While Wie’s Woes Widen, I Enjoy Taking It Slow

There’s wide agreement, with 20-20 hindsight, that Michelle Wie has too much pressure on her and was brought forward into the spotlights too aggressively, “too much too soon.” Today’s New York Times overs good coverage of Wie’s latest woes at the US Women’s Open in an article by Damon Hack (great name for a golf writer, eh?). Here’s the quote that not only sums up her situation from a player’s point of view, but which also underscored for me the dimensions of our beloved game:

“The domino effect can work both ways in golf,” Amy Alcott, the 1980 United States Women’s Open champion, said in a telephone interview Thursday. “When Annika Sorenstam was winning everything, she couldn’t get out of that phase of winning. The same thing goes the other way, when you are trying to live up to something and trying to be a success and you can’t make it happen. This game, I always say, is a tough taskmaster. It demands hard work, perfection, a keen mind, a healthy body and, more importantly, a great spirit. The spirit can really get knocked down in this game.”

Personally, my spirits are good even though I still feel that my integration of the “ease of a layup” into my game is coming along more slowly than I might like. Although slow can also be good as in the slower practice swings that I’m now using thanks to the inspiration of the pros… specifically Stuart Appleby who showed me and explained his 50% practice swings in a Golf Channel segment.

My game is coming along “in its own perfect time” and I still get to have fun with my buddies and enjoy the game and the beautiful places we get to play it. So, no complaints and much gratitude.

For Dimarco, the Key was to Relax

I just caught Chris Dimarco on The Golf Channel talking about what he called his best round of the year (solo second at The Players after the first round with a 4-under-par 68 in blustery conditions).

In this short TV interview, Dimarco said clearly that the key difference for why he played so much better this round as compared to the rest of this year was that he intentionally stayed more “relaxed.” Yup, that’s what works. He went on to acknowledge that he has been working with an inner game coach (I like the term “inner game” rather than “mental game”), Dr. Gio, author of Fearless Golf. Dimarco said that his focus was “to stay in rhythm.”

Ever heard of “The Hula of Rhythm & Ease,” Chris?

Makes sense to me, bro. Keep it up. We all like it when you are in the hunt.

Focus on the Process, Not the Results

One of the best lessons that I had reinforced from all the coverage of the Masters was expressed by emerging Indian star Jeev Milkha Singh who was in contention during the first two rounds. He’s been winning lately on the European Tour, and explained that for the previous seven years or so, he had been just trying too hard. In the last year, he made a conscious decision to relax and just play. In his words, he focuses on “routine and process” rather than “results.” Of course, that’s when his best results started happening. I keep seeing evidence of this conclusion. When I focus on just playing, having fun, appreciating how lucky I am to have the freedom to play golf, and most of all on the good feeling of an easy, relaxed swing, that’s when the best results happen.

Fujikawa Lets It Go

“I’m just trying to have fun, and to do my very best on every shot.”

If you haven’t caught the real life golfing miracle story of the 16 year old, 5 foot 1 inch Hawaiian, Tadd Fujikawa who is tearing it up at the Sony Open, I recommend it. Besides the joy of his accomplishments and his awesome courage and spirited confidence, I’m also taking away a connection to his rhythm. Especially the way he approaches pressure putts. He takes a couple of practice strokes away from the ball. Perhaps he’s visualizing. Then, he just steps up to the ball and hits it. Never mind the huge Hawaiian galleries or the TV cameras. He just hits the ball. I know that I need to do more of that kind of more natural ball striking. Leave it to a 16 year old kid to give me a good lesson.