The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

No golf in the Burgh this week as we got some snow, but not as much as predicted, and it has stayed cold. I thought I would discuss the second of the mental A’s and that is Acceptance. If you are going to play golf, and I would think long and hard on this if I was you, there are two things you are going to have to accept.

First, you have to accept your golf swing. Some people like to say that you should own your golf swing, but I am not to sure you would like to buy it. No golf swing is perfect. Every golf swing is going to have little idiosyncrasies and flaws. There are some golf swings that are more pleasing to the eye, and may seem more technically correct, but every swing is flawed. I think the best way to accept your swing is to watch golf on TV, especially on Thursday and Friday. There are lots of odd swings out there on all the professinal tours. This is one of my main beefs about golf coverage. With every odd swing you see, they are always telling you what’s right with the swing. What they should be telling us is all the things that are wrong with the swing. The rest of us out there tinker way way too much with our swings. Remember this one important point, every time you hit a bad shot 85% of the time it was caused by something you did before you swung the club. Now, that’s not to say that the golf swing is not important and you can swing any old which way you want, but with some rhythm and smoothness and turning of the body the golf swing is not an exact procedure. So, accept that golf swing and the game will definitely get better.

Second, you have to accept the vagaries in golf. This can range from missing short putts, to getting a bad bounce,  unexpected playing conditions, bad lies, and how different your game can feel from week to week, day to day, and even hour to hour. In order to play your best you have to accept the fact that you are going to hit bad shots, miss short putts, and have rotten luck. There is one other thing you are going to have to accept also, good luck. Lots of players when they get that lucky shot think they don’t deserve it or it means disaster is right around the corner. Now granted things do seem to even up, but accept the good breaks and try to take advantage of them. If things are not going well, accept it, and in order to get back in the game take an ultra conservative approach, until things start to go your way again. You can not make up lost strokes, and the more you try, by going for pins and cutting doglegs, the more strokes you will lose. Throttle back and get in the fairway and on the green, and if you make a long putt,  pull or push an iron close to pin, accept it, make the putt and you may start  a hot streak. Be ready for anything and accept the fact that your not.

Next week is looking promising to get round number 100 for the season. If the weatherman is wrong I will just have to accept it.