Making Golf Fun

My husband and I were just having a conversation yesterday as we drove home from a little vacation about ways to make golf more fun. We agreed that in general golf is time consuming, too hard for most people, and too strict when it comes to rules and tradition- maybe that is why we are having trouble in today's society really growing the sport among adults. Then I opened up the most recent issue of Golf Digest (Jan '11) -what a great issue by the way....and what do I see?...a whole section "The FUN Issue" make your game a blast. They recounted almost all the points Mike and I discussed and more. So to share, here are the ways you can make this game more fun for you, your friends and family!

- Invent your own rules (who says a foot-wedge, 3 foot gimmies or 1st tee mulligan are all that bad?)
-Lighten your load - don't play with as many clubs. It will be simpler and you might even be encouraged to walk the course with a smaller lighter bag!
-Betting- try unusual bets like if you think someone's going to three putt put up $5... if the person 2-putts they get $2 or if they sink it, they get $20!
-Don't keep score
-Play fewer holes
-Stop playing stroke play- play matches or scrambles
-Move up to the front tees or even the fairway (play every hole as a short par 4) How short do you have to make the course to break par?
-On a quiet night or day- make up your own course. This is called "cross country"... play from the first tee to the 17th green as the crow flies, and so on...
-Play night golf or find a lit-course!
-KIDS: make up a separate set of rules and tee boxes for kids under 13... Free water balls, x# of do-overs, magic putts, hand wedges out of the sand after one try. This will speed up play and they will have more fun. Also don't wait for them to tell you they've had enough... leave the course before they are ready. Leave them wanting more!

Let's have some fun in 2011! Break the rules, its okay! Just keep playing golf!

Book #4 White Pearl

White Pearl & I: A memoir of a political refugee, by Svetlana Kim

Okay, this is not a golf book. Instead, an inspirational one that I highly recommend (with a few good lessons that could be applied to life and of course golf). This is an autobiography of a Korean-Russian woman who made an unbelievable journey to this country- and pursued the American Dream; a real rags to riches tale. As she tells her story she flashes back to the wisdom and stories of her grandmother, affectionately called White Pearl. She did have to overcome a lot and had a few hurdles to cross but it almost seems like she was "lucky", in the right place at the right time. She randomly met people who helped her out of the goodness of their heart. She was given opportunities by people that saw her passion and drive and she made the most of them everytime. Svetlana was always hard working, and even when things did not go her way, she never gave up the hope of what she thought she could be, she wasn't afraid to leave what she "knew" at home, and never ever felt sorry for herself. Afterall, this was America- anything was possible.

I think to some degree what she practiced was the "Laws of Attraction". If you're not familiar with what that means, its an actual theory based on Plato's the Law of affinity. It states that like attracts like when speaking of elements, and even electromagnetic forces. Because we as humans have electrical and chemical composition we too are affected by this and will tend to gravitate to those ideas, things and people that are similar to us physically, mentally, etc. We can attract and write to some degree, our own destiny. So, for life or even for golf, know this:

• You must know where you are going in order to get there. (Set goals!)
• Don't let small setbacks discourage you- keep your hope up ( doesn't this sound like a round of golf?)
  
• Visualize what you want your life/golf game to be and believe that it can really happen.
  
• Creating your own reality, looking for the upside in situations and having a good attitude is more than half the battle in teaching your goals. (you'll play better golf when you're positive)
  
• Surround your self with information and people that can help you get there. No one reaches there goals without help from others. Who is your White Pearl?
  
• Don't be afraid of the unfamiliar...(new experiences, feelings, information) embrace it.

I hope even without reading the book, you might find some inspiration in those ideas. But I would highly encourage you to check it out.

Book #3 The Impact Zone: Mastering Golf's Moment of Truth

If and when I write my own book one of these days, I think would end up echoing a lot of things in this book: "The Impact Zone" by Bobby Clampett & Andy Brumer. Based on his outstanding playing career, broadcasting experience, research/help from with the wonderful Swing Vision technology (high speed cameras) and time spent teaching Mr. Clampett writes about the indisputable dynamics that every good golf swing has in common ( and how to learn them). He says in the opening pages (similar to Dr. Rick Jensen in his book "Easier Said than Done") good golf shots happen because of good dynamics- not style. He doesn't care about back swing or positions or how the swing looks per se.... if you can master the dynamics, you will have the best chance to hit consistent, solid shots.

Here they are:
1- Flat left wrist at Impact
2- Swing bottom that is forward of the ball
3- Loading the club with the wrists
4-Lagging the load (and using pivot to deliver it at the swing bottom)
5- Swinging along a straight plane line through impact.

None of these are rocket science, but the way he presents it like a teaching method (even though its not stylized) is logical and good. In order from small swings to big swings ( the same way I teach) he builds on each dynamic and suggests practice ideas. If you can't master Dynamic #1 (which would be fundamentally important starting with putting) you shouldn't expect to have success in your ball striking with full swing. Dynamic 2 has to work starting with chipping. The absence of a dynamic doesn't mean you won't be able to hit a golf ball, but it can explain almost every inconsistency, swing flaw and and compensation ex.- hitting thin, fat, scooping, casting, poor balance, late weight shift, etc.

One NEW takeaway for myself was about Drivers... I admit, I thought and have always taught that the ball is hit on the "upswing" with a driver...I guess I was wrong. I didn't know that most good players are reaching their swing bottoms after the ball even with this club. Wow. Thank you Swing Vision for blowing my mind. Thank you Mr. Clampett for bringing this to my attention. Maybe my students and I will all pick up an extra 10 yds now!

The first 100 pages are the meat of it and worth studying for sure- the rest in my opinion, even though I liked the book as a whole, are skim-able. He gets into how club fitting and mental dynamics relate to good mechanics and mastery of them... let's get the dynamics down first.

One warning- the language in this book is not geared for the new golfer... (that is the book I'm going to write:) ! ) but if you understand golf lingo and don't mind some technical talk its pretty easy to follow all things considered.

I found this book on Amazon, but its probably available in stores too. Enjoy!

Lisa Combs to play at Columbia

Congratulations to my student, Lisa Combs (a Senior at Faquier HS) who just received early admission to the prestigious Columbia University in NY. She will be playing golf for their Women's Golf Team beginning Fall 2011! Go Lisa!!