opinions.

New Today - Podcast 18

2006-03-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Please check the Podcast link for the second in my three-part series on The Eightfold Path, a discussion of our inward mental control practices.

New Today: A Review and a Tip

2006-02-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

Check my "Review" link for a book recommendation (actually two) and the "Tips" link for a related tip (also, actually two).

New Today: Podcast 17

2006-02-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

Today's new podcast returns to the heart of Eastern thought by beginning a three-part discussion of The Eightfold Path, the Zen route for escape from the suffering that rises out of our excessive desire and/or futile attempts to control.

New Today

2006-02-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

Posted today: a new essay, and the first of a series of putting tips.

Check them out!

New Today: Podcast 16

2006-02-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Check the "Podcast" menu link for the latest program: How to Play Better.

(Do you think it might have something to do with thinking better?)

New Today: Podcast 15

2006-02-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Check the "GolfingZen.Podcast" link for program #15, A Matter of Control.

Fortune Cookies

2006-02-07T10:17:00.001-08:00

I confess! I haven't been zealous about posting weekly fortune cookies. I promise to do better.

But, I had hoped that the last one, "Zen golfers have no hope" would have produced more comments or questions. Isn't saying that I have no hope admitting defeat?

It's not that at all. "Hope" implies wishing... wishing for something in the future. In contrast, Zen discipline is being fully present in the here and now, paying attention, accepting ownership for what I can control and letting go of what I can't.

So, to hope for something is very "un-Zen-like," if I can coin that term. Better to get my mind out of the future and focus on now.

Question: what does the new cookie say?

(Also... I can't resist a little "un-Zen-like" bragging. See today's "Review" post.)

A New (Old?) Review: Tour Tempo

2006-02-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

Please click the "Reviews" link in the Menu listing for newly posted comments on the instructional book, Tour Tempo.

In addition to my comments, I'm specifically looking for feedback from anyone who has already worked with the book's ideas. Anyone out there?

New Today — The "Physics" Podcast

2006-02-03T14:05:00.000-08:00

Podcast 14 is up today, the companion to the essay that deals with the Physics fundamentals: the absolute and impersonal truth that the golf ball tells us about how it was struck. As with the fundamental Zen truth, if you pay attention —without emotion — you must move closer to your potential... and your potential is unlimited!

How to Make Golf Hard: A Self-Lesson

2006-02-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

Here in the Philadelphia suburbs, we're being blessed with yet another break from winter: mid-day temperatures nudging into the low 50's. Winter gloves and wind-breakers are standard-issue on the first tee, but we're all peeling layers on the back nine.

That's the good news. The not-so-good is that I'm getting this gift at the same time I'm writing/recording my concluding views on swing fundamentals. The physical fundamentals went up last week, I posted the essay on the laws of physics this week, and a new podcast is due any day.

How do you think one's golf mind works in that situation? How do you think I played yesterday and today?

The short answer is... not as well as I'd like. But, in another sense, I proved my own point. I loaded myself up with responsibility, with obligation, and fell into the "try harder" trap. "If you have to nerve to write it, self, you darn well better be able to deliver." In my mind, the many-hundred readers and podcast listeners walked behind me and watched (judged) every shot.

The good news is that I was able to catch myself, to let go of trying, to focus on my playing focus instead of on score, and — on the back nine today — get back into trusting my routine, choosing a longer club (or two!) so that I could slow down, and feeling the rhythm of the swing.

I can see that, by virtue of this project, I've imposed a special kind of Zen test on myself. I'll keep you posted on how it all works out.

(See the "Reviews" page for a short update on what's in my bag today.)

New Today — A Physics Lesson

2006-01-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

Essay #11 was posted today. It discusses laws of physics, what our golf ball tells us about how it was struck, and brings us to the center-point for our discussion of the swing fundamentals. Co-incidentally, we are also at our farthest point from my stated objective of addressing the mental side of golf. But, it is difficult to completely separate the physical from the mental; if your mechanics are screwed up it’s very difficult to keep your head pure.

So, you 'swing-freaks' out there can enjoy today, as we'll be a little more Zen-like in the future.

The 'Yin & Yang' of Winter Golf ...And a New Podcast

2006-01-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

We've been having a relatively mild winter, here in Eastern Pennsylvania. Within the past week I had two chances to get out on our par-3 course for nine-hole two-ball workouts.

But yesterday I was treated to my first full-blown round of the year: three good friends, 18 holes, and $2 on 6-hole match-ups with each playing partner. Temperatures were in the mid-50's, so no winter gloves or bulky clothing was required. Yes, I'll admit we rolled them everywhere, including the un-kept traps. But, I had a thouroughly good time, won $2, took only one double, and had an honest score on the high end of what I'd expect in the regular season.

Today, I woke to snow, ice on the roads, and a howling mid-winter wind. A perfect Zen lesson on Yin-Yang, the essential nature of opposites. How would we know the good days if we never had the contrasting day?

New today: Podcast #13. But, be aware that I've changed from the topic promised in the last program.

Podcast Reviews

2006-01-23T12:36:00.000-08:00

Upon further review… I think my most recent essays/podcasts have been more than a little skewed toward “golf” and away from “Zen,” my prime purpose

But, as usual, the Universe has sent me what I need, in the form of several other podcasts that touch on “Zen” in a way that is very supportive of what we’ve been discussing these past weeks.

Click on the "Reviews" menu link to see my suggestions.

A New Podcast

2006-01-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

There is a new podcast to be found today, and it is almost a mission violation. Even though this is a site devoted to the mental side of golf, the "Zen" of golf (and of life), it is necessary that we do talk about the few true physical fundamentals... the LAWS... and this is that time.

For you swing freaks... enjoy, since we'll climb back into your brain next time.

Michelle Makes My Point

2006-01-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

It’s always surprising to me how, when I choose to focus, the Universe then sends me experiences that support my focus. This past week I got another good example.

In the essay I posted last week, I suggested that your day-to-day scores can vary about five shots — either way — from your actual skill level. In other words, if your true skill level equates an 85 score on your course, then on any given day you might shoot anywhere from 80 to 90. More over, I took the position that many people accept that they are an 85 shooter, that they always will be an 85, and therefore only compete by lopping their handicap off their random score on that day. My question was, “Why bother? Why not just flip a coin and mail in your result?"

Well, last weekend we saw Michelle Wei do exactly that. In attempting to make the cut in a men’s event, the Sony Open, she shot 79 on Thursday and 68 on Friday and missed the cut by four shots. I think it’s obvious that she was the same person on both days; she didn’t discover some secret on Friday that she didn’t know on Thursday.

Her experience also proves something about both my last Fortune Cookie and Tiger Woods.

The last Fortune Cookie (and, yes, I know I haven’t been good about posting a new fortune each week) said, “Only bad things happen quickly.” The obvious corollary is that good things only happen slowly. In golf, it only takes a few bad mistakes to destroy a round, or an instant for you to lose your composure. Real growth… true improvement in your ingrained skill… that takes dedication and focus over an extended time.

That brings me to Tiger Woods. The entire golfing community doubted Tiger over the year or more in 2003-2004 while he worked on changing his swing. He already was the #1 golfer in the world, we all said. What in heavens name was he doing trying to change his game? Tiger’s answer was that he wasn’t trying to hit it better, but that he was trying to tighten his game so as to take out the variation: not so much to make the good shots better but to eliminate the infrequent bad shots that occasionally took him out of tournaments. Of course, in 2005, we that doubted were proven wrong as he returned to #1.

So, what next for Michelle Wei? Will her excursions on the men’s tour help or hurt? How will she do within her own LPGA tour, given the emergence of great young players like Gulbis, Pressel, and Creamer? Will testing herself against men strengthen her, or is she only learning how to lose? We won’t know for some time, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find many people that would bet with her on this particular gamble.

Good things come slowly, Michelle. Stop experiencing bad things quickly… learn how to win first… then try the bigger pond.

The "Fundamentals" Essay

2006-01-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

Today is a relatively BIG day. After sneaking up on the subject for a long time, dragging my heels all the way, I have today posted my view on the "physical" swing fundamentals. (The "mental" fundamentals came last week, and there are two more "fundamental" essays yet to come)

Check the essay, and the companion podcast that will show up on Tuesday, and tell me what you think.

Podcasts: Good News & Bad

2006-01-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

First, the good news: the podcast audience is growing. Recent download counts are up ~40%, with a continuing trend.

Now, the bad: In my review of program demand, I discovered that programs which had gone into archieve storage were no longer accessible. After a lot of head-banging, I've revised the link and all is well.

As I continue to say on the programs, there is a logical order to how these programs have been laid down. If you haven't been on-board throughout, you'll miss the full message, and I hope you'll now go back to the archieves (Click the "GolfingZen.Podcast link and scroll down the right-hand column to find the Archieves) and pick up what you've missed. In particular, don't miss #1 through #5 (the flat part of the demand curve).

A New Essay and Podcast

2006-01-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

Why bother?

Find out, in print or by audio, with th essay and podcast new this week.

The Hole of the Third Eye: A "Review"

2006-01-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

I can't resist passing on a comment I received yesterday from a friend to whom I gave a copy of my golf/zen novel (see the menu link). Sure... he's a friend. And, yes, it was a gift. But I'm sure he is sincere. Aren't you?

I have finished your book and I enjoyed it very much! It became for me a modern fable using golf as a metaphor to represent our earthly quest for meaning.

One of my tests for a good book is whether it resonants after the reading is done. It is a rare day that I do not think of something said in "The Hole of the Third Eye."

Thanks for writing it and thanks for giving me a copy.

... Joe Bishop, Greenville SC

Excuse me, dear reader/listener, for being a little non-Zen like... a little prideful.

I couldn't help it!

And... check back tomorrow. There will be a new essay, closely followed by a companion podcast.

New! Fundamentals - An Essay and a Podcast

2006-01-04T13:24:00.000-08:00

Yikes!!

I posted an essay on 12/29 that introduces my first fundamentals, but failed to announce it on this home page. Perhaps you've found it already?

If you haven't yet, you get a bonus today as the companion podcast is now up and available for listening.

A double-barrelled day! Enjoy...

Comments!

2005-12-29T08:51:00.000-08:00

Comments are now coming in on the question of fundamentals:

"Magicode" says that it's all in the physics of how the clubface contacts the ball.
"Hiten" agrees with Magicode, with the addition that the turning torso provides the power instead of the arms.
"Chesebro" says it's all in your attitude - learning from bad shots instead of getting angry.

All good ideas... do you agree?

A Podcast... And a Reminder

2005-12-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

Podcast 9 was posted today - Tuesday, the 27th. Like Podcast #3, this program is a side-trip into Western science. That earlier program dealt with "How Small?," as this one explores "How Big?" Each shows the striking parallels between the extremes of science and the ancient philosophies of the East.

At least to me, those parallels are proof that we'd better pay attention!

Also, a reminder: my next essay will go up either tomorrow or the next day (the 29th) and it will be the first in the upcoming series dealing with the true golf fundamentals... if there are any true fundmentals at all.

So, you have only a little time left to post a comment concerning your opinion on the fundamentals, and to perhaps win a copy of my golf novel, The Hole of the Third Eye. If you choose to do so, you'll need to contact me with your postal address. Click on the link to my novel and then on the contact button for the publisher. They, in turn, will forward to me.

Good luck!

New... And New Year's Resolutions

2005-12-25T08:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day...

New offerings for today include a new fortune cookie (I've been lax on this item) and the last in my "How Slow?" swing tips.

But, we're also coming up on the New Year and the tradition of making resolutions for the new year. To help you figure out yours, I'm making mine public today (at least the golf ones). Here they are:

To play more of the better courses in my area: to not let my friends hold me captive on my home course.
To use this winter to build core strength and increase my flexibility: to go to the gym regularly.
To get rid of my chipping "yips."
To watch the Golf Channel and to read Golf Digest only to re-enforce what I already know: to not let myself get sucked into denying the truths that I already know.
To go back to Royal Dornoch (Scotland) this year.

There's mine. What are yours?

A New Podcast: Number 8

2005-12-21T13:49:00.000-08:00

The latest Podcast — Laws and Tendencies — is up and available (for your listening pleasure?).

Don't forget to offer your comments and ideas on golf's fundamentals. A copy of my golf novel is the incentive I'm offering. If you do contribute, remember to click on the book link to find the publisher's email address so they can feed your contact info to me.

New Today

2005-12-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

There is a new essay today: Laws and Tendencies. With this chapter, I'm beginning to address the subject of the true golf fundamentals and, with that, the window is closing on winning a free copy of my Golf/Zen novel, The Hole of the Third Eye. All you need to do to win is post your ideas on the subject.

(To receive your copy, you'll need to give me contact information. You can do that by clicking on the menu link for the novel and then click on the "Contact" button to get the email link to the publisher; they will forward to me. I know that neither you nor I wants our email information posted openly!)

You'll see that the essay leaves its subject open or not completely wrapped up. By tomorrow there will be an accompanying podcast that will finish the job. I hope you're listening.

New Today: A Review

2005-12-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

Check my Review page for a book that may help with your last-minute Christmas shopping and that will help your golf game (if you let it.)

Also, I'll be making a bit of a format change this week. I've offered a free copy of my Golf/Zen novel (check the menu link) for the best few comments on the current subject of my essays and podcasts: what are the true golf fundamentals? Because I'd hoped for more response, I'm going to extend the subject for an additional week. If you haven't kept up to date, check out the last two essays and podcasts, and then feed me your ideas. (And, in order to actually get the book, you'll need to give me some clue as to how to reach you!)

With the delay, this week's podcast will be another science lesson (my link to validating Eastern Thought: If modern science has the same view of true reality as Eastern spiritualism, then should we not give more credence to the Eastern map for living our lives?)

New Today: A Podcast and a Tip

2005-12-12T16:14:00.000-08:00

New today...

My seventh podcast—a companion to the "Noise of Many Teachers" essay from last Thursday.

And... also... the third in my "how slow?" series of tips.

Last, a special reminder... the essay and podcast series are approaching the point of presuming to lay down the few and true fundamentals of the golf swing. Before I get to that, I'm asking for your opinions and ideas. Better yet, for the one or two of you who come closest, I'll be awarding a free copy of my golf/Zen novel, The Hole of the Third Eye: A Fable of Golf, Zen, and Life.. So, get your comments in to me soon; you may earn yourself a personal Holiday gift. Good luck!

New Today: Chapter Six

2005-12-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

The sixth in my series of golf/zen essays was posted today.

As you read Chapter Six, you'll see that the upcoming topic for Chapter Seven is the true golf fundamentals. Out of the blizzard of conflicting instruction, I'm proposing to take the huge risk of publishing my opinions on the few true golf fundamentals.

Before I make that public commitment, I'd like to hear your own pesonal ideas, and I'm willing to pay for them. To the person (or "persons"... perhaps 2-3?) who come closest to matching me, I'll award free copies of my golf/zen novel, The Hole of the Third Eye: A Fable of Golf, Zen, and Life.

Comments??

A New Podcast

2005-12-06T13:37:00.000-08:00

I've been quiet for a few days, and I hope you noticed. I had a delightful small Thanksmas vacation with my wife, daughter, and son-in-law in Boston. Cold, but wonderful just the same.

But, I'm back and on the case! Today's new podcast is the companion to last week's essay on teaching versus learning. Click the menu link to listen.

What's New?

2005-11-30T13:43:00.000-08:00

Essay #5 — "Teaching versus Learning" — is new today (11/30)

A New Golf Blog.

2005-11-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe not really new, but new to me, and it's unusual in several ways.

First, the blogger is a female which, I think, is in itself unusual. I'm a fan of Golf Chick, but this is the only other I know. Have I missed others out there?

Second, she doesn't play! Now, I'm sure that makes her unique.

But, last and best, she's got a keen eye and she writes well. Check her out at evenparround.blogspot.com.

What's New??

2005-11-27T07:48:00.000-08:00

In case you're not checking the other pages (see the menu links)...

A new essay (Why We Forget?) went up on Thursday (11/24) and the companion podcast was posted today.

Also, there is a new Fortune Cookie as of today.

Finally - small commercial - I've been getting good reviews from readers of my golf/zen novel. If you haven't already, check the link to the publisher site and the review on www.weekend-golfer.com.

I'm Just Sprinting Through...

2005-11-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (Sunday), I was out for my weekly round with my wife, and it was perhaps our last round of the year together, as the forecast is for rain on Monday/Tuesday and snow flurries by Thursday/Friday.

But, the day at hand was gorgeous... low 60's and a clear blue sky.

We got into a little trouble on #4 (I won't say who, but one of us went back and forth between traps for a while), and I was aware of a single, steaming up behind us. And so we sat on the bench beside #5 tee and waited for the fellow, to let him go through. As he hustled up, I waved him on and he thanked us by saying, "I'm just sprinting through so that I can get home in time to see the Eagles (Philadelphia football) get killed." And, he was true to his word as he whacked his ball and hustled away toward the green. Almost before we knew it, he was out of range.

Here's a test for you: how many lessons can you count in that statement? I count four.

First, has he not heard of modern technology? Certainly he has a VCR, if not a DVR? This was not a choice he had to make at all, yet he was choosing to rush home to sit through 90 minutes of commercials in order to see 90 minutes of live game action, if you count a lot of standing around as "game action."

Second, he's anticipated a loss and is letting fear contaminate the experience. (In the end he was right about losing, if not about "getting killed.")

Third (and most important), what did he do to his golf experience? He turned the whole thing into a "task"... one to be disposed of as quickly as possible in order to get on to something apparently more important. See this week's Fortune Cookie and ask yourself what he did to enhance his golf game, and/or to build a better foundation for his play in the future. But, he did accomplish his (erroneous) objective, as we could see him leaving the 9th green for the parking lot when we were teeing off on #8.

And... the fourth lesson. This is a good example of the fact that the Universe is responsive! I believe that, as you get clarity about what your purpose is, about what you intend to be, then the Universe sends you opportunities to live that purpose. In creating this mental golf blog, I've told the Universe that I intend to be about golfing zen. That guy, sprinting past me, was a gift from the Universe, sent as fodder for this post.

I hope you got as much out of him as I did.

(New today: Podcast #4. And, if you've had trouble getting the "listen here" link to work, I think I've solved the problem (a difference between how Apple and Windows works). If that's your case, please try again.

What's New??

2005-11-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

New today: A book review and the third in my essay series. Check the appropriate pages.

New earlier this week: a two-part podcast, posted Monday.

Hilton Head... A Lesson... But No Golf.

2005-11-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

As the title suggests, I traveled to Hilton Head this week, was not able to so much as touch a club, but absorbed a profound golf lesson anyway.

Actually, I received the lesson twice, and it seems to me that is often the way it goes. Once the Universe decides that a lesson is needed, It doesn’t trust me enough to send it a single time, or in a single form.

The first version came as an essay written by Roland Merullo. (I’m reading two of his books now — a golf novel and a collection of essays — that I’ll review in future postings.) The subject of this particular piece was anger on the course and how it inhibits our ability to play to our potential and, worse, contaminates the potential beauty of the experience.

We’ve all known angry golfers and have probably been one, on occasion, ourselves. I’m not the loud and visible variety; I’ve never thrown a club (very far) and my oaths are silent or muttered to myself. But I’ve seen some beauties. I once watched a person run pell-mell from a green more than 100 yards down a hill to throw his errant putter into a creek. And I’ve had to climb a barbed wire fence to search a cornfield for a partner’s driver.

The silent type of anger is more subtle but just as damaging. For me, it has been like a dark blanket that descends over everything and, with it, good golf becomes impossible. I’m forced to go on auto-pilot, grinding out one glancing blow after another with no hope of recovery, until I can finally drag myself off the 18th green. I’ve worked at it, and I’m better now, but I still can fall into ‘funks’ that are difficult to escape.

In his essay, Merullo makes a telling point: “Anger resides in the gap between the way the world is and the way we think it should be.” True enough, and a perfect summary of what happens to us on the course. We think we’re better than we’re showing and that we don’t deserve what is happening to us. Or, perhaps, we know we’re unworthy and are afraid that we’ve now disclosed to our partners the gap between what we really are and what we’ve just been pretending to be. Either way, Merullo’s anger model is a thought worth remembering when the darkness descends on us.

But, the essay was not enough for the Universe. I received a living example this past Friday at Hilton Head.

In an earlier posting (“What’s Important?” October 25th) I wrote about a high school classmate who, just after our class reunion in September, discovered she had galloping and untreatable cancer. From that discover she had about four weeks until she died on November 1st. And so, instead of the golf visit we had talked about, I traveled to Hilton Head this week to attend Sally’s memorial service and to give what support I could to her husband (and my classmate also), Chuck.

I wish I could convey the grace with which they have both moved through this: Sally in the way she accepted her fate and Chuck in his concern for the rest of us. What I experienced this past Friday — a standing-room-only service held in a circular meeting-house with a 360-degree view of the marshland and water-ways — while certainly sad, was also strangely joyful: a celebration of a life well lived and a reaffirmation of a bond that is not broken because someone’s physical body has ceased to function.

Chuck and Sally didn’t spend any time wallowing in their gaps. Certainly they didn’t choose this fate but they never wavered in their acceptance. If they can do that so fluidly, surely I can accommodate, now and then, an ugly double or triple-bogey? Or two? Or three? Or…?

Good night, Sal.

(Also new today: This week's fortune cookie!)

New Today: A "Slow" Golf Tip

2005-11-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

Check the "Tips" page for the first of several "Slow is Good" suggestions.

New This Weekend...

2005-11-05T14:57:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of new stuff for you to check: a fortune cookie (Friday), a new essay (today), and a second podcast (Friday). Check them out!

By the way... I've heard from some people who presume the podcasts are not available to anyone who does not have an I-Pod. Not so! You can listen on-line any time, just by going to the Podcast page and clicking. Having an I-Pod lets you subscribe, which means that each new program is automatically dumped into your I-Pod so that you can listen anywhere and at any time.

What Were They Thinking??

2005-11-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

One of the nice things about my home course complex in November is that our par-61 executive course is very open during weekdays. One can usually go out alone in the mid-morning and get a quick nine-hole tune-up in an hour and a half.

As I had a serious match coming up tomorrow, I decided at the last moment to do that today. When I arrived, there was a group going off the first tee, but the back side looked wide open, and so I went off the tenth tee with no one in sight in front of me. My plan was to play one of my favorite practice games: a "reverse scramble" where you hit two balls on every shot and play the worst of the two... it's remarkable how that makes you concentrate.

But, as I walked off the twelfth tee I saw a three-some moving toward the thirteenth green, and by the time I got to the fourteenth tee I had to wait for them to putt out and clear the green. By then I knew I was in trouble: the group was three older women, the type who move very slowly, putt out everything, and then have a coffee-klatch as they stand beside the green posting scores and gossiping. (I can say "old" without prejudice, because I'm old myself. I say "women" not through any bias... they just were!)

From that point forward I waited on every shot, and when I walked up to the seventeenth tee, they were barely 20 yards off the tee, hitting short ground balls through the rough towards the back edge of the fairway. There was no indication they even saw me, much less any offer to let me through. What could they have been thinking?

So I sat on the bench beside the tee and watched as they wandered down the fairway until they were out of range. But when I got up on the tee, they were walking back towards me, obviously looking for someone's ball. I then watched them walk forward and backwards again, for three round-trips, until they finally moved off and out of range. But, when I looked up from hitting my drive (long and straight, but pulled into the left-hand rough) I was shocked to see them walking back —again — along the left rough. And... you guessed it... they walked right to my ball and proceeded — without looking at it closely — to whack it off down the fairway.

Sure enough, when I got to the area, I easily found an old and scuffed Callaway about 15 feet to the left of where my new Titleist So-Lo (with a "Tyvek" logo on it) had been.

I caught them again on the eighteenth tee, as one of them had hit a clanker just off the front of the tee and was retrieving it in order to re-tee and hit a mulligan. Again, there was no recognition, much less any offer to play through or even to play in with them.

Here's the Zen question of the day. Do I say anything? Do I ask about the brand of ball that they lost and then "found" on the seventeenth? Does any of it matter?

I probably failed the test, as I did ask about the ball. "The ball you were looking for on 17... was it a Callaway?" That produced a brief look of panic, but a quick recovery. "Oh... No... " Then, brightly, "It was a 'Tech' something. I don't remember what else it said." (Remember the "Tyvec" logo??)

But, it was a beautiful day and this was a group of three ladies in their 70's, out on a glorious fall morning, walking the course. Who could find any fault with that?

(New today... a new fortune cookie for you, and the second Zen Golf essay will be posted tomorrow.)

New Today: A "Third Eye" Putting Tip

2005-11-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

A shameless plug...

Visit the "Tips" page to see a putting idea taken from my Golf/Zen Novel, The Hole of the Third Eye).

See/click the Menu link for more info on the novel.

What was I thinking??

2005-10-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

At my course, we're blessed with an "executive" course: 18 holes with a par of 61. Once a weekend (sometimes twice) my wife and I play there, as it is not intimidating for her and it tests my iron and short game play severely.

Today couldn't have been a more typical November: low 60's, cool breeze, blue sky, no crowds.

But, right out of the gate, I take a double on the first hole, a 150-yard par three. The double came from a plugged wet-sand lie in the front bunker, over a head-high lip to a pin tucked not 10 feet off the front edge. The plugged lie came from hitting the same club I would normally hit on a calm 90-degree summer day. Worse... I knew the mistake as I made it. "I'll just hit it a little harder." What was I thinking?

Which brings me to...

As we move to temperatures in the 50's, balls don't carry as far as in the summer, and anyone knows you have to adjust your club selection. But I'm playing with new clubs (see the "Review" page) and one is always worried about — and paying attention to — "How far am I hitting these new clubs? Are they better than my old ones, or not?" What a time to be trying out new clubs! What I should have done is left them in the box (there's only a few weeks left in our season) and started fresh with them in the spring. What was I thinking? Should I go back to the Pro-Combos for now?

Second Hole...

My wife hits a ground ball off the tee that doesn’t make the fairway, and then a Mulligan dead right, also in heavy rough. "I think I'll play the first one," she says. I volunteer to pick up her second ball and the next thing I know, I hear her calling behind me, "Do you know where my ball is?" I look back and see her wandering around somewhere way left of the line her first ball took. I swallow my urge to say that I'm busy finding her other ball, trudge back and find hers right where it should be.

Now... we've had many discussions about watching where her ball lands, picking a landmark beyond the ball and on a line from the tee, and then walking that line until you walk across your ball. The question: should I remind her, yet again. I decide I have to, as she often holds the group up while we help her look. So, typical husband, I do. What was I thinking?

Her anger produces two awful hacks, and immanent disaster intrudes on the beauty of the day. "I'm quitting," she announces.

But, miraculously, we get it together. We pick up our balls, walk back and to the tenth tee, greet each other as though we've just arrived, make some small talk about our mornings, and then succeed in having a pleasant 9-hole walk in the park.

Our mental game score: several small defeats and one huge victory.

November Golf: A Zen Exercise

2005-10-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

November golf — it's wonderful! The weather is cool and crisp... the fairways and greens have recovered from summer burn-out... I'm comfortable in a sweater and don't leave the course refreshed, instead of dripping and exhausted... the leaves are turning and beautiful... and the course isn't crowded anymore. It is really —in my opinion — the best time of the year.

The problem: here in the North East, we're only weeks away from temporary greens, which will end my seasson and send me inside for the next four months and to another attempt at writing the next great American novel.

The exercise: can I focus on the beauty of the moment and not obsess about what's coming?

(New today: a personal review of Nike Slingshot irons)

The Podcast Page is Open!

2005-10-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

Just up and ready! The Podcast page has it's first program posted. For the moment, you can only listen in real-time from this blog (it's only 13 minutes) but you'll soon be able to subscribe on I-Tunes, and then new programs will magically show up on your I-Pod as they issue.

Please listen, enjoy, and leave a comment.

(And... as a bonus... Friday is the day for a new Fortune Cookie)

What's Important??

2005-10-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I sent out an email to all my contacts to announce this blog, and I got back a number of complimentary messages and heard from some old friends.

But I also got a shocker. One note was from a high school friend who I had just seen five weeks ago at a class reunion. (I won't tell you the number, but it is a Big one. Through the years, I hadn't done a good job of keeping contact, and we'd only begun to reconnect in the last few years by email. His wife was also a classmate, and our friendship extends all the way back to her second birthday party. We enjoyed looking at pictures of that long-ago party at the reunion.

My friends had been helpful to me in providing feedback and editorial advice on a golf novel I'd written, and we had been talking about getting together for some golf, as both of them play and live on a Hilton Head course. At the reunion I saw again what fine people they both are, and we renewed our vows to get together.

But that isn't going to happen. Two weeks after the reunion, upon going to the ER for persistent back pain, she was found to have cancer in her spine that had metastasized throughout her body. Nothing to do but medicate her for pain, keep her comfortable, and surround her with family.

What's this have to do with GolfingZen? Everything! Eastern Spiritualism teaches that we don't own anything, that nothing is permanent, that everything changes.

The lesson: if there is someone out there that you care about... that you'd like to share a round with... don't wait. Fill your today with people you resonate with, because that particular tomorrow may never come.

Good night, Sal.

A New Review

2005-10-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Check our "Reviews" page for a new golf instruction book by Pia Nillson and Lynn Marriott, Every Shot Must Have a Purpose. It's right up our alley... pure mental game.

Laser Range Finders - Now Legal

2005-10-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

The USGA has just granted "legal" status to laser yardage indicators.

My question... is this good or bad?

Their reasoning is hard to question... they're are nothing more than electronic yardage books and they will speed up play. As someone who has to tromp around more than a little to find sprinkler heads on my home course, I can't disagree with that. And, have you played yet at a resort course that has GPS systems mounted in the golf cart? The newest versions not only give yardage to the pin, they give it to hazards and even to the carts for the slow foursome in front of you.

So... what could be bad about better information and faster play?

Well, I think it's a bit of a paradox. I go back to the time when shrubs were first planted along the rough to mark yardage in 50-yard increments, and there was more than a little controversy over them. Before that, you just had to eye-ball it: sight down the fairway to where you thought you could carry your wedge, and then count off 10-yard increments from there. A much more demanding game, certainly.

But, those yardage bushes worked fine, in their way. As you walked past the last bush before your ball, you counted your steps and that gave you a perfectly good yardage estimate... instantly! Maybe you can control your distances within a few yards, but I can't and most other amateurs can't either, so the pace-off approximation was just fine.

I see this as just another case of technology encroachment. In White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia, there is a 9-hole course, Oakhurst Links, that claims to be a faithful restoration of the first course laid out in this country. It's set on only 40 acres, you play with hickory shafts and gutta-percha balls, carrying your four clubs under your arm, and your maximum drive is 160 yard (after you learn to wait for the whippy shaft to flex). One special local rule: if your ball lands in sheep-dung, you get to clean and place.

Anyone who plays Oakhurst learns a sad lesson: all this new technology has cost us plenty in money, acreage, and playing time, without making the old original game one bit more fun or more challenging.

We need to be careful about our rush to the future.

Round One: Hole #1

2005-10-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new golf blog, dedicated to the mental side of the game. (Isn't all of it mental?)

Actually, this is the home page for a small network of related blogs. You'll find running commentary here and links to our related pages: essays and reviews. Check them out and return here to leave comments in our Guest Book.

Thanks for your interest... may the Golf God be kind to you.