Waking Up to My Swing & My Target

Tomorrow’s the big two-day tournament at Stonetree. Wednesday, I had an awesome time with some members of the Shivas Irons Society at Pasatiempo (even tho, once again, my scoring was not a pleasure.) What a beautiful place! And what a great golf society!

I’m realizing that I am still waking up to my swing and still working to stay conscious of the whole thing. Just thinking about that and writing about it raises my awareness. And I’m excited about swinging smoothly enough to be present to my whole swing. I first felt this at an Extraordinary Golf school where we did practice swings for a period of time with our eyes closed. A great exercise!

I was also touched by a brief piece of coaching input that I got from Marshall Gavre, an Extraordinary Golf coach who I was lucky enough to play with at the Shivas Irons event. He pointed out that I was putting so much energy into what I’ve been working on with my grip and take away, such that I was loosing my connection to my target. Ouch, but YAY! Right on, Marshall. Thanks so much. What a concept. Of course, I need to stay focused on my target. That’s what it’s all about… delivering the ball to the target.

Now let’s see if any of this can translate into some great results in the Stonetree Club Championship this weekend? And whatever happens, I know that I’m going to have fun playing and learning… Stay tuned.

And speaking of performance expectations and Shivas Irons, I was also delighted to play with and meet Hilton Tudhope whose latest entry in his “A Golfer’s Journal” series of essays is called “Embracing Failure.” I highly recommended it. I’ll be remembering several of his thoughts tomorrow as well, and hopefully they will help me stay more at peace with myself. Not only do I hope that I “don’t suck,” but I’ll also be giving up hope of a better past. Click here to read “Embracing Failure” >>

Golf Progress and Golf Pointers

I played better on Saturday. Progress, not perfection. I shot a 93 from the blues at Petaluma’s Rooster Run, but was only 12 over through 15 holes before going 8 and 7 on #16 and #17 (both quadruple bogies). It’s amazing how quickly things can go downhill, isn’t it?

Anyway, in general my putting feels much more solid and my ball striking also is more consistent. It was a beautiful day and I also felt lucky to be healthy and out having fun. It was also nice to make a birdie and six pars.

But what helped you, Jon? (you might ask) From where comest this improvement? Well, a few of things, all nice pointers from friends, associates and professionals:

1. My friend Jeremy pointed out that I wasn’t using my nice, smooth, “pendulum-like” stroke that I have on my putting practice swings when I actually stroke my putts. I’m doing better at that now. Thanks, Jeremy! That tip is making a difference.

2. I watched some videos that golf pro, Kris Moe of Kris Moe Golf Schools posted on his web site regarding what he’s calling the “The Aussie Swing,” which is inspired by Australian pro, Gary Edwin. This approach to the golf swing anchors the swing more on the left side, so they actually call it the “right-sided swing” (if I understand it correctly) Click here to watch and learn more.

3. I’ve been listening to some podcasts with Dr. Joseph Parent, the author of Zen Golf and Zen Putting, and Vijay Singh’s inner game coach, among others. I’ll have more to say about his approach later; but foremost for me is the idea of “making putts” when you hit them at the pace and on the path you intended, even if you don’t “hole” them. Those podcasts are available from GolfSmarterPodcasts.com.

Enjoy! (And stay tuned as I ramp up this month on my quest for the Stonetree Club Championship, Aug 25 & 26.)

Hysterical Golf Video Clip

This is not to be missed: http://bubblare.se/golf_ar_fantastiskt_kul/

Fore!

Coming your way “real soon”… Meanwhile, you might want to visit MediaMall.com’s Golf Club.

Stay tuned for insights on winning with ease and other life lessons learned from the great game of golf.