My 3pt Plan

[hendog]

Bullet list plans seem to be in vogue these days (at least if you've seen a debate or two recently) so I came up with my own. In my last thread ( http://thesandtrap.com/t/62593/talk-me-down-or-give-me-a-push ) I described how a particularly bad round of golf made me re-evaluate my entire game from my swing to my motivation. I got a lot of great comments and from that along with my own self-reflection I have come up with the following 3pt plan to get my game back in shape:

1. Attitude Adjustment - My biggest improvement this year was a better attitude. Let bad shots go, let bad holes go. Get the most out of what is left etc etc. Over the last couple of months I have lost that. I blame stress from a job change but the reason is irrelevant. As soon as I started getting mad and giving up on holes my scores went up. So its time to fix that. Positive attitude, don't get mad and never quit playing until the ball is in the 18th cup.

2. Back to the Basics - I was playing great and then decided that I was so good that I should hit cuts and fades and knock downs and draws just because I could. Well I spent so much time messing with those shots that my normal swing eroded. So its time to get back to the basics. For me that means approach every shot as a slight draw and only make a change if something is physically preventing that (ex: a tree). None of this "well the flag is back right with a bunker protecting it so I really need to come in with a slight fade to avoid danger." No I don't. Just hit to the center of the green or don't worry about the bunker. Keep it simple, stupid.

3. Modify Expectations - Hand in hand with #1. I play about once a week, twice if I'm lucky and I don't get to the range very often other than that. I can't approach each round like it is the most important event of my life. Just play, have fun and take what I get. That doesn't mean I won't try or that I'm not going to keep score, but just let it happen. If its a great round or crappy round, just take what is there and enjoy life. Don't expect a certain score, expect a good time and make that happen.

So as you can see this is a plan to get the most out of my time playing golf and not necessarily a plan to improve. I may find that I am only a 10 or 11 handicap instead of the 7 I am at right now. But 10 or 11 is still pretty darn good and if I'm having fun shooting 84 every time out then that is better than grinding miserably for an occasional 77.

[Grumpter]

Sounds like a good plan.

[walk18]

Good plan. And you'll probably find that as you become able to just enjoy the game more, your scores will probably end up dropping.