Tag Archives: GOLF
As offered in Golfer’s Palette: Preparing for Peak Performance, if our goal is to save strokes on-the-course, it demands that we learn to love putting and the short game: chip, sand and pitch shots. Why? Because putting and the short game account for 60-65% of the strokes we take during a conventional round of 18 holes of golf. Speaking of data, read a couple days ago that the PGA Tour average from 30 yards to the hole is 2.5 stokes. This probably puts an average golfer about 3.5 to 5.5 strokes from 30 yards to the hole; and certainly suggests that if we have limited practice time, the short game needs to be at the top of the practice list. Just yesterday, my putting and short game accounted for six lost strokes: two missed, 3’ putts; and a pitch shot and three chip shots that stopped more than 6’ from the cup. Let’s take a peek at some putting and short game practice guidelines:
1)Learn to quiet the mind and create your own teepee on every putt and shot.
2)For putts and short game shots, master two components: technical elements of the stroke-swing and what will happen to the ball after impact.
3)For good putts master club and body mechanics, routine, ritual and ball position; and green reading for lag putts and putts 6’ feet or less.
4)To be a good short game player master club and body mechanics, routine, ritual and ball position; and know what is going to happen to the ball after it is struck.
5)Practice the three key variables for putts: distance, direction and stroke.
6)Collect player development data to refine your practice needs: score in relation to par; fairways hit; fairways missed, left or right; greens hit in regulation; greens missed in regulation, left or right and club used; ups and downs made; and number of putts. To track improvement, consider computing summary data for a round as follows: score; fairways hit; greens in regulation; ups and downs; % of ups and downs made; total putts; putts per green in regulation; par 3 average; par four average; par five average; and penalty shots.
7)Practice putts of 6’ and less. The probability of sinking putts longer than 6’ is less than 50%. Target for chip, sand and pitch shots to end up in a 6’ circle around the cup.
If improving one’s ability to score is a goal, my experience is that mastering putting and the short game are the means to this end. Moreover, my humble opinion and experience are that learning to quiet the mind to create your own teepee on every putt and shot is a true master’s skill. This unleashes our inner artist to create either the putt or short game shot required and desired.
For those inclined to read and try new practice drills, four nice putting and short game books are:
•Every Shot Must Have a Purpose (2005), Pia Nilsson & Lynn Marriot, New York, NY: Penguin.
•Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible (2000), Dave Pelz, New York, NY: Aurum.
•Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible (1999), Dave Pelz, New York, NY: Aurum.
•Golfer’s Palette: Preparing for Peak Performance (2015), Dr. John Edwin DeVore, New York, NY: Penguin, Chapter 3: Body-Mind Mastery Skills and Chapter 4 Technical Skills.
Trust me, your hard work will show up in better scores on the golf course!
As a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point; and proud member of the Long Gray Line, the memory is etched with passing in review on The Plain for General of the Army Douglas MacArthur; watching him during football games at Michie Stadium; and hearing him deliver his farewell address to The Corps of Cadets in Thayer Hall on May 12, 1962. On this historic day, he remarked,
They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for actions, nor to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm but to have compassion for those who fail; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future yet never neglect the past; to be serious yet never to take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.
And more of his wisdom unfolded in the context of Army Black Knights football,
Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that at other times and other places bear the fruits of victory.
How can golf be therapy? Golf is a playground of friendly physical and mental challenges-strife-where reflective and felt messages await the perceptive golfer on every tee, fairway and green while in nature’s office. As golfer’s our only requirement is to embrace our chosen sport as both a game and a practice. Just as we need to prepare our club and body mechanics, we need to prepare our mental skills: deliberately going to the breath, quieting the mind, connecting with the target and trusting the subconscious to deliver a club through the golf ball to the awaiting target.
My experience is that when I play golf, it offers, as the situation dictates, the opportunity to either deliberately choose to play the game or deliberately focus on the reflections of the moment: what is going on here? There are infinite messages available; and the necessity is to be ready to receive them. My personal learnings have uncovered anger, fear, irritation, delusion, jealousy, envy, joy, happiness, ah-ha moments and countless other reflections. The amazing experience is that the self-awareness, reactions and priceless response seeds, uncovered on the golf course, have historically shown-up, and will continue to show-up, in other areas of my life, too.
The suggestion is that golf can be therapy if one chooses to have it be a game and a practice where we can learn skills that help us accept and master ourselves and model the way as a person, in relationships and when helping others. This undertaking is a fascinating and rewarding challenge and can remind us “to be modest so that (we) will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, (and) the meekness of true strength.” If you are up for the golf as therapy challenge, the next time you are standing on the first tee, take the time to ask the question: What is going on here? Just stand and listen to what the “inner roommate” has to offer today. If your “inner roommate” is anything like mine, it will have a great deal to say!
Give the inner golfer a big hug!
Peter Kostis, a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and CBS Sports Analyst, nailed the concept of unleash the artist within in a May 2015 Golf Magazine article, “Embrace the Golfer Within.” Today, since the majority of golf instruction has become technology and technical skills driven, it feels like instructors may have left the human being behind. Perhaps it is time to re-focus on the person swinging the golf club, as Tommy Armour, Tim Gallwey, Bob Toski, Bob Rotella and Fred Shoemaker have helped this student of the game begin to understand and experience.
As a Naropa University trained meditation practitioner, coupled with learning to play the piano and having studied in India with a Tibetan Buddhist thangka painter, it has become quite clear that each of us have an inner artist that is waiting to be unleashed to use a golf club to hit a golf ball to an emotionally embraced target. We just need to have an inner experience of the shot and then trust the inner golfer to deliver the shot.
How does one uncover the artist? As with club and body mechanics skills, our mental skills need training and practice, too. As a golfer, my experience has been that during set-up, learning to go to the breath, deliberately quieting the mind and “connecting” with a target is of exceptional value to a decent golf shot. “Connecting,” at will, in the moment, with a golf target, a loved one, or Beethoven’s spirit when he composed Fur Elise, can become a priceless treasure and skill.
As my golf learning has evolved, about 80-90% of a successful round of golf today requires good mental skills, coupled with absolute trust of the subconscious to deliver the necessary club and body mechanics. Add to this equation a well-fitted golf club, a golfer is now ready to unleash the artist to create a golf shot that hits through a golf ball to a passionately visualized target. Embracing these skills and talents demands learning, reflecting, practice and play, one step at a time.
With respect to mental skills, a first-step suggestion is to search for and uncover a meditation coach and skill that works for you and helps quiet your mind. If your mind is anything like mine, it is very busy and takes daily practice to be able to deliberately quiet its constant chatter. A second idea is to have a good golf coach, as opposed to a teacher. A teacher desires to have golfers learn the teacher’s system their way. A coach helps the student uncover a vision for their game and then helps the student move from current reality toward the student’s vision. As Peter Kostis remarks, “Don’t fear being the best golfer that you can be…embrace your authentic swing. With time and work, the rest will fall in place.”
Why write Golfer’s Palette?
In the summer of 2004 Doug, my son, with his very competitive spirit, expressed his desire to learn to play golf. Having played golf since I was seven years old, it felt like it would be feasible to help Doug start to learn the game of golf. We started with a first lesson at Indian Tree Golf Course, Arvada, Colorado. Doug’s interest sparked an interest in wife, Cindy, to learn the game, too. Together, Cindy and I we took lessons from Tom Thorne at Indian Tree Golf Course. Very soon, the three of us were frequently playing together. Because Doug started to beat me, I decided to hone my skills by working with seven different GolfTEC instructors, year-round, for five years.
Following a divorce and a tumbling economy that caused his construction business to experience financial difficulty, Doug decided in 2006 to change careers, move to Arizona and attend the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute. Following graduation Doug went to work for Bourget’s, a custom motorcycle manufacturer. The economy was not kind to this business either; and Doug took his Harley Davidson mechanics training and went to work for Hacienda Harley, Scottsdale, Arizona. Again, a faltering economy took its toll on this business.
In the winter of 2008, Doug called from Phoenix, Arizona and said, “Dad, I am thinking about a career change and attending the Golf Academy of America.” My immediate response was, “Why don’t I come to Arizona and attend the Golf Academy of America with you?” We chatted about it for a few minutes; and the decision was made. In January 2009, it was off to Chandler, Arizona and 14 months living with Doug in an apartment adjacent to the second green on San Marcos Resort Golf Course. Golf Academy of America student life was exciting; playing weekly tournament golf was challenging; and studying the business of golf management was fun. Doug and I graduated in April 2010; and in early 2013 I returned to the Golf Academy of America to study Advanced Teaching.
Having been immersed in the Naropa University contemplative environment for three years, coupled with the training and practice of meditation, the very focused Golf Academy of America golf technical skills training and practice offered a fantastic opportunity to evolve a personal bridge between body-mind mastery skills and the technical skills associated with moving a golf club through the ball to a target. The genesis for Golfer’s Palette was the collection of reflection papers created during the 20 months of learning, practicing and experiencing the art and science of golf. Coupled with having played golf for some 68 years, the unique, central message in Golfer’s Palette is that uncovering and unleashing the artist within really works for golf and everything we choose to do. The formula is simple: go to the breath, quiet the mind and connect, in-the-moment, with things that make a real difference in our intended quality of life.
Welcome to my world; and to the life of a work-in-process “experience junkie” making a trek from “trained killer” to “spiritual warrior,” where peace of mind, creativity and joy have been tasted and celebrated.
Born and raised in Northwestern Ohio farm country, my hometown was Sherwood, population 500. Life as a kid found me sweeping the floor and waiting on customers in the family owned hardware store.
As a student of life, the perfectionist tendencies have been obsessed with the process of education: Defiance High School accolades; humbled by joining the Long Gray Line as a graduate of West Point; and followed by 10 years of graduate academics, the study of meditation, the wisdom traditions, golf management and golf teaching.
As a soldier my assignments included two years of combat during the Vietnam War as an advisor, rifle company commander and infantry battalion operations officer. In 1970, I was honorably discharged and will always be proud of my decorations and service to our country.
Following military service I spent a 27-year tour of duty with corporate America in a variety of leadership positions and as a consultant. Working twenty-one years for the Coors Brewing Company was the highlight of my civilian career. Following retirement in 1993, the search for a new beginning found me as ranch hand, human resources executive for a ski and golf company and carpenter for my son’s construction company. Retirement continues to unfold: fine tuning the golf game, learning to play the piano and publishing two books, Sitting in the Flames: Uncovering the Fearlessness to Help Others and Golfer’s Palette: Preparing for Peak Performance.
My family has always offered light posts for my journey. As a spouse, “popps” for three delightful kids and grandpa for six grandkids, who offer a constant supply of seeds for spiritual vitality, the challenge is to have my soil ready to receive them. Today, an “ah ha” is that connection is the key to uncovering the artist that rests within. We each have personal challenges and my learning is that going to breath, quieting the mind and connecting with moment-to-moment choices unleashes the creative spirit to carve the life visualized and dreamed. Our scars tell us where we have been, they do not dictate where we intend to go.