Something strange happened to me last week. Twice I received an email that went pretty much like this:
My 2 sons aged 3 and 2, love
playing golf. One is left handed but plays right handed and the other is
the opposite, should I encourage them to switch to there dominant side
or just let them go
My advice is to let them play. Don’t get in their way at such an early age because they’re still learning and developing their style.
And it’s important you do this because kids don’t need to have their minds filled with technique and mindless rules. They’ll be free to explore their potential without having to worry about doing anything wrong. They’ll develop much more quickly and have more fun. This is so much more important than giving them some grip advice (or whatever else we think) that WE think is right.
As a side note: I’m actually a natural right handed player but play left. My brother is the opposite. I can remember when I first picked up a club a friend of my Grandparents insisted that I play right-handed because there were no good left handed players.
I’m really glad I didn’t listen to him because I turned out ok 
A final point: While it’s unusual for me to get two similar emails like this in a week, I have been asked this kind of thing before. My advice is always go with your gut instinct and when it comes to your kids, just let them play – chances are they’ll be beating you in a few years anyway.
It’s good to be back after a short spell. I’ve used the break to spend some time thinking about my game and what I’d like to achieve. The upshot of my thinking is that I’ve been working too many hours and not doing enough I’ve what I really enjoy doing.
And that is to get out and play golf. Hopefully I can live up to my conviction and play a little bit more and turn my computer off when it really doesn’t need to be on. Time will tell.
The last two weeks I’ve been playing a bit with the young guns around my club. They remind me a lot about how I used to be. Looking for the perfect shot, practising heaps and generally expecting to play well all of the time.
They’re also looking for the fancy tip or swing secret to find their best game. In fact, they’re always searching, not content to put up with what they’ve got and truly enjoy their game.
This got me thinking about my own game. If I’m truly honest my swing skills haven’t changed that much over the journey. The shots I can play today are exactly the same as I could play 10 years ago. There’s absolutely nothing I can do today that I couldn’t do last century.
The big difference today is I can more often than not hit the right shot at the right time. I have minimised the chances of stuffing up. I can play under pressure and don’t get distracted by all the noise.
Here’s the thing.
Great golf requires you to find your shot and keep doing it time after time. It’s almost boring because you’re no longer looking for the secret or magical swing tip. You turn up and play the shot (or shots) you know you can hit.
The young guns were almost surprised at how I play. They were expecting me to have some fancy way of approaching the game and seemed disappointed when I told them otherwise. Fancy fails. Learn to master your way first and then, and only then, should you look elsewhere.
After years of searching for “my way” I’ve still got lots to learn and I’m not about to change anytime soon.
My main point is this. If you’ve been playing for more than a few years the chances are it’s unlikely you’re going to suddenly start hitting the ball better than you do now. You’ve reached your potential, there’s no more magic to be found. Your real success is in learning how to find your real game and then bringing that game to the course. There’s nothing much else you can do.
Enjoy what you’ve got because it really isn’t that bad.
In my mind there is nothing worse in golf than the putting yips. Absolutely dreadful, and if you haven’t yet experienced the yips you don’t want to.
A number of years ago I experienced the putting flinches so badly I seriously thought about walking away from the game. It was that bad.
I remember feeling nauseous walking onto the green and having the sensation that making some sort of decent stroke was an impossibility. There was one hole in particular where I had a 7 inch putt. I backed away from that putt twice and eventually made this nervous jab, the ball was lucky to fall into the hole. Every putt was a major battle – no fun whatsoever.
I’m glad I don’t experience these feelings anymore. I actually don’t think it’s possible for a yipper to last that long with serious putting yips – the condition puts a huge dent in the enjoyment and success that’s possible.
This week I received two emails from guys struggling with the putting yips. I found this earlier post and there’s some great info here. Worth checking out if you’ve got the yips or generally struggling with your putting game.
Dear Timbo,
I watched you play today. You may not have noticed but I was watching every move you made. I saw some things I liked and there were some things I didn’t like too much. I don’t want you to think I’m bashing you because I’m not.
You have all the skill and talent to be a great player. But you’re making some common mistakes that are holding you back and unless you become aware of them you’ll always struggle with your game.
At this point you’re in that nasty place where lots of players are – you have a nice swing, you can hit some good shots and you have potential oozing from your pores.
But you’re not really playing golf.
And you can’t play the golf of your dreams because you’re falling for the trap of trying to be “perfect” at all parts of your game.
Let me explain.
Western life drums into us that we need to practice hard and become good at everything. The thought of a well-rounded game makes most golfers get excited.
- Strong mental game
- Good lag putter
- Fantastic bunker player
- Crisp iron player
- Long and straight driver
You get the idea.
But I think trying to be all these things is not a good thing. Because you’re always thinking (and being distracted) on how to improve each area of your game.
“How do I hit a draw with my driver?”, “If I could only hit a lob shot like James”, “Why do I struggle with bunker shots?”
These thoughts take you away from the joy of playing golf. In fact, continual thoughts of improvement will consistently hold you back.
So what’s the solution?
You’ve got to break through the self-doubt and have the guts to play your way.
You need to find your mojo. Discover a way of playing that suits you perfectly. You must master your way first – then and only then should you start looking at doing something a little differently.
Stand up on the tee, get comfortable and make the best swing you can. You’re completely comfortable in the fact that your fade (or draw, hook or slice) is your shot and that’s the way it’s gunna be.
You aim your iron shot at the front of the green because the big bunker at the back right is protecting the pin. And you know deep down that your bunker play is no good so there’s no point in trying to hit a shot that gets close to the pin. There’s no point in risking exposing your weakness.
You feel good on the green so you hit your putts with confidence. You knock the shorts putts into the back of the cup and you’re not scared to give the long putts a go.
It doesn’t matter what your situation, you keep coming back to the shots that feel good to you. Nothing changes the way you approach the game. You keep doing the same things over and over. Boring? A little. Effective? Absolutely!
You can’t play remarkable golf unless you first master your own game. As much as it would be great to be an expert at all levels, it’s not realistic. Even the great players continually go on about how they have to keep working at their game and fixing their faults. Their continual effort doesn’t not seem to be helping – they’re never happy and always searching.
But the true masters? They’re unbeatable because they know what works for them and they wouldn’t change for anyone. They have the courage to play their shot each time they play, despite Pesky and tradition yelling at them to do something differently.
Timbo, find the shots you like and you know you can perform successfully. Then go to these shots each time you play. At all costs avoid hitting the shots you know deep down are not you.
The more simply you approach playing golf the better you’ll do.
Problems arise when you make a mistake and Pesky wants to assert his power. The normal thing (what you’re probably doing now) is to think and try and work out what you’re doing wrong. This is complicated. It takes effort and almost always leads to you jumping from thing to thing. It fails.
Automatic golf makes a complicated task as easy as it’s going to be. Each step is simple and easy to follow and maximises the chances of you achieving success.
And don’t confuse simple with ineffective. The automatic process works because it takes something detailed and gives you a method of executing successfully. Also, simple in this case is definitely not a quick fix or some kind of magic.
Here are the main steps:
Einsteining allows you to think, panic and worry without affecting the outcome – this is ideal for those technocrats that struggle to “stop thinking” and like to analyse every detail of each shot.
The walk to the ball ensures your remain in the zone and avoid distractions – this part of the swing I consider to be of most importance. Get the walk to the ball correct and you’re almost certain to avoid distractions (both internal and external) and make a good shot.
The Automatic Cue distracts you for the duration of the swing so self-doubt and fear have no way of interfering – this becomes your security blanket and “go to” guy on every shot you play.
None of these are hard to do. But because of their simplicity they’re easy to overlook and ignore. Golfers far and wide want to over think the game of golf and add unnecessary steps to the process. It’s these extra steps (and processes) that kill the simplicity of automatic golf.
My final point: If you’re ever in doubt take a simpler approach. Think less about what you’re doing. Take a deep breath, listen to your gut and walk up to the ball and hit it. I can almost guarantee you that all of the other garbage that you’ve been carrying around has been holding you back. Simple wins almost every time.
Once again Grayden has set my mind going with his carrot peeling exercise. His latest comments and insight appear here and require further comment.
Is thinking about peeling a carrot going to help your golf game? Here’s my take.
I’m reminded of going to a party in my hey day. I was able to walk into a room of strangers, meet them once, and then remember their names.
But there was a problem with this.
It took work. I had to be concentrating from the moment I entered the room and I needed to be on the ball. The bottom line is that while it was interesting, I wasn’t really at the party. I wasn’t having fun.
By being so focused on people’s names, I missed out on other interactions and conversations that make party going so much fun. I didn’t have some magical ability to remember names – I had to work hard at it.
And this is where the carrot thing seems to fail. It’s hard work and quite possibly getting in the way of making the game fun.
The golf swing is complicated. It’s a tough skill and automatic golf works because it gives you a system for making execution as simple as possible.
So here’s my main point: You can play golf in any number of ways. You can go to the golf course with lots of baggage and have your mind full. Or you can simplify the process and let your subconscious do what it’s designed to do. The choice is yours.
And just maybe Steady has summed up my thinking and the automatic process perfectly:
I have found that automatic golf ain’t rocket science. Get behind the ball, stick with your decision, count, get set and swing.
If you can come up with a better description I’d like to hear it.
Lukey has a lot going for him with his golf swing. When I first saw it my impression was he should be playing far better than his 19 handicap. Closer inspection highlighted a common issue, an issue that many golfers don’t quite understand. It’s also an area of the game that gets little attention.
This is one reason why many golfers are inconsistent and struggle badly with their game.
And the issue is not fully grasping the concept of automatic golf. What happens is the adult mind kicks in and tries far too hard to do things properly. Your game loses flow and any natural rhythm. Although it can be hard to do, you need to “dance” and “go with the flow”.
Our Western mindset is to try hard, be deliberate and take our time. To make automatic work for you there has to be a degree of doing the opposite – letting go and allowing your subconscious to take over.
Lukey’s swing in the second video proves to me that he has got plenty of game. It’s now time for him to fully embrace automatic golf, and it starts by learning to walk to the ball correctly. When he gets this he will play golf at a much higher standard.
Watch the videos to get the full story.
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Earlier this year I received some sample golf balls from Vision Golf. Boz, the founder, is an Aussie who is taking on the big guys head on. I reckon he is doing something great here and the product is top notch.
The golf balls are bright colours and have a big number on them. Boz can tell you more about them here, but performance wise they stack up. Give them a go if you want to try something new and innovative.
The Vision Golf Ball
In the spirit of this blog I thought it would be good to offer these balls to you guys. And the best way to do that is to get you to earn them. So here’s my plan.
Let’s have an Ask Cameron blog post. You get to ask me any golf question that you want answered. Get creative and specific because I’ll award the best (I’m the judge) questions a pack of Vision Golf Balls. Best of all I’ll answer the questions below.
The aim is to turn this into an informative post, help out the guys at Vision Golf and give you guys the chance to win some new golf balls.
All you have to do is come up with ONE question and post it in the comments section below. Keep your eyes peeled for my replies.
Go for it, enter your question below.
