These days I’m ready to play anywhere!
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One last goal inspired by @CoryO
play golf like a kid
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free wheel it off the tee; knock the crap out of it; if you hit it into the woods, do it with authority
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hit a shot, go find it, hit the next one
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kids say things like “i make every putt i look at” or I’m the best driver of the golf ball at this club; they don’t let a little evidence to the contrary change those beliefs
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kids don’t think about handicap, or strokes gained, or game-theory optimal decision making
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kids get fired up when they do something like miracle par saves or draining a birdie
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don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have it that day
People say Freddy Couples played like a kid… never scared, not in his head… love it and that is what I am going for
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If I inspired that, I should inspire myself to do the same 
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That’s all true, for me personally especially with putting. I was getting so technical and tight I had no feel. Now I do my best to give it a good read, and tell myself the ball is dropping every time. Sometimes it doesn’t hold up it’s end of the bargain, but it will next time
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This just summarized my golf game. I personally enjoy going out there and attempting the “hero” shots rather than playing smart. I know I would post lower scores more often if I played smarter more often, but I dont play in any tournaments so I am all about having fun. When it goes real bad, I just laugh and remind myself I am playing golf.
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I did this for a few years… it’s definitely fun.
I’m now focused on lowering scores, and it’s a different sort of fun…
Once I get down to my goal handicap, I’m hoping to play over aggressive golf and see how it does.
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I am not saying to throw caution to the wind and play hero shots : )
Couples talks about how much Raymond Floyd helped him think through and play a golf course… it is not about removing strategy
I am talking about detaching from the results while you play and being optimistic and having fun
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Yeah I get what you are saying. I still go out there and play smart golf a good amount. But I have found myself swinging away and playing “fun” more often. IMO there is a fine line between “fun” low scores, and “fun” aggressive/hero golf.
That is the exact reason I may go shoot high 70s or high 90s any given day.
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Detaching enjoyment from “results” is the key to any pursuit, but for golf I think is especially needed.
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Yep, I want to do the majority of my thinking off the course:
- pick targets and clubs off the tee
- commit to taking medicine if i get in trouble
- scout out greens that have significant penalties / hazards to avoid
- look at greens and understand where the fat parts are and a good miss is
- strong bias for middle of the green at middle or back yardage
- internalize that putting and dispersion has variance; what you shoot day to day doesn’t necessarily mean anything about whether you are better at golf
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Agree wholeheartedly. Had a similar attitude for today’s round, didn’t get a great score but learned things! Steady wind of 18 mph, with large gusts - but so warm out, just had to forget any pressure to score, and enjoy the moments!
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My only goals are 365 rounds a year, and par every hole each month. So far up to 315 rounds and this month it has taken me 14 rounds to par every hole.
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My goal was to improve my handicap by making fewer doubles and playing smarter.
Turns out I also needed a lesson to do it but I did drop my handicap from 4.0 to 2.5. Pretty happy with that.
Next year I’m hoping to play a couple local Am events and find a way to feel more comfortable in tournament golf. There are too many good players here to realistically think I can compete to win at this stage.
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Out of curiousity, what did you learn from your lesson that helped improve your game and drop your handicap?
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That’s also my goal for next year. Playing tournament rounds even just in my club the last month or so has been really eye-opening for my game and is challenging me to improve. I’ll try to play any event that’ll have me next year (but yeah, here in SoCal the level of play is going to be off the charts).
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My setup was all out of whack, which was forcing me to make a bunch of compensations to hit it well. It was costing quite a bit of distance as well.
I’ll probably play my city Am. The state mid-am I’d also nearby so maybe I’ll go play that for the experience.
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Get and stay healthy was my primary goal. My surgical escapades have been documented on here so I won’t bore you but PostOp I was lacking balance, muscle function and capacity. Playing 18 would put me on the shelf for a week. Started working with Thomas Malchow w/ Trainfuly in January and I carded 71 rounds so far this season. Less than my norm but I’m beyond grateful because I’m playing golf and I’m not in pain. I still have work to do physically from now until April but the plan is working. One lesson learned was trust the plan and have patience.
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Interestingly, this season has already seen birdies on two of the holes I missed last year… and I left a putt a roll short on a third…
I look back at this stuff and realize that I’m playing significantly better this year, but my scoring and consistency just aren’t back yet…
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Good on you! My goals are to just get out there (haven’t yet due to weight gain and lingering carpal tunnel) but I have to say, a recent visit from my brother (couldn’t play due to thunderstorms) and seeing Mickelson win the PGA at 50 (oldest ever) are inspiring me to get going!! And have to try out my SeeMore putter in actual games.
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