John Lucas

The most common flaw I see in unaccomplished golfers is tension. There is a lack of fluidity in their swings. This tension causes quick jerky movements in the back and in the forward swing. It also causes problems in the short game, leading to chunking of short pitches and missing way too many short putts.

 

I believe this tension is caused mainly by self-doubt and that (I believe) is caused by trying too hard.

Think for a moment that some one asked for you to throw them your car keys. You simply take them out of your pocket and gently, automatically lob them into their hands. You didn’t “try hard” to make the toss accurate, and yet it was.

 

Think of a plank of wood 6-feet wide on the ground and imagine you were asked to walk on the plank for 100 yards. No problem. You simply would put one foot in front of the other and walk along. Now imagine that same plank laid over the Grand Canyon. Quite a difference, isn’t it? The self-doubt would cause tension and affect your ability to do the easy act of walking. The high wire acrobats in the circus can do it because they don’t “try” walking the wire, they just do it. I firmly believe that if one can muster the same attitude as when tossing car keys, he or she will greatly improve his or her game.

 

Go to the putting green with several balls and place them 10 feet from the hole. Don’t “try” to do anything, just imagine in your mind picking the balls out of the hole. Just hold the putter lightly in your hands and think only that thought. A grin may just come over your face. Put some balls off the green 40-50 feet away and only think about someone removing the flag from the hole as the ball is rolling toward it. Don’t “try” anything. Be like the Nike commercial: Just Do It!

 

One could see this in action on the PGA tour between Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods. You could just see Sergio trying so hard on his putts. It was a strain to him, while Tiger looked so relaxed and confidant.

Tiger saw the ball going in the hole and didn’t let anything interfere with that thought. Maybe that’s why he plays Nike equipment (LOL) — at least that’s what Tiger used to do before his mind got cluttered.

Rules teaser:
In stroke play, a player’s ball lies in a bunker. When entering the bunker he accidentally kicks a stone into the bunker. He removes the stone before playing his next shot but he didn’t improve his lie or remove any interference for his next shot. Ruling?

Answer to last teaser:

In match play, a player marked his ball and lifted it for identification purpose. In doing so he removed some loose impediments before replacing his ball. Ruling? Most think since it is match play it is loss of hole, but it is just a one-stroke penalty.

 

John Lucas is the professional at SkyRidge Golf Course and can be reached at john98382@olypen.com.