Tyler here on Long Island enjoying lots of bar-b-que’s on this long weekend.  Before we head out to church, I thought I’d give a quick post for the die hard GFG readers.

I got a lot of positive feedback from my report on my first round this year.  So here is my report from round number two.  I played in a scramble at Worthington Mannor with my boss, his wife, and his brother-in-law.  I’ve got good news and bad news.  The good news is that I can still drive the ball as well as anyone.  The bad news is that my putting is rusty – and when I say rusty I mean that I started ONLY one putt on my line over 18 holes.  That’s pretty much unacceptable and will take a little practice this week, but all-in-all I was happy.

So we started on 13, a par 5.  I let everyone hit their drives and then stepped up remembering how it went last round.  If you can’t remember the struggles I had the first round out this year, then flip back to my older posts.  Anyway, I stepped up knowing that I had no swing thought because of my lack of play.  Somewhere in my takeaway I decided, left shoulder down.  The ball finished 320 yards just in the first cut of rough – and I had my swing thought for the day.  I am very analytical and have numerous mental tests done (if you want to take my favorite test, then leave me a message on facebook).  Anyway, I play better with one clear swing thought than with no thought.  It’s how I work and I go with it.  I usually like to pick a thought during warm up to be my “feel” for the day – good thoughts can last me a week or month and I won’t have to find one before I play.  But on Tuesday I didn’t really get to warm up my swing because I was doing a clinic for the event.  Basically I made a mistake of not having a clear thought process walking to the ball; and I got away with it.  Not only did I get away with it, I had my thought for the rest of the day.

With that thought in mind I drove the ball amazingly well.  On 14 (340 yard downhill par 4) I was in the greenside bunker.  On 7 (315 yard par 4) I was on the fringe.  On 10 (310 yard par 4) I hat a lazer to sneak the ball past the water and was a foot off the green.  Then on 11 (303 yard par 4) I was pin high just off the fringe.  I had a bunch of other good drives, but those 4 required distance and direction to get near the green.  What’s really cool, is that I could have told you that I was going to hit the ball well after the second hole.  So no, this wasn’t just a boastful post about how I am the greatest driver of the golf ball alive, it is pointed to help you analyze your own game.

I know my game and swing at this point and I know what it takes for me to play well.  I try my best to recreate that situation every time I play.  For me it is having a clear swing thought from my list.  I have about 10-15 acceptable swing thoughts that all help me control my tendency to early extend/slide.  My swing thoughts don’t jump around for no reason.  I have never worried about my arm or club position at the top of the swing.  It doesn’t fit within my game and it’s requirements.  Take a second and think about how well you know your game.

Do you play better when you care/take it seriously?  Or are you better when you joke around?  Do you play better in the morning or the afternoon?  Do you play better when you have a caddy or when you are helping someone else by telling them your thought process?  Do you do better with a 30 or 90 minute warm up?  Knowing where you stand or taking it shot by shot?
For me, golf fitness is all about being self-aware and attacking your weaknesses.  Greg Rose wrote a quick article a few years ago that I completely agree with.  In the gym you should attack your weaknesses with everything you got.  If you are strong, then take yoga.  If you are gumby then do some deadlifts and get on a strength program.  However, on the golf course I think the opposite is true.  You should continually develope your strengths and simply manage your weeknesses.  There is room to be a great golfer with great ball striking or great short game.   Or you can be an average golfer with good ball striking and a good short game.  Re-read that last sentence, the words were chosen carefully.

Work on your strengths and manage your weaknesses.  I am not going to allow myself to only get one putt online for a round, but I can manage it to where I start 50% online and let my ball striking score for me.  What is going to score for you and what are you just going to manage?

Know your body and know your game and you will be able to reach any goal you want in golf.  Good luck golfers.