Question:
This issue comes to a head when I play with my dad. He very much wants to play "we’re just out for a good time" golf. That’s fine, but I don’t play that way. It’s not that I’m not having fun and enjoying myself, but I can’t let down my concentrations like that. I play too badly, and I
That’s odd, I play some of my best golf when I lighten up and just have fun… you are taking the game too seriouly. Lighten up a little and enjoy all the shots… the good and the bad.
Response:
How can you enjoy a bad shot? It’s like having your liver cut out and pan fried under your nose, served with fava beans and a nice chianti. A bad shot is a complete and truthful affirmation of your lack of self-worth. Only by hitting good shots one after another can you stave off the inevitable sense of profound inadequacy that is the essence of golf. But as sure as the universe dies heat death, in the end golf diminishes everyone to an ugly pinpoint in a cosmos of large and otherwise perfect and beautiful things. -joseph That’s odd, I play some of my best golf when I lighten up and just have fun… you are taking the game too seriouly. Lighten up a little and enjoy all the shots… the good and the bad.
– Author, Effective Perl Programming . . . . . http://www.effectiveperl.com Perl Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://www.perltraining.com
Response:
This issue comes to a head when I play with my dad. He very much wants to play "we’re just out for a good time" golf. That’s fine, but I don’t play that way. It’s not that I’m not having fun and enjoying myself, but I can’t let down my concentrations like that. I play too badly, and I can’t stand it. So we always fight. I get mad at him (cause he’s my dad), then he blames his next missed shot on me, and it get’s worse from there.
Is your desire to play well affecting your relationship with your father? Your dilemma struck me since my father passed away when I was two. What I would give to play a around with him…. Tom "You can never have too many boats…"
Response:
How can you enjoy a bad shot? It’s like having your liver cut out and pan fried under your nose, served with fava beans and a nice chianti. A bad shot is a complete and truthful affirmation of your lack of self-worth. Only by hitting good shots one after another can you stave off the inevitable sense of profound inadequacy that is the essence of golf. But as sure as the universe dies heat death, in the end golf diminishes everyone to an ugly pinpoint in a cosmos of large and otherwise perfect and beautiful things. -joseph
Get your liver out Joe. I’m always happy when I hit a solid block (hopefully it didn’t zing OB), because it means my swing path is where it ought to be, and all I have to do is loosen up my grip and/or see a little bit more knuckle and/or just let that club go through impact, and I’ll be killing the ball the rest of the day.
–
Response:
How can you enjoy a bad shot? It’s like having your liver
Well some of my bad shots are real butes. 
Look for the beauty. Like maybe you hold the record for the most trees hit with a single shot and don’t even know it. The main thing is don’t let one bad shot cause several more. Just laugh it off and keep a good attitude.
Response:
testing – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -How can you enjoy a bad shot? It’s like having your liver cut out and pan fried under your nose, served with fava beans and a nice chianti. A bad shot is a complete and truthful affirmation of your lack of self-worth. Only by hitting good shots one after another can you stave off the inevitable sense of profound inadequacy that is the essence of golf. But as sure as the universe dies heat death, in the end golf diminishes everyone to an ugly pinpoint in a cosmos of large and otherwise perfect and beautiful things. -joseph That’s odd, I play some of my best golf when I lighten up and just have fun… you are taking the game too seriouly. Lighten up a little and enjoy all the shots… the good and the bad. — Author, Effective Perl Programming . . . . . http://www.effectiveperl.com Perl Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://www.perltraining.com
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Here’s a question that I’ve been struggling with for a while (actually, my father and I have been struggling with it). In the last four years or so, my improvement in the game has been rather steady. Upward steady, like good. Despite playing high school baseball four nine months out of every year, I was constantly adding shots to my repertoire, learning the game, watching and playing with better players and learning all the time. So, naturally, over the last couple of years, I’ve acquired a bit of attitude about golf. I know I can hit every shot I line up for (part of that growing up process was getting myself to stop trying shots I can’t hit , and so i get frustrated when I don’t execute the shot well. So, when I heel a driver down the middle of the fairway, and my dad yells "great shot!" it’s real hard for me to just say thanks. And I get mad when I slap slice a ball out of bounds. I have real trouble playing with people I don’t know, cause I just get pissed (not at them, cause they’re just being nice, but at myself, and then it becomes frustration, and then if affects my round). Now, when I’m in a tournament, and everyone else is like minded, I’m fine. I don’t really get mad at myself for good shots, it the trying to seem like a nice guy when someone says something about my game that I disagree with that’s so hard. This issue comes to a head when I play with my dad. He very much wants to play "we’re just out for a good time" golf. That’s fine, but I don’t play that way. It’s not that I’m not having fun and enjoying myself, but I can’t let down my concentrations like that. I play too badly, and I can’t stand it. So we always fight. I get mad at him (cause he’s my dad), then he blames his next missed shot on me, and it get’s worse from there. So I guess what I’m asking is, when did you guys go from "let’s just have fun" golf to " I really should make every shot" golf? And if you haven’t made that transistion yet, how do you deal with people who have? Thanks for the input. Josh
I think its called maturity and it comes to everyone sooner or later ….there are exceptions of course ;^) — address
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Here’s a question that I’ve been struggling with for a while (actually, my father and I have been struggling with it). In the last four years or so, my improvement in the game has been rather steady. Upward steady, like good. Despite playing high school baseball four nine months out of every year, I was constantly adding shots to my repertoire, learning the game, watching and playing with better players and learning all the time. So, naturally, over the last couple of years, I’ve acquired a bit of attitude about golf. I know I can hit every shot I line up for (part of that growing up process was getting myself to stop trying shots I can’t hit , and so i get frustrated when I don’t execute the shot well. So, when I heel a driver down the middle of the fairway, and my dad yells "great shot!" it’s real hard for me to just say thanks. And I get mad when I slap slice a ball out of bounds. I have real trouble playing with people I don’t know, cause I just get pissed (not at them, cause they’re just being nice, but at myself, and then it becomes frustration, and then if affects my round). Now, when I’m in a tournament, and everyone else is like minded, I’m fine. I don’t really get mad at myself for good shots, it the trying to seem like a nice guy when someone says something about my game that I disagree with that’s so hard. This issue comes to a head when I play with my dad. He very much wants to play "we’re just out for a good time" golf. That’s fine, but I don’t play that way. It’s not that I’m not having fun and enjoying myself, but I can’t let down my concentrations like that. I play too badly, and I can’t stand it. So we always fight. I get mad at him (cause he’s my dad), then he blames his next missed shot on me, and it get’s worse from there. So I guess what I’m asking is, when did you guys go from "let’s just have fun" golf to " I really should make every shot" golf? And if you haven’t made that transistion yet, how do you deal with people who have? Thanks for the input. Josh
Actually, I have more fun playing "Let’s just have even more fun by making every shot!" :) After I read "Golf in the Kingdom", I had already started to play with a little less sullen attitude, because I had started a new job and couldn’t practice or play as much. But, I found out that when I was a little more carefree about my round, I played as good or better than I did when I was at the top of my game! Then, reading "Golf in the Kingdom" just made me take the final step to realize that the secret of golf is to hit every shot as if the outcome doesn’t matter. I started playing the ball down, all the time. I went back to my old blade irons. I hole every putt, I count every penalty and always try to play by the rules. All of those things made me a better golfer with little or no effort! I had to improve to be able to hit from bad lies. I had to improve because I was getting a lot of practice hitting out from under trees, and out of sand traps. Since I don’t get any mulligans, I had to improve because I can’t fall back on a reload. In fact, I almost relish hitting into an awkward stance, or into a situation where I have to shape a shot. Yesterday, my 3 best shots were escaping from trouble (except for one of them that I overcooked a little All 3 shots made me a better player. Next time, listen to the birds while you’re swinging at the ball and realize that *that* is more important than where you ball ends up. It’s not easy, but when you can hit every shot without worrying about the result, you will quickly realize that *that* is when you hit your best shots. "There is a time for lettin’ the bottom drop out, for forgettin’ yer score entirely, for forgettin’ yer mental tricks and devices, for just swingin’ any ol’ way ye please." – Shivas Irons "Golf in the Kingdom" — Barry Smith