Self Evaluation
I've been reading a book by Annika Sorenstam's coaches, Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriot, called; Every Shot Must Have a Purpose. It's all about the Vision 54 thing - the idea that we should approach our rounds (as Annika does) thinking birdie on every hole - instead of (as I often do) "how do I keep from screwing up on this next shot?"
They break their game improvement philosophy down into five elements; Physical, Technical, Mental, Emotional, and Social. I decided to rate myself on each element, from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) in the hope that going through the exercise will give me a sense of where I most need to improve.
- Physical: (Includes; fitness, posture, nutrition, proper rest, proper warm up etc...) My rating: 2. No getting around this fact... I'm out of shape. I need to lose at least 30 pounds, closer to 40 to consider myself fit again. And I need to work on my strength and especially flexibility. If I'm serious about this quest I'll get working on it. (Am I serious yet?)
- Technical: (Includes; swing, grip, stance, aim, fundementals, equipment fitting, shot making ability etc...) My rating: 3. I do have some skills beyond the beginner. My fundementals are sound, and I play with good equipment. I have some shot making ability but I have to believe that in order to reach my goal I will need to improve my skills fairly substantially. (Serious weaknesses; long irons, fairway woods.)
- Mental: (Includes; focus, motivation, decision making, goal setting etc...) My rating: 4. This element is my strength at the moment. Still room for improvement though.
- Emotional: (Controlling fear, nerves, anxiety, anger) My rating: 3. I do, on occasion, lose my cool. Still need to learn how to - consistently - put the last shot behind me and focus entirely on the only thing I can influence - the next shot.
- Social: (Includes; interaction with playing partners, family, etc...) My rating: not sure 'cause I don't yet really understand what they're getting at here.
posted by p2h @ 4:11 PM
3 Comments:
Let me give you my take on "social":
1) Social is when you play to impress, you worry about what your co-competitors or the gallery will think of you. When I see a guy throw his club after a bad shot, I wonder "Does he do that when he's by himself?"
2) The family interaction part of social is like the time I was leading my flight in the St Judes after the first round, then my wife threw me out of the house Saturday night...it impacted my game! There's a great Kjell Enhager quote on this subject, from QUANTUM GOLF: (cant find it quickly, I'm winging it here) "Aye, laddie, when ye step up to hit, it's nay just a goff hole, it's yer whole life laid before ye there. Only to the extent you can bring yr whole life under control can you coax that wee pellet to the hole."
Good thinking, mostly, but you are out of bounds on Physical. Oh, I've seen you play, I agree with your 2 rating. But you need to GAIN 30 pounds, not lose them, ye wee twig of a man. That pull hook of yours could be prevented if you would grow yourself a respectable belly.
Take me, formerly a Physical 4 on the golf course, but age and experience have given me a great basketball of a belly. There is a very popular training aid that tries to keep you from bringing your arms past your body during the swing, and the thing is basically a basketball in a pillowcase hung 'round your neck. But the thing is not allowed on the course!
My ascent from Physical 4 to 5 also involved learning the proper use of medications. Not, not steroids, beer! Some golfers shoot best with one beer per 3 holes, others like myself prefer a beer every two holes. If you are as committed as you sound, it would be a great affirmation of self confidence if you would immediately begin drinking as a basketball belly, taking on faith your quick assent from that frisbee of a bulge you now have, to a volleyball belly. Perhaps you could stop at that point, I know you do like to work the ball right to left on occasion...
Thanks for the input, "anonymous", regarding the social element of golf.
As a beginning golfer I often worried about what my playing partners thought of my game - especially if I was paired with someone I did not know (as was often the case as a walk on beginner.)
But I've found that as my game has improved I worry less about failing and embarassing myself in front of strangers.
My regular playing partners, on the other hand, have seen the best and worst of my game so that I might embarass myself in front of them also rarely crosses my mind.
As to the family aspect, I am blessed to have a supportive wife who seems to enjoy having me out of the house on Sunday mornings, who doesn't complain about the time that I spend at the range, or even the money that I spend on equipment.
So using your two-part definition of the social element, I'll give myself a rating of 4.
As for your observation of the physical element of my game, indeed it is well established that my game does improve up to 3.5 beers, after which there is a nearly instant and markedly sharp dropoff in performance.
So for me, a beer every four or five holes seems to be about the right formula.
Which means, alas, that without extracurricular beer consumption I will never approach your physical perfection of a beer belly which you so adeptly use to insure that your shots almost always start to the left.
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