Been a while

Well I have not posted in a while, and things are not going too well. I just can't find the consistency I am looking for. One round I shoot 90 the next round I shoot 75. I knowmy short game is not where I want it. The ability to save par from around the green is so important. For the next month I am going to only work on the short game around the green. I am going to love and cherish the chance to save par. I believe it will be the key to scoring and the ability to keep myself in a round when I don't strike the ball all that great.

Excited

Well it is getting better. Rounds of 80 and 81. I get all week to practice this week because of spring break so that sound be helpful. I need to get better at the short game. That is where I am going to make up my shots. I lots 3 shots to very easy short shots that I could have got up and down and didn't. If you are just starting golf, this is the most important area. A great short shot has a larger upside than a great long shot. It will save you more shots. I can stick a 6 iron 10 feet which is a great shot and still not make the putt, but I can stick a 20yd chip to a foot and I have saved myself a shot.

A breakthrough!!!

So excited. After playing he back 9 on Saturday @ 3 over, I went out on Sunday and shot a 74! No birdies, but made a lot of short putts that I needed to make. I stayed calm all day, and my short game was awesome. I hope that's this is the breakthrough I have been looking for. I am excited, next week I will be playing with a teaching pro who is going to take a look at my game and give me some tips. I hope he will help with club selection around the green and some course management. We are also going to look at my driver and see if I need to make any changes with that. I am just excited to get to work with someone to give me some advice on my game. Can't wait to play this weekend either. Hope you all get to play this weekend too!

I think I may be lost

Well I didn't find something. I am lost and have no clue what is going on. I have to just keep fitting through this time. I know I need to have a lot more fun and stop taking everything so seriously on the course. I will continue to try and stay positive and will keep plugging away.

Fundamentals, and I think I may have found something

I got the new golf digest the other day and while reading it I came across an article by Hank Haney. It was for players who hook they ball. Now if you don't play golf, most people that play slice the ball which is a ball that move right to left if they are right handed. Not many hook the ball. So most articles are written for slicers. Well this was the perfect article for me cause it was very basic. It had to do with the grip. Good golf starts with a good grip. This is imperative. A good grip and a good set up are a great start to playing great golf. I had gotten my grip way too strong. I weakened my grip and immediately drove the ball so well and hit really good iron shots. I also switched balls and that made a huge difference around the greens. It is funny how the little things can make the biggest difference in golf. I will put in the changes today and let you know how everything goes!

One step forward two steps back

Well a definite set back today. I have a lot to work on in order to reach my goal. My short game is just not up to par(pun intended). While I work on it in the gym there is just no substitute for learning what the ball will do when it hits the green. I hit a few balls exactly like I wanted only to watch them come up 8 feet short. Experience will teach me where to hit the ball. I just need warm weather to get here soon. I also need to work on playing in the wind. Hitting those low knockdown shots are key in the wind and I just hook those way too bad to be consistent enough to play well. On the positive I am really happy with my putting. I know this will be a key aspect when I get ready this summer to qualify for the Ryder cup. I am going to continue to have a positive attitude on the course and know my scores will come soon.

The mind is a beautiful thing

As I read the book Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, I realize how important the mind really is to success. Playing yesterday with Pops I tried to make my mind work for me. It worked. My biggest weakness has always been my putting. This weakness is not in my stroke but always in my mind. I believed I was a bad putter, and it showed on the greens. But that is going to end. Yesterday, I believed I would make all my putts. When I missed a putt I was shocked I did not make it, instead of shocked when I made one. I made a lot of putts yesterday. When I had a long putt I came close to making it, and when I had a short putt I made it. I only missed one short putt all day. So today we put my putting to the test as I play with the guys for some money. More pressure so I will see if my mind holds up. If you struggle with putting I highly recommended in believing you are going to make the putt, and stepping up and letting it go. Here is to hearing the beautiful sound of the bottom of the cup!

Love the short game

My short game needs work! As I watch the show The Big Break, it becomes even more apparent what separates a good player from a pro. The short game, and the ability to get up and down. It is easy to score when you are hitting the ball well, but pros can score when they are not playing their best. They understand that the ability to chip close from anywhere can be the difference between being successful or going home. That is where I am going to be spending my time this year. 80% of my practice is going to be dedicated to the short game. Most people sit there and pound drivers on the range. You only hit driver a max of 14 times per round. At my course I only hit driver 10-12 times max yet I would spend so much time working on this shot. I want to learn to love getting the ball in the hole no matter what. So many times I think we are more concerned with looking good than we are of scoring. I don't care what I look like, I just want to get the ball in the hole. The good thing is at the club we have a practice hole that is 130 yds long. This is where I will be spending my time working on getting the ball in the hole from this distance. Here is to good golf!

An Important Lesson

I have been reading the book Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rottela. It is the 2nd time I have read it and has reminded me of so many lesson. When I played baseball I always waited for me to fail. I don't know why but I always felt inadequate and thought I wasn't any good. I know now that I was my own worst enemy. I wish I could go back and talk to myself. I wonder how good I could have been. I talk constantly to my boys and my teams about believing in yourself. I also make sure that they see themselves hitting the ball or making the catch. The mind is an amazing thing. It doesnt know the difference between reality or what we dream. Just think about all the times you have woken up so scared from a dream. You thought it was real. It is the same thing when we visualize. This is one of the things that I love about Sarah. She thinks she is awesome, doesn't care what others think, and always believes she will succeed. Her confidence glows and people always wonder how she gets stuff. It is because she believes in herself. She believes she will succeed and is not afraid of failure. She has worked on this with me and it has helped my belief in myself. I no longer believe I am going to lose or fail. I am shocked when I am in a raffle and don't win. I have played some matches and can honestly say that I have played well in pressure situations. Even when my heart was pumping and hands shaking I was still able to hit the shot because I believed I could. Now just believing you can hit the shot doesn't mean you are going to do it, but not believing you can hit the shot is almost always disastrous. And as proof of this today was Bill Hass in the tourney in LA. He knew there was no way he could pull off a shot. So he choose the shot he could pull off even though it meant possible not making birdie. However, he ended up making the putt and winning the tournament. Instead of hitting a shot he had a 1/1000 chance, he choose a shot that he would pull of 99/100 and than gave himself a 3/100 chance of making the putt. I like those odds much better. I think this is where I am going to make up a lot of my strokes. A better course management and a belief in myself. Try it sometime if you play, you may be surprised at the scores you shoot. Here is to making birdies.

MIKE

The early bird gets the worm

Being married and having kids can make practice difficult. Especially in the winter. But, I am not going to look for excuses on why I cant obtain my dreams I am determined to make the sacrifices necessary. So Tuesday-Friday morning I wake up at 4:45am so I can get to work by 6:15am and practice. Since it is dark and cold out I work on my chipping inside the gym with almost golf practice balls. I also have been practicing my putting on the carpet in the lab. While this will change in the spring when I can practice at the course b4 work it is the best I can do right now. I am also going to begin my strength and cardio this week. I am so excited. Today I saw some great signs with my short game and really see and improvement with my short putting. My long putting cost me as I left a lot of putts long. I think in the spring I will see an improvement in this area when I get to practice more on real greens. I just can't wait to get to play some competitive golf soon, and look forward to playing better. HERE IS TO SWINGING WELL!
Mike

Oops

I deleted the first post still learning how to work this blog thing :)

Setback

Well that was brutal. Shot the worst round I have shot in over 2 years. A 92! Wow, nothing would work. I couldn't hit it off the tee, just super duck hooks that never got higher than 3 feet of the ground. All my irons were pull hooks, and my chipping was awful. I made one putt on the first hole and that was it. The thing that I am proud about was my attitude. I stayed positive and had a good time regardless of how bad I was playing. This is one of the things I am working on. I have been reading the book Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, by Dr. Bob Rottella. I am going to become mentally stronger than my competition. I really believe that my mental attitude held me back in baseball and I will not make the same mistake twice. While everyone else is out there getting mad about a bad shot I am going to let it go and prepare to hit the next shot well. I believe this was what separated Tiger from everyone else. It was not his athleticism, all pro golfers are great. It was his mind. It is the difference between Michael Jordan and Lebron James. I believe Lebron is a more gifted athlete, but a mental midget compared to MJ. So while the winter weather ruins plans of hitting the golf links I will work on the things I can control. My mind will be an a positive and not a liability. Here is to rounds in the low 70s :) Mike