Olympic Golf Was an Education for All

Do you wonder why you have good golf days and bad golf days. Exactly the same happened to the Olympians on the golf course in Rio.  Patience and mental control to manage your game are probably the 2 keys that we can all learn by watching the Olympic Golf Champions.  Justin Rose was a great example to watch but we (recreational golfers) can learn far more from the women golfers.

Recreational golfers dream about playing like the professional male golfers. Unfortunately it only revs up our testosterone with images of going for the gusto. Whether you know it or not, those thoughts are destroying your game. Every time we hit a great shot we tend to put a little more into the next shot and end up in the bush or water or sculling it 20 yards.

Olympic Golf Medal were won by controlled emotion, avoiding the hazards and amazing chips.

Knock yourself down a few pegs and get real. I hate to say this but we should all play like the women. This sure sounds like a sexist remark but I’m serious. Control your shots, avoid the hazards and chip to the cup.

Imbee Park (Gold Medal winner) is not a long driver. She also had to lay off her practice time and tournament play prior to the Olympics to allow time for recovery from her wrist injury. The truck accident law firm in Augusta called it a necessary demand. Limiting her practice and mentally focusing on the Olympic course allowed her cautiously win over the 4 days of tournament play. She had 3

Maria Verchenova, a Russian golfer got a lot of attention and her golf was great too.

rounds of 66 and a 70 on a windy day.  Her steady play was nothing like the spectacular single rounds by Stacey Lewis, 18 year old Brooke Henderson or the Russian, Maria Verchenova who shot a course record at 9 under par.

– Imbee has a pause at the top of her backswing and never rushes her swing.
– She rarely showed any emotion on a good or a poor shot.
– Her amazing chipping was often followed with a single putt.

Lydia Ko (Silver Medal winner) is a lot like Imbee. She is not a long ball hitter and she did not get upset when she had a poor hole. By focusing on her game she knew that she would start to sink putt.  She had a hole-in-one (the first in her professional career) which was icing on the cake for her final round.

Shanshan Feng (Bronze Medal winner) had many difficult recovery chips where she missed dropping the chip by a fraction of an inch. With a little more luck she would have placed higher. Her ability to visualize her chips and end up inches from the hole during her final round was amazing.

I want to emphasize that Recreational Golfers should play from the tees where you can reach the green in regulation. The course was set for the women at 6,245 yards (the men played at 7,128 yards). Accept the fact that you are a recreational player with limited time to practice. So play like the women professionals: Control your emotions to control your shots, avoid the hazards and chip to the cup

Play like these women. Inbee, Lydia and Shanshan all have this amazing focus as they “ took dead aim” on each shot. Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jason Day all talk about this focus and visualization to hit their target. Harvey Penick (a famous golf instructor) was quoted by Golf-Info-Guide (Thomas Golf) as saying “take dead aim.  Once you address the ball, hitting it to the desired target must be the only thing in your life. Allow no negative thoughts and focus on your goal”

I hope you enjoyed this advice and will use it whenever you play golf.  Practice with GOLFSTR+ to improve every swing in your game. Pattern your swing after the pros and make sure that you spend 50% of your practice time pitching, chipping and putting with GOLFSTR+.   Buy one today at www.golfstr.com