Lesson No. 9 - Dealing With Discouragement

Sometimes we should plan to not play golf. There is frustration in learning to play a rather complex game. Yesterday, when I arrived at my club to play, I learned there was a tournament going on and the course would not be available until late in the afternoon. I then went to the practice range.

After hitting a large bucket of balls, I was quite pleased with my results. I was actually happy!  My 2 iron was adequate at replacing my errant 3 wood. Much straighter and often beyond 200 yds. I had purchased a used Taylor Made gap wedge that worked much better than my old one, for reasons I would not understand. My success came from "cheating" just a little by shifting my weight slightly to my right foot before taking the back swing. It worked perfectly and was so easy to do.A little more grip pressure with my right hand made a gratifying difference at the top of the back swing. I was hitting the ball straight, for a change.

I then walked over to the practice green and tossed out twelve nearly new balls for a chipping session (Lesson No. 4 & 7). I placed the balls on a slope adjacent to the green and put my weight forward, hands forward with some  degree of determination. I then concentrated on my hands rather than the club head and began to chip quite well. For distance control I used the left, center and right side of my right foot (shoe). I was not perfect, at first, but I was vastly better.

We do not know if that session will transfer to the golf course. From past experience I know it will (at times) and will not (at times).  But, it is fun to imagine hitting a 2 iron 220 yds. to a long par 3 or straight on a long par five. Even more fun to imagine chipping close on long par 4s and maybe even a short par 5. Scores can improve considerably.

Practice is for the purpose of discovering what does not work and more importantly what does work well. As for taking it to the course, I am not sure except to say I am hitting more good shots today than in previous years. I enjoy the science of improvement. I always say, "I will be satisfied with small improvement today and a little more tomorrow."

RHE (See Post Scrip below taken from an AOL news account) - A bad day can get better:

"Olazabal had a 40 on the front, including a triple bogey on the 248-yard, par-3 eighth when he had a two-shot penalty. He shot a 29 on the back, including an eagle 2 on No. 13 when he chipped in from 15 yards and three straight birdies to end his round."