awmgolfer

I had a really great season as I finally was able to shoot some scores in tournaments that I shot when playing on my own or with friends, really looking forward to this coming season!!

I have been playing more competitive tournaments over the past 7 or 8 years and hopefully some of what has helped me might help you. I used to be able to handle the nerves, pressure, and everything else that goes along with it with no problem back in high school but after being out of that environment for 15-20 years I really struggled. When I started playing more competitively I would either fall apart out of the gate due to nerves or if it was a 2-day event, I would be in the lead or near the top after day one and completely fall apart on the 2nd day. I have been trying to qualifier for our top state amateur tournament along with playing in some local Open Championships which I knew I had the game to win or at least qualify. I spent last season really focusing on my mindset and how I act mentally and physically with the nerves and finally discovered what works for me. This year I shot one over at the qualifier to reach our state Amateur Championship (didn't do great at it but now I know what to expect and had a blast) and I won our local 2 day tournament shooting two rounds under par which I have never done. For me it has been finding a quick relaxer that lets me bring back my focus on the shot, just taking a simple deep breath during my pre-shot routine and then having a really short term memory. One shot at a time and if I hit a bad shot, you know, be frustrated but when I move away from the previous shot that is forgotten and all I am focused on is the next shot I am about to hit. Those two pieces have completely helped my nerves. My wife caddied for me in the tournament I just won and said she was shocked to see how much I was shaking at times. Up until this year I always felt that shaking but with my two tricks I used for relaxing and focusing I never once felt those shakes or had them bother me when making a swing. The last part has just been having confidence in myself, I know my game is good enough and I know I can hit the shots I need, trust it!

This winter I have access to a simulator that is being left with me so I am planning to start working through a few other issues. Nice time to do it when you have 6 months of winter!

I definitely know I have an interesting swing but I can consistently repeat it. I always tell the kids do as I say and not as I do…lol. I actually figured out what I was doing that at least put me back to my normal yardages. My hips were facing the ball at impact instead of being a little more angled forward. I was also cupping a bit, as soon as I fixed both of those my yardages were back to normal. When I went from hitting my 8 iron 155 to barely hitting it 135 yards it became quite frustrating. There really are no competent instructors near me so I’m mainly left on my own. I coach our golf team so I can usually figure out the fixes but this one took me a while!

I've been Playing Golf for: I've been seriously golfing for the past 14 years but been playing 30+ years on and off. My current handicap index or average score is: 2.9 My typical ball flight is: High with irons and generally a cut shot with longer clubs. The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Loss of about 20 yards due to losing all my lag early in the swing. I have never had great lag into impact but up till this year it was a little better then what it is now. This year I have lost 15-20 yards with my irons only since I am adding loft at impact. My woods hit great and still get the good yardage I have had for the past 10 years, it is just the irons. I know I am too inside on my takeaway and currently working on that, it's just the early release I can't seem to figure out. I only have a face on video for the moment as the down the line didn't come out right but will try to get one up shortly! Thanks in advance!! Videos:

Check your grip, make sure your grip isn't too strong.

I try to mix it up, sometimes I'll do a good warmup-up with stretches but sometimes I'll go straight out to the first tee and do a quick stretch and even just step up to the tee without stretching and just go. I mainly do it because I've been in situations where I missed my alarm and had to go straight from my car to the first tee and go.

It's a special course that I'm glad to have ended up in the town that it sits, and even better I only live about a mile and a half from the course

This is near and dear to my heart as I am an instrumental music teacher and also our high school golf coach. I have played trumpet for a long time and play currently in a number of groups ranging from orchestral, band, commercial, and jazz. Most of the kids over the past 10 years I've had on the team have been current or former band students, though a lot of that is more related to having a good relationship with the kids. I can say being a musician in golf really helps because musicians can only count to 4 so it helps the scorecard, many songs are in 3 or even in two, but rarely in 6 :) I find the process is very similar in becoming an accomplished musician to being a good golfer. The process of practice has always come very easy to me in golf because I already know the process from my years of practicing on trumpet. I have also failed many times in performances and used to being the only one on stage in front of a large audience so the nerves and pressure are nothing new and very transferrable. Within my own swing I am very tempo based to keep from making the transitions too quick. I started doing that before I read many golf coaches do that already, it came to me due to being a musician but I would have picked it up no matter what as that is a standard technique. So overall to me the process of becoming a better golfer completely relates and has been very easy for me. It has also helped a lot with the nerves and dealing with pressure. So yes, a lot of relation and definitely has helped me become a better golfer.

I think for most it depends on what you shoot, when I was just starting out I didn't care, just wrote down the score and moved on because it was high as it was and a little harder to track those higher numbers...lol. As I moved into being a single digit handicap I just knew where I was an now I'm a low single digit and generally right around par, without even paying attention I know where I am, I just don't put any stock into and play each hole one at a time. In regards to tracking handicap, the recent change has been really hard for me, I don't play rounds with others very often and the guy I tend to play with the most, we do a lot of practice round, multiple balls, fun games, things like that. So the change has drastically cut how many rounds I can submit, however, it really hasn't had an effect, less scores but still about the same overall.

I have about 6 months off from playing due to our winters so the simulator has become an essential part of my practice. I have an Optishot I keep at school and go in on the weekends to use. I play the rounds for fun and have customized my yardages to match my actual yardages but sometimes it just doesn't pick it up well but overall it does a good job. What I use it strictly for is swing path and face angle which it does a really good job of picking up. The previous couple of years I used it a lot and when the season started outside I was pretty much starting out with my normal scores right away. Last year I didn't use it much and there was a definite difference and it took my usual 3-4 weeks to get everything back to normal. If anything it just keeps your swing going, and of course it's better than sitting on the couch looking out the window at all the snow, at least you're swinging a club and "playing" a round.

This is something I am going through right now, though we have 3 feet of snow outside so all I am going on is my Optishot. I have lost 70lbs since this past October and will probably be down another 20lbs before our season even begins. All I've done is just counting calories, keeping my nutrition in a healthy place, and spinning. The swing overall doesn't feel unusual, the biggest change is readjusting my setup position because my hands being in the same spot as before puts them a lot further away from me now. The biggest feeling difference is chipping and putting because of the reduction of the belly, I've just had to make some tweaks and relearn some of the feeling but I'm finding my swing feels more solid. Looking forward to taking it to the course.

I really like the feel of the XR 3 wood and I would like to have a 3 wood that matches my driver setup for consistency in feel, just something I like to have. I also would like a little lower degree 3 wood along with a shaft adjustment which would give me a few extra yards as the 3 wood I have goes a bit too high for my liking. A few shots on my home course my current 3 wood puts me in some funky positions and driver just isn't the right club for those holes. The extra 7-10 yards puts me right in the sweet spot which is what I was hitting the XR 3 wood compared to my current older Ping 3 wood.

When I didn't really understand the swing at all and had a wicked slice, one tip I read was belt buckle should be pointing away from target on the backswing and towards target on the follow through. I finally learned how to fix it but that tip has given me a terrible overswing that I have been trying to break for a while.

I live in far Northern Maine and teach in a small k-12 school, 450 students in total and I also coach the varsity golf team. I keep my clubs over the winter in my elementary office as I use an OptiShot over the winter with the kids not he golf team and also keep clubs in my high school office. When kids come to my room for band lessons or tech help they see the clubs so they are exposed through me pretty early on and it stays all the way through high school. We don't have a huge team but many of the kids I work with that don't play I see out at the course shortly after graduating and they kick themselves for now joining the team. We have a pretty good base of younger players in their teens and 20's. It's definitely seen as a sport in this area as you have to be an athlete to walk our local course..lol. In my experience it really does come down to exposure, the earlier the better. Not pushing but just making it visible and known goes a long way.

I don't have too many limits as our season is short enough in Northern Maine but if it's in the 20's and windy I won't play. My main limit is when the greens get covered I'm done which is based on the temp average so when they are cold enough to cover it's usually too cold for me which should be anytime now, though it's been a bit more mild then normal which I don't mind!

I tried out a bunch of drivers this past season and the Callaway XR-16 was the one I settled on, I love it. I am also playing Callaway wedges now, the PM grinds for the 56 and 60 and just a standard 52 and love them. I have been very impressed with their feel and the results I get with them too. I am going to be picking up the XR 3 wood this winter as I need a 15* instead of my 17* 3 wood. I know when the time for new irons come where I'll be starting my search, love the feel!

He is in 7th grade right now and just started playing 6 months ago and is shooting in the 90's. He will be establishing a handicap next year along with starting to compete in junior tournaments. Our season is done for now but I'm going to get him on a small simulator we have at the school so at least he can keep swinging through the winter. I am having him focus hard on the short game and putting as he has a really nice full swing. Thanks again for replying, really cool to actually be talking with an active PGA tour player!!

Thanks for joining and being willing to share and answer questions! I coach high school golf in a small school in Northern Maine and I have a young kid coming up that his dream is to make it on the PGA tour, he has the work ethic and the basics. Any advice from someone that is there already and on the inside that I could pass along to aide him in reaching that goal?

I coach our varsity team and I have also started entering into more tournaments so I get a chance to see it from both sides. I tyally shoot mid 70's and on a good day I'll be anywhere between even part to 4 under. I started playing competitively 3 years ago when I felt I had enough game to compete and I typically would go out the first day and shoot really well then just fall apart the second day. I routinely was shooting around 2-3 over par the first day and would go out the second day and shoot an 86. I did that in about 4-5 tournaments but just kept working on things. I would also routinely thin the living daylights out of my opening tee shot. Finally last year I shot a pair of 76's to win our club championship. This year I decided to try and qualify for our state amateur tournament and went out and shot a 95, it's been a long time since I've been that high..lol. You really just have to keep competing and eventually you will get used to it. I played a few more tournaments this year and I am finally hitting that point where I play as well in tournament play as I do in my casual rounds, I am finally internalizing everything and being able to play my own game without all those distractions. I'm also getting back to the point of where I thrive on that feeling but it has taken a few years for me. Just have to walk away from those tournaments you haven't done well in and just reflect on them and make changes accordingly, usually in the head game. As a coach I really push the kids to have a short term memory and don't track your score. Play the percentages is also a saying I drill into them, play shots that you know you have a better chance of making then not making. I had a golfer this year who is in her first year playing seriously and really had a chance to make the state championship for individuals. Her putt on the last hole did a 360 around the cup and stayed out, if the putt had fallen she would have made the state championship that she missed by one stroke. I found out she had a hidden scorecard and she was adding up after every hole so she knew where she was at all times. She went into the last few holes telling herself she had to get certain scores on the last few holes and just set herself up to fail. Short term memory, write the score down and move on. The more tournaments or fun harmless wager situations you play in the better. I routinely play the kids for a drink in the clubhouse or I will play them for paying for their dinner on our way home from a match. The more you play with pressure the easier it will become as you know how your body and mind will feel and respond when the adrenaline and nerves are going strong.

I'm in Northern Maine, the course closes in another week or so but I'm hoping to be playing into early November, just depends when they cover the greens.

I don't have any personal experience but my #1 golfer on the HS golf team a few years ago had to get a shot of cortisone while they were trying to figure out the root cause of his issues. He had to wait a day to play but after he always felt much better. Definitely helped him!

There is a course about a half hour from our family cottage, it is where my Grandfather taught me how to play. It is just a 9 hole course, right on the ocean but off the path a bit that most don't know about it. It is a very easy course and layout, no bunkers, and no real water in play unless you fly the green by 80 yards which would put you in the ocean. The greens are a nice size and usually not too slow or fast, no real difficulty to them. I usually shoot mid to low 70's on average at my home course which is much more difficult but every summer I go play a round and shoot in the mid 80's, I have yet to shoot in the 30's on 9 which I usually always do at my home course. I know it's mental but the course just has my number for whatever reason, still one of my favorites to play!

I was out playing today with a kid that is really coming along quickly in his skills so I decided to take him to a course in the area that is really nice. I usually play it 3-4 times a year and we had been playing along at a nice pace, only a few people were out playing. No one was in front of us as I do pay attention by looking ahead. We were in the middle holes of the front nine and came to a par 5 that is a long dog-leg to the right and the elevation also dips down so you can't see anything beyond about 200 yards out. As I have been looking ahead by a few holes and saw no one we just tee'd off and as we got up to our shots there was a 3-some of older gentlemen that my ball went flying over. I apologized profusely as I pride myself on really being careful, especially since I coach I like to set the example. They were so good about it and actually apolized and said they had been hitting multiple shots and looking for balls in the woods that I had no way to know they were even ahead of us. Still felt bad but sometimes even the most careful still run into hitting into people. Just a part of the game and all you can do is to be as careful and cautious as possible.