I have never read a truer statment....

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

"One week you've discovered the secret to the game; the next week you never want to play it again."

[GaijinGolfer]

Very true. Thats why you cant get down on yourself about this game. Ben Hogan once said that he expected to hit 8 bad shots per round.
If someone like Mr. Hogan expects to hit 8 bad shots per round, I think the rest of us can learn to be not so hard on ourselves.

[glebert]

Except for me it isn't week to week, it is hole to hole!

[Zeph]

It's the damnation and salvation of our game, and why I'm loving it so much. One day I'm thinking golf may not be something for me, I should consider putting away my bag. The next I play great and get a whole new view of the game.

It's all these small discoveries I love. I know that all these tips you get in every magazine and on Youtube can do just as much harm as good, but I really like them. The point is to get the basic help and sort it out in your swing yourself. Don't try to copy someone, but most players swing the same, of you can manage that, you've gone a long way.

In the last 12 months I've discovered that I have to strike down on the ball like three times. Every time I'm just as surprised how well I'm hitting when I manage this. I hope one day my mind will automatically focus on that point so I can think about other things. All these small discoveries we make weekly can make us good if we're organized enough to try to reach our goals. Some set-backs will always occur, but most people get better while playing golf, not worse. If it's just a matter of striking your wedges better, great, you've gotten better at something. There are so many aspects of golf, mastering them all is impossible for most of us, unless your name is Jack, Arnold or Jack, but the endless pursuit of perfection is encouraging.

Today I read a thread about Tiger's return and stumbled upon the name Rory McIlroy, a name I have never seen before, but his swing was praised. I found a video on Youtube to see what this was all about. Maybe beside the point, but his swing is absolutely wonderful, great stuff indeed. Well, I thought, if he could manage such a rythmic and smooth swing, why shouldn't I be able to? I clicked myself through a couple of videos of his swing and found one from a pro giving tips on how to fix an over the top swing. I have fought the slice alot the last 3 years, but the last one I've managed to work it off a bit. Can't hurt I thought and saw the clip. It was of course the usual thing about coming from inside to out, but he said one thing that may help me when practicing this. It was the idea of letting the club travel downwards to the ground instead of forcing it out to the ball. It's a swing thought I've never had before, so I wrote it down on my list of things to work with. I recently found the webpage todaysgolfer.co.uk with a bunch of instruction videos. A lot of them told the thoughts you should put to mind much better than most I've seen, so I picked up a couple of few things there too. Like with the long irons you should try to hit the ball forwards, not upwards. Another of my issues is trying to help the ball up, also something I'm working on.

My point is that you can pick up on these little things, the smallest of hints or tips and they do magic to your swing. Then, next week, the swing is completely off again and like in the first post quote, you want to give it up alltogether. I've had so many of these experiences, it seems hopeless from time to time. But the thing is that my handicap has dropped, never gone up, so I must be doing something right, even if I sometimes shoot over 110.

glebert: That's a very good point, also one of my problems. The thing is consistency. I can hit a 7i 170 meters, but usually it drops at 130 meters. I can hit my 60º wedge from 20 meters and stick it to the flag, but not every time. That's where practice comes into play, the more you play and the more you practice, the better you get. One hole you pound the drive 250 meters, the next you slice it into the woods. Again, concistency. The only way to learn something is by repition, you have to learn the body how to swing. If the body knows how to swing and your mind isn't disturbed by a bird or someone talking the golfball might end up where you intended it to.

When I was in the 30's in handicap I could hit 10 buckets on the range, but I rarely got anywhere. What I did was practicing and teaching my body to do something wrong. 300 balls, let's say 85% ended up where I didn't want them. Surely the body must have figured out by then that I want most of my balls over there on the right side, so it keeps putting them there. To counter it I have to think about something when I swing. If I'm lucky the body won't try something funny and totally ruin my shot. So, I thought about what I should do and succeeded. Great, now I only have to do the exact same thing hundreds of times so the body will learn it and I can start focusing of something else.

It's a saying that men can't think about two tings at once, I know for sure that I'm not able to correct my swing path and lenght of backswing at the same time. I have to focus on one thing at a time long enough for the body to hopefully learn it and do it automatically. Still then I have to work on it from time to time so my body don't forget it.

I saw the PGA Tour yesterday and noticed Steve Stricker on a 175 yards par 3 hole. He didn't take much more than a half swing, so litt effort that I imagined he'd go way short with the 7 iron, but no, he reached the green. His rhythm is nice and easy and his game talks for itself. In my opinion it's the most important fundamental of the golf swing, having good rhythm. I can feel it when I have this rhythm. The sensation of feeling this rhythm when swinging my driver is so great, it weighs up for a whole bad round. I remember one time coming home after a tournament and my family asking how it went. I told them honestly that I remembered having 97 bad shots and one good. Of course a huge exaggeration, but I was so pleased with that one shot that the rest didn't matter much. Those shots give new hope to the idea of one day being able to hit the ball exactly like you want to, everytime. En endless pursuit of perfection.

But you quickly forget the ups when the downs arrive. It's like eating a whole pizza by yourself. You are so full, you are confident that you'll never do it again and that pizza isn't even that good. Still, next week you do the exact same thing.

I have problems expressing myself in few words, but that's ok, decide for yourself if you want to read it. I even learned and remembered a few things myself while writing it. It's not bad teaching yourself something you already know. ;)

[shakogolfer78]

This statement talks about the main thing that has hurt my game in the past my mental toughness. I'm trying to always keep my chin up. this outlook will help me always look forward to my next shot, and help me avoid the "others" on the scorecard that will destroy a round.