In the Golf Magazine article it said that a survey of 15,000 everyday golfers reported that 95 percent of golfers knowlingly break the rules.  It also stated that the Duke student who headed up the study said it was because in their minds, it was not cheating.

So look at a foot wedge that many of us may have used before.  Is that cheating, especially if we claim “winter rules”?  Yes, by the rules of golf, it is cheating.

So is this guy right?  Do we just rationalize it in our own mind?   I believe in most cases that is the case.  In some cases, I think that it is just really ignorance of the Rules of Golf.  But most often, I agree with him, I think we talk ourselves into it.  For a variety of reasons.

First there is the rationalization that it’s just a friendly game with our regular foursome and we all allow each other to improve our lies.  That’s fair and even right?  No, technically, it is cheating; even if we all do it. 

Then there is the one that the idiot that designed the course should never, ever have put that tree (trap, creek, bush, swale, etc) there so we are going to correct his obvious design flaw?  Or what about hitting your ball during a practice swing?  Well, it was just practice so it doesn’t count?

Many reasons why we do it, but we tend to rationalize almost all of them.  But here is what I believe is the more important question.  Is it ok?  Say if it is just a round with friends and we all allow certain things to be ignored.  Is that ok? 

We all probably have very different opinions on this one, but here is mine.  If you can separate the situations from when you are playing competitively against other golfers or where you are going to be in a tournament of any kind, then I believe it’s not a problem.  And I think also that this should be a situation where you don’t turn in your score for handicap purposes.  If all four golfers in your foursome, for example, agree to improve lies in the fairway and there is nothing at stake, then why not I say?

The only problem here is that a lot of golfers can’t separate the two situations.  And the golf purists will argue that cheating is cheating no matter where or when. And I understand their argument.  But I also want to enjoy the game without creating problems. 

And I believe that if you are in any kind of competition, turning in your score card, or playing with a new group, GO STRICTLY BY THE RULES.  And, by the way,  I go by the rules almost all the time.  For me, the exception where we waive the rules is not very often, but it’s a personal choice.

Hope you don’t lynch me on this one, golf nuts.

I might have held the club and didn’t finish my swing because I really didn’t trust the shot I was trying to hit.  Or I would try to steer the ball unconsciously and realize that I had stiffened up which really affected my mechanics.

But the key to me became to make sure that once I committed to a shot, to then totally relax and just swing a smooth, easy swing.  Not to think, not to try and do anything but swing the club.  Not that this is an easy thing to do, especially for us amateur golfers, but the more I do this, the better the result.

Where is it really hard to trust your swing and do this?  On a shot where hazards are in play.  Or on a shot to a really difficult green.  Or a shot where I am trying to help my partner and I to win a particular hole.   It’s why the younger pros struggle when they are first contending for a win or for a win at their first major.  It’s when the pressure is on that this becomes the hardest.

And that’s if we have learned to do this at all.  I still don’t have it down all the time. But when I can relax and not think about my swing or the shot while I swing, the results are so much better.  And to me that is trusting your swing.

Hope that helps some of you golf nuts out there.

One of the comments that I have heard that I think sums it up in my mind has to do with the “spirit of the rules”.  I can’t remember who said it, but the commment was something along the lines of “golf is the only sport where there is no spirit of the rules, only the law.”  And my first reaction to that is, I don’t know if that is true, but what is wrong with that?

I mean, the rules are the rules, right?  I don’t know if that statement is correct about the other sports, but it is true about golf and I like that about the game of golf.  You follow the rules and if you don’t, you are penalized.  No maybe or maybe not, let’s talk about it and discuss our feelings about it.

The problem, in my opinion, is that some of the rules probably need to be changed.  Now as unfortunate as it was, and as unfair as it seemed, Dustin Johnson screwed up.  No two ways about it.  He didn’t check with anyone before he hit the shot and he admitted that he didn’t read the notice that was given out to all the golfers.

In this case, I think that what is stupid is to have approximately 1,200 bunkers of which many your own groundskeeper doesn’t know if that are actually bunkers or not!  But that is an entirely different argument.

Back to the rules of golf.  What I think that this past weekend highlighted, to me anyway, is that maybe it is time for the USGA and the R&A to review the rules.  Let me give you a couple of examples.  Go back to the 1968 Masters and Roberto De Vicenzo’s tragic loss because he signed the wrong scorecard.  I just think that, as one of the ESPN guys said, if the Yankees and the Red Sox had an end of the season game to see who was going to the World Series and after the Yankees won it, an official came to the locker room and said, “Oh I’m sorry, your manager signed the wrong score book so the Red Sox are going to the World Series”, you would probably have a nuclear bomb go off.

And the rule that says that if, after addressing the ball, your ball moves, through no fault of the golfer, then you are penalized.   Or even the rule that Johnson broke.  I know a collegiate golfer who was penalized, during a tournament, because after he hit his shot from a lateral water hazard, the ball was still in the water further upstream and he dipped his club in the water to clean it off.

I believe the integrity of the game of golf and that there should be strict enforcement.  But I think that, although Johnson’s situation was unfortunate, but handled correctly, there are a number of rules that need to changed, removed, or rethought.   Let’s take the little bit of insanity out of the rules of golf and shut up all those talking heads who won’t let it go.

The complication comes in when your golf ball is not in its own pitch mark.   In that case, then Rule 13 kicks in, which is play the ball as it lies.  Many golfers I see play winter rules especially when it comes to divots and pitch marks from previous shots.  They roll the ball to a better lie and think nothing about it.  But the bottom line is, if your ball is not in its own pitch mark, you have to play it.

So the question is do you know that your partner’s ball was in its own or another pitch mark.  That’s the complication part.  My experience is that you can usually see or tell which is the case.  But that is really the determining factor in whether relief is allowed or not.

Thanks for the question, and thanks to all you golf nuts for the rules questions.  I am glad to see more and more golfers wanting to understand the rules of golf!

Here are the results of the poll:

63% answered yes, they would like to see the course set up be more difficult

37% said no, they like it just fine the way it currently works.

So golfers have answered and it appears that we’d like to see more challenging golf courses on the PGA and LPGA tour.  Thanks golf nuts for all of your responses.

Now here is a similar point about our approach shots to greens.  So often I see amateurs worrying about the yardage to the pin.  And then trying to hit their golf shot right at the pin, regardless of the placement.  I don’t know about the rest of you golfers, but I’m not good enough to land it on the pin on purpose a majority of the time.

So why don’t we do the smart thing and aim for the middle of the green.  On most greens, if you hit the middle and can two putt a majority of the time, you are going to score pretty well.  But no, we go for the pin in front and end up short in the bunker.  Or we go for the pin tucked in the far back corner and overshoot the green and end up in marsh on the back side.

So much of golf is mental and a big part of that is playing smart.  I encourage all of you golfers to go for it…. that is the middle of the green.  And watch your scores go down.

Good golfing.

But as much as I love golf and as much as I respect all of the pro golfers (men and women) on the professional tours, for me personally, a lot of tournament golf has become a little boring.  Except for the major tournaments where it just seems that the pros have to really work hard to score and to win.

So, for me, it just makes me feel a little closer to those pros.  It’s not just me and the rest of the amateur golfers who struggle with this game.  These guys and girls are so good that it takes some pretty extreme challenges to really let the game of golf do it’s thing to them like it does it to us sometimes.

I also find it interesting to see how the men and women of the PGA and LPGA react to these circumstances.  You get to see a side of them that we normally don’t see week in and week out.

Now this got me to thinking about an interesting question.  Should the professional tours make the golf courses for the regular tournaments a little more difficult?  In other words, when we are not watching The Masters, The US Open, The Open Championship, or the PGA, do we really enjoy watching pro golfers shoot -10, -14, or even -22?

I’ve never really asked myself this before, but in watching the US Open so far and thinking about it, I’ve decided that I am in favor of this.  I believe that, especially with Tiger at a major turning point in his career (more about this in a later post), that not only will this make golf more interesting, but the game of golf needs this.

You may agree or disagree, but I think that professional tournament golf (other than the majors) has become a little boring.  And as always, I am interested in your thoughts.  So, if you would, take a minute and complete this poll question below.  I’ll post the results in a few days.

When you look back over the years, just his success as a coach is enough to blow you away. His accomplishments include 10 NCAA titles, at one point winning 7 in a row.  During a stretch that included a record of 205-5, he had 4 seasons with a perfect 30-0 records.   But so much of what you will hear about Wooden and what impacted me as well is about the man himself.

What has always impressed me so much about John Wooden was how he achieved success while impacting so many of his players in huge ways.  If you watch over the next couple of weeks, you will hear those testimonies pouring out.  And they are well deserved in my opinion.

He was intensely loyal.  He taught life lessons, not just basketball.  He was all about team, not the individual.  And he cared about his players immensely.  And he knew how to win, and in a big way regardless of the talent he had.

As I observe sports at the college and professional level there is no doubt that they changed quite a bit since Wooden was at UCLA.   Many might say that he couldn’t achieve today what he did in the 60’s and 70’s.  We’ll never know, but based upon what I know about the man, I wouldn’t put money on that.

Everything I’ve read, seen, and heard about Coach Wooden can be summed up in one simple phrase  “He was one of the totally genuine good guys.”  And the world will miss him.

Thank you coach for all you did and taught to all of us!

This was the first time in 22 starts that Mickelson has missed a cut.  And if you play golf, you know that no one can play the game at their best all the time.  Everyone has spots where they struggle, even the guys and girls on the pro tours.   

But here is a question.  There was a ton written recently about Phil having the opportunity to gain the top spot with a victory at Colonial.  And he immediately misses the cut.  And let’s look at how he missed the cut at a tournament that he has won twice previously. 

It was his highest round at Colonial in six years.  He only hit 12 of 28 fairways and only 24 of 36 greens. And he was 17 shots behind the leader when he departed.  And it wasn’t just one part of his game, he seemed to struggle in all areas.

Now Phil has proven that he can take the pressure to win a Major golf tournament.  So he is used to the limelight and major golf tournament pressure.  But with all that has happened in the “Tiger era” and with Tiger now vulnerable, the media pressure and attention will be as it has never been before.

The questions and focus will be so intense on who may supplant Tiger that I believe it may be a type of pressure and attention that Phil, in fact no golfer, has not faced before.  And golf is most definitely a mental game.

So I don’t think that Mickelson is unable to win in the short term and possibly gain the #1 spot.  I question whether he has the deep mental toughness to grab the #1 spot and keep it.  Can he survive, and even thrive, under the glare of that spotlight?  He may prove me wrong.  But even as good a guy as he is and a great golfer, I’m not convinced he can do it.

Second thing that I am big on is to use your favorite golf clubs.  All of us have some clubs that we are really comfortable with and, thus, hit well.  For me, my favorite irons are my 7, 8, and sand wedge.  I just normally hit them very well.  So, based on where I am sitting after my tee shot, I am looking to typically do one of two things.  First to see if I can hit a 7 or 8 iron into a distance that I can then hit my sand wedge in for my third shot.  I usually get a decent chance at birdie if I can hit my sand wedge.

The other scenario that I look for is to hit my three wood for my second shot.  The 3 is my favorite wood.  If the green is unprotected and/or relatively flat and wide, I like to go for the green in two if a mistake won’t cost me too badly.

The third thing for scoring on Par 5’s is to get good at the bump and run or chipping.  If you can do a little practice with you 7 through pitching wedge, you can a lot of times save par or set up birdies with an excellent chip or bump an run.  (You can read more about this type of approach in this golf tip)

So, Golf Nuts, put those three thoughts into your game and you will find yourself doing pretty well on the Par 5’s and helping get some strokes off your golf score.

Have fun out there!

Freddie Couples playing great golf and just 4 strokes back of the leader as I write this.  Mickelson almost hits 3 eagles in a row, and there are a bunch of good golfers all together within striking distance.   This is the way that a Major golf tournament ought to be played out.

And one thing that I am enjoying is that it isn’t all about Tiger.  I am glad to see that the coverage is spread out, but then again I didn’t expect anything else at Augusta National.

Lee Westwood is currently the leader and playing very good golf. With Mickelson breathing down his neck, will he falter?  We shall see.

I know that I hear a lot of people say that golf is boring to watch on TV.  Well,  I will admit that sometimes it probably is, but if you are catching this 2010 Masters, I don’t really see how you can say that.

Here’s looking forward to Sunday’s final round!

First, Rule 19 is the one that deals with a golf ball in motion stopped or deflected.   Specifically 19-1 says:  If a player’s ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency, it is a rub of the green, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies.  There are some exceptions, but they don’t apply in your case.

For those of you who don’t want to look up some of these definitions let me give them to you.  First an outside agency is any item other than your competitors,  your caddie or your partner’s caddie if it is team stroke competition, any ball played by your team, or any equipment of your team.  Now what is a rub of the green in golf? Well it is this situation, when a golf ball in motion is deflected or stopped by an outside agency.

There wasn’t a specific ruling on your exact situation. But reading the rules and also reading Decision 19-1/1 which said that a ball deflected by a direction post is a rub of the green, that pretty much seals it for me.  You are now dealing with a lost golf ball which is another piece of the rules of golf that we won’t go into for now.

Hope this helps and good golfing everyone!

But if you don’t find them impossible, if maybe you just have some inconsistency or you want to make a little better contact with these golf clubs, then read on.

My first tip is swing really easy and smooth.  Although this is a constant theme in my golf tips, for the long irons I really encourage you to swing easier than you do with any other clubs in your golf bag.  Think of swinging at about 50% of your normal swing speed.

Second, really concentrate on the golf ball.  The longer the iron, the more a small mishit affects you.  Make a distinct effort to concentrate on watching your golf club make contact with the back of the ball.  Don’t stiffen up your neck, but make sure to see the club though impact. Stay with the shot!

Last,  make sure to finish your follow through.  I see a lot of golfers who finish their long iron shots very much like they might a pitching wedge.  Finish the swing with the full follow through just like a driver or 3 wood. Otherwise you open yourself up more to hitting a fade or slice.

If you are going to keep trying those long irons, these tips may help you hit them a little better.

Good golfing!

An “obstruction” is anything artificial, including the artificial surfaces and sides of roads and paths and manufactured ice, except:

a. Objects defining out of bounds, such as walls, fences, stakes and railings.

So by the way that I read the rules, the marker that you ball is next to is not an obstruction.  Unless the local Committee has set up some kind of local rule, you do not get relief and the marker would be treated like having to play around a tree or other natural object.

This is one of those rules that sometimes doesn’t make sense. But if we are going to honor the game, we must also honor the rules of golf and just play according to these rules, even the ones that don’t make sense to us.

Until next time, good golfing!

Now don’t get me wrong,  Prugh is also a solid citizen who just happens to be very good at golf.  So his golf game at the pro level is not in question.  But when you read about his background, understand his family background and read about his focus and goals, Alex Prugh really seems to be a very good young golfer who also is mature and grounded.  And boy we need more of those.

And so far this year, while he hasn’t won any of those six golf tournaments, he has three top 10’s and is currently sitting at 25th on the money list.  So apparently the pressure of the big tour hasn’t caused him to fold.  One quote from the Sports Illustrated article gives you a glimpse into his mentality.  When he was nine years old and playing against a 16 year old in a tournament he was asked if he was nervous.  His response?  “Nope”.  “I don’t mind beating these big guys.”  I love that mentality.

So I am encouraged about the future of the game of golf and, I guess, sports in general.  The more I see of young pros like Alex Prugh, the more I can believe that there are still great athletes out there who are also “good guys”.

‘Till next time golfers, get your swing in shape, spring and lots of golf is right around the corner!

Rule 18-2 says that if a golf ball is in play and if the player, his caddie, or the equipment of the player causes the ball to move, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke.   Now let’s look at the decisions that clarify this.

Decision 18-2a/19 says that when a practice swing on the tee box causes the ball to move, there is no penalty and the golfer can replace the ball on the tee and hit his/her shot?  Why?  Well the ball was not in play.  As simple as that.

However anywhere else on the course, a practice swing that causes the ball to move is in violation of Rule 18-2a and must incur a penalty stroke.  Now one clarification on this ruling.  The practice swing does not count as a stroke in addition to the penalty stroke.  The rules recognize that the golfer was making a practice swing and was not intending to strike the ball.  However the golfer must replace the ball to where it was an incur a penalty of one stroke.

A simple rule that a lot of golfers miss or ignore.  Thanks for the question!

In Tiger’s apology, he asked people to find a way to believe in him again.  But I, for one, don’t know if I will ever be able to trust what he says and does going forward.    Some will call me judgemental and that is ok.  But as much as I wasn’t a super fan of Tiger, I did really respect his game and I also really respected him as a man.  I really thought that he was one of the “good guys”.  I believed that he was a guy who had achieved it all in his sports career and still kept his perspective and was a true role model.

But he wasn’t….

There are those who say that sports stars don’t have to be role models.  And maybe that is true.  But he accepted that role.  Tiger put himself out there as a role model and then let everyone down.

He has been criticized a lot about how he spoke the other day.  What he said, what he didn’t say, how he said it, and on and on and on.  None of that matters to me.  Although I will say that he looked really uncomfortable.  As well he should.  He was not only out of his element without a club in his hand or a great round just finished, but he was admitting things no one wants to admit.

And I personally think he was sincere.  But again, it doesn’t matter to me.  My bottom line is this:  Tiger was not the man that I though he was or the man that he led the world to believe that he was.  And not only was he not that guy, but I just can’t overlook what he did and how he went about it.  That’s just me.  Others may feel differently and that’s ok too.  We all have our opinions.

He may go on to achieve even higher greatness in the game of golf.  But for me personally, I just don’t respect him as a man and don’t know if I ever will again.  And I believe that there are probably more out there who feel the same way. And I think that makes it not only a sad day for Tiger but a sad day for golf.

This particular course was the main golf course at the Marriott Bay Point in Panama City, Florida.  We were on a family vacation in the area and some buddies and I decided to hit the links.  I didn’t know anything about that particular course, but it was at a Marriott resort so I figured we couldn’t go too wrong.

Once we checked in at the pro shop and I looked at the card, I thought “Oh no, we may have gotten more than we bargained for”.  Reading about the course’s status, I was thinking that we were going to have to just “man up” and play this course, tough handicap or not.

So out we go and it started early and stayed the same…..ridiculous!  I don’t mind a difficult course.  I don’t mind a course that is longer than most.  I don’t even mind one that is long and difficult, but this course looked like it was  designed by a deranged three year old.

It appeared that they designed the course purely to get that high handicap.  But they did it in the most ridiculous ways.   Let me share a few examples.

One of the early holes had these deep grass bunkers right in the middle of the fairway AND right in the landing area for your tee shots.  And the way that they were laid it, it was only pure chance whether your tee shot missed them or not.  And these were all deep enough that on your second shot, you only had a chance to move the ball about 50 yards up the fairway.

I’m not going to continue to rant about the other crazy things that they had done, I won’t bore you with all of that.  But let me just say this.  That golf course was ridiculous and I vowed never to go back there again.

Now I am not familiar with many of the courses on the list in the espn.com article above. But I just hope that they are nothing like what I experienced that day in Panama City.  Difficult golf is part of the game, that is why they have the handicap system.  But to put things in the middle of a beautiful golf course that really belong at the local putt putt is just wrong.

Happy New Year and I hope all of your golf is great this year!

Number Two:  The elimination of the FedEx Cup.  I never really understood why The PGA felt that they needed it.  I enjoy the golf season without it.  The majors, to me, are big highlights to the season and I, for one, don’t need a season ending series to enjoy the golf season.

Number Three:  A total absence of “You da man” being shouted out during tournament broadcasts.  I mean, really, what does this mean?  Maybe I’m the only one, but it drives me crazy.

Number Four:  Jim Furyk topping the money list and (if it still exists–see number two above) the Fed Ex Standings.  Furyk is one of my favorite golfers and had a very good year in 2009.  I’d love to see him continue that upward trend in 2010.

Number Five:  Another British Open like last year with Tom Watson.  I know, it’s not going to happen, but that sure was a ton of fun.

Well you may totally disagree with my list, but it’s my list and that’s what I would like to see.

And most of all, I wish to all of you golf nuts out there, the most fun yet in your golf game during 2010!

Rule 20-3d says the following:  If a ball when placed fails to come to rest on the spot on which it was placed, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced. If it still fails to come to rest on that spot:  except in a hazard, it must be placed at the nearest spot where it can be placed at rest that is not nearer the hole and not in a hazard.

So he gets relief, but the problem may be that he may end up farther away from the hole than where he plugged the shot.  Now, the other side of the coin could be that he is farther away but has an easier putt, maybe less break, no slope to deal with etc.

But that is what he is dealing with.  I’d be curious how you guys played it.  Either email me or post the comment here on what you guys did.  This was one that took me a little digging on to make sure that there were no other considerations to look at.  I would guess that most of us golfers would miss this one without some help.

Good golfing!

Let me share a story from my youth.  I was at a charity golf tournament  (I was a golf nut even before I started playing) with a ton of professional sports stars.  A lot of us kids were working to get autographs and along came Sandy Koufax.  Just as I was able to get close enough to get his autograph, some kids from the back of the pack pushed and a couple of us were shoved into Sandy.  Unfortunately, he turned on us with a snarl and made an ugly comment.

Now at the time, I just said well he’s the exception, but it did change my perception of him.  Over the years, then you hear the stories AND the admisssions of Mickey Mantle about his escapades.  And there were others.

The sad realization that I have come to is this.  Yes there were and are good guys out there in professional sports.  But, different from the memories many of us have,  back in “the day” I don’t think that there were so many more and that over the years it’s gone downhill.  I’ve come to the conclusion that the press and the media,for the most part, just didn’t report all the transgressions back then.  I believe that there was basically an unwritten code to “protect” our heroes.  I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, I just believe that is the way it was.

That day is long gone and if a celebrity or sports figure messes up, we will hear about it.  So should we be sad, should we feel misled from our youth, should we be mad that possibly a lot of those we idolized growing up were running around on their spouses, drinking, chasing women in every town etc?

Here is my bottom line.  I think that there are role models and that a few (unfortunately fewer than we thought) of our sports heroes, past and present, are figures that we can point out to our kids and encourage them to respect their character, not just their accomplishments.  But we also need to remember that we are all human, we all have weaknesses, and we all make mistakes.  And I think that we should also teach our kids not to judge and to have compassion for those that make mistakes.  We just have to remember that if we “create” heroes, they will probably let us down at some point.

Till next time all you golf nuts!

So they land in Augusta, Ga and head to the home of The Masters, Augusta National.    A round of 18 holes on the famed track that looks so great on TV in April.  Dinner at the Augusta National Golf Club, then they get to stay in one of the cottages on the property.  If it ended right there and they returned home the next morning,  it would be awesome! But it wasn’t over yet.

The next day they play the main course again in the morning and then play the Par 3 course before heading home in the Nicklaus jet.  And the topper is that Jack, as the member at Augusta National, picks up the tab for the trip.  Does it get any better than that?

Wow, a golf trip of a lifetime.  Not much more I can say.

I recommend three components to your program that will all help your golf game.  First is stretching.  This is something that I didn’t do early in life, but as I have gotten older I realize how important it is, and it really helps keep your flexibility for your golf swing.  The second is weight lifting.  I have written about this before and some golfers think I am crazy.  But a weight training routine is key to overall strength and conditioning.   The third component is a cardio routine of some kind.  It might be walking, running, or using a treadmill, elliptical or some other piece of equipment.

For you older golfers like me,  a book on fitness and staying young that I read recently really motivated me to take my workouts to the next level.  It’s called “Younger Next Year” by Chris Cowley.  If you are anywhere near or above your late 40’s I encourage you to check this book out.  I don’t agree with everything he writes about, but his message on exercise and the impact it has on helping your body stay young is tremendous.

Now of course I can’t totally ignore your golf swing during this post, so let’s talk about what I try to do and encourage my students to do during the offseason.  First, I really try to work on tempo.  Depending on the weather, one of the things that I do is swing a weighted club.   I really work on swinging smooth and easy and thinking about my swing thought for tempo.  Another thing that I use to do this is to hit into a net.  I am doing this to work on a smooth tempo and solid contact.  You can’t tell how the golf shot shot would have finished up, but after a short time you can definitely tell how solid the contact was.

The other thing that I will do a fair amount this time of year is work on my short game.  Primarily chipping and putting.  Now I am fortunate that I have access to courses that don’t shut down for the winter so for some of you this may be limited in what you can do.  But any chance that you have to reinforce consistency in your short game will help.   I use the same drills that are in my golf program described here.  You may want to check it out.

But until next time, golfers let’s get in shape and fine tune that short game where the strokes can be shaved.

First, the lack of the physical contact and wear and tear lets you compete longer in the game of golf.  Hence, an advantage.  But without the physical contact or the speed and movement of other sports, there is no way to release the adrenaline that comes with professional sports.  And this can be a disadvantage for golfers.  I’ve heard discussions of how caddies have saved pro golfes by having them play one less club  because they knew that the adrenaline would have them pumped up.

So does golf actually have more pressure than other professional sports you might ask?  Well I don’t really think that pro golfers would tell you that there is more pressure in golf than in other professional sports.  But from my own personal experience, I think that pressure affects them in other ways.

First there is that physical aspect we talked about earlier.  I know that I’ve had rounds of golf where I was just really struggling and I wanted to just lash out, hit something, release some steam etc.  But there is no way to do that in the sport itself.   So golfers have to manage that pressure and/or adrenaline in different ways.

Second, there is pressure in all professional sports for the individual to perform.  And in some cases there is all the focus on an individual for a moment, like a free throw in basketball or a field goal attempt in football.  But in golf, if you miss that putt with the whole world watching, there isn’t someone to “pick up the pace” or to help you get back in the game like in other sports.  You have to “pick it up” all by yourself.  So again, not necessarily worse pressure, just applied in different ways.

So my response to the question in the title of this post is this:  The pressure is there just as in other sports, not worse or more of it, just a little different in how it affects us, the golfers.  Good golfing out there.

That is getting rid of movement in your head during your golf swing.  Now I’m not talking about keeping your head down.   This is something a little more subtle.  But I see a lot of golfers that move their head up or down or side to side during their swing and it can cause mishits and pushes or pulls.  And most average golfers never notice it.

So the first thing to do if possible is take a short video of your swing.  If you don’t have a camera, then get a friend or even you spouse to take a few minutes to watch your swing.  That is if your spouse will spend any time feeding your addiction to golf!

If you or they see side to side or up and down movement of your head, this may be your problem.  Now you just need to work on doing what the pros call “maintaining a quiet head”.   So let’s talk about how to help this.

You don’t want to stiffen up your shoulders or neck or you will cause other problems.  The key is really to just focus on not having major movement of your head during your golf swing.  One thing that I have used to do this is focusing on the golf ball a little more intently during my swing.  And this sounds a little crazy, but even picking a spot on the golf ball and not letting my vision move from that spot.  Then I also try to make sure that I see the clubhead swing through the golf ball at impact.

By focusing on this, without trying to “keep my head still” with the muscles of my neck, I have been able to keep my head quiet and improve my contact on the golf ball.  So, the next time you are hitting some balls at the range, try this approach.  Then video yourself again or have that same person watch you again to look for improvement.

I hope this helps and great golfing to you.