6/17/13
Playing last week in Durango, CO
brought out every aspect of good play in me, sure I made mistakes along the way
and my scores on paper doesn't show the real pressure and mental discipline it
takes to play each shot one at a time. The difference between a practice round
and a tournament round is the process of a single shot; from beginning to end
and the flow of the game in between. To simplify this process is to think of
all the principals that make up each part: the planning, pre-shot, action, and
post-shot. Over the years to keep an even temper by not showing the frustration
is valuing each component particularly the “post-shot” routine.
A tournament round mindset consists
of this process that has built character and kept my motivation positive and
always looking forward. Attitude about being a low-level professional golfer is
the dream of making the journey to the PGA Tour.
The San Juan Open is only a few days
away and I have plenty of trusted knowledge of what makes up this course. Eric
Lien, my housing sponsor, had taken me around the course to refresh my memory
and pointed out some tee box changes to lengthen the course.
Hole
One is no longer a par five it’s a long par 4.
Hole
Five has a tee box back left more behind the fourth green, it actually gives
you a better angle for the tee shot to the corner.
Hole
Seven (#1 handicap) is now a par five and the tee box is stretched all the way
back by the driving range.
Hole
Nine’s tee box is about one club further, I welcome this change because I take
the risky driver out of play and will most likely use a five wood (19 degree
hybrid) to the corner and if the wind blows harder the most I plan on using is
the three wood.
Hole
Fourteen has an extreme longer back tee box that has a total blind tee shot. It
does make this particular par five more challenging than previous years. The
least club I should have in the hole is an 8 iron versus a “inside 100yrd”
wedge, when you could cut the corner.
According
to the local paper and the word around the golf club, Eric, was told Hole
Sixteen will become a shorter par 4, tempting the player to go for it off the
tee.
Even
the game plan doesn't change by much, the targets and tee box position will
matter in pre-planning for the next few days. Hole Sixteen is a fun hole and
with a good vibe of the distance I carry my driver at this elevation there are
three maybe four spots around the green I need to practice shots to certain
tougher pin placements.
The
rest of the week my goal is to re-evaluate the game plan in its entirety and
discipline my thoughts to stay with it during play. Last week at the Navajo
Trail Open I varied from a plan that challenged my attitude and I am sure its
was the reason for tiring out and really feeling the emotional swings. I would
be aware (mainly after the fact) of how aggressive that shot really was.
In
previous lessons on about tournament golf its always best to not play so
aggressive and play for par and let the birdies happen. I must remember that
this course has plenty of opportunities for making birdies but the fact remains
I committed to minimize my mistakes at this event. Because 18 birdies and two
eagles is plenty under par. I have a stronger game today than I have back in
2008, I am a mature player, sticking to this plan is a functional way to not get
ahead of myself.
6/18/13
This morning I borrowed Eric’s cart
to practice a little on the range. My plan today was to just hit a few shots
and map the course by refreshing my notes from previous years. Joel, a
gentleman at the pro-shop told me nobody is allowed on the course until the
morning ladies group goes off; then he invited me to join him for a 10:30 tee
time, I was much obliged to his offer. I
thought “well I should take this time to hit a few wedges and just take my time
warming up. I had not yet had breakfast as I now planned to get some after the
practice session.
I took my 52 degree out of the bag
and began hitting short distance pitches trying to regain the feel of a good
grip and slight compression with my shoulders. I wanted to swing as light and
easy as possible after having a chiropractor adjust me yesterday’s noon. I
enjoy a good adjustment and the feeling I get when I am aware of the perfect
alignment of my spine, hips and shoulders. Hitting wedge shots I began a mental
chatter of having time to improve by fixing my alignment and posture to become
stronger. I took notice that my neck, trapezoids and shoulders tend to tense up
the fastest before I need an alignment. I do believe it’s the amount of torque
in my swing that applies great pressure on that area.
The best thing about being a pro
golfer you’re always looking to improve and finding that half a stroke edge in
your weekly performance. Taking my time on the range was to focus on the
alignment and posture; with each swing I begin to feel the physical workout of
a good warm-up. I pay attention to the shoulder alignment through impact
creating a sensation of muscles contracting with a vibrant feel, like hitting a
punching bag and feeling the aftershock in your smaller muscle fibers. Noticing
the symmetry of both right and left inner hip flexors feel like they have fired
properly allowing me to rotate my core through impact, with balance and good
timing. I hit half a pyramid of range balls this way and my swing thoughts and
feelings remain of a good 60 yard pitch shot I practice last week at Durango.
This way I know I’m on task with the invite of the new “adjustment” to my
swing.
This style of fundamental set-up is
not entirely new, familiar sensation from previous events I played and particularly
the San Juan Open 2008 is the result of having a Chiropractor on sight, they
had setup in a tour bus allowing me to get adjusted almost every day; at that
time I really needed it.
I need to add, before I forget that
my posture is stronger because of my hips being level and my lower abdomen is
strong enough to keep me from wanting to hyper-extend my lower back. In
previous swings I would notice that the lower back relation to my left hip
would cause a slight pull with the wedges and mid irons. My focus on a good
posture was to have a balanced lower body and feel my lower core not pronating through impact, this kept my shoulders level and the swing thought of a good
release felt balanced and aligned.
A full hour of practice with finishing off
with several seven iron shots I feel good about the changes this early in the
week and I plan on tapping on the slight fears I have from the transition of
the old swing to the new. The hard thing on tour is not having the Chiropractor
available and I do my best to yoga each evening and morning to stay flexible in
most of my joints. I did get an adjustment last week before played at Durango,
but that was in Willmar and I traveled 22 hours to get there and after four
rounds and a stressful stay I really needed to be realigned yesterday.
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