MD/DC/VA Golfers - Twelve Monkeys Mental Divergence

[baddomes]

BTW older guys doing younger guys stuff is sweet. If you're 30 and doing yo-yos, I think that's cool.

 

Have you seen older guys doing flat ground skateboarding tricks? It's better than regular skateboarding.

 

[TheCityGame]

1970's skateboarding was rad. Hand stands, cone slaloms, high jumps, hanging ten. Those guys were smooth. What we've gained in athleticism and vert, we've lost in grace and. . .creativity?

 

 

 

[FAbb]

I've always enjoyed the old-school, really technical stuff, way more than the high-flying stuff.

 

I used to love watching Rodney Mullen. Fire that name into YouTube, and prepare to enter a time warp.

[thechief16]

There is literally nothing about skateboarding that appeals to me.

[gregh729]

BIg boys like us have no business being on a skateboard

[ceejay81]

I had a Powell Peralta when I was a kid. We'd just ride our skateboards around the neighborhood and make ramps to jump off of. Lots of wipeouts and scrapes, but so much fun.

[SullGolf]

Good week of golf. Got out yesterday to play Turf Hialeah with PQ/City/FAbb. I didn't get there as early as I expected, missed a warmup session, and paid dearly for it. Took myself out of a decent score on a few holes, but played well on enough holes that I was in the match all day.

 

Got out at Argyle with the FIL this morning and was playing well. Making putts. Making birdies. Shot 4 over on the front with a triple, then came in to 17 +6 thinking I could cruise in to a 79 with bogey/bogey (par 71). WRONG. Dunked my tee shot on 17 in the water. Dunked my drop in the water. Quad. Game over and I knew it. I was steaming on 18 and tried to stuff it on a back pin and went long and short sided myself and rolled in with a double. If 79 was on the line I'm hitting a club less and would have been an easy 2 putt par with the way I struck it. So instead of balling in with a 77 or 79 I slunk out with a 83 and my tail between my legs. If I had gone birdie birdie to shoot 83 I would have been ecstatic, but that hurt.

 

My game has a few loose tee shots (though none today) and a few terrible chip shots, but everything else I feel like I'm playing above my cap by a fair margin. I'm striking my irons really solid but not entirely square (lots of pin high shots even when missing left or right). Putting is fantastic in the 10-25 range, but needs some work on those longer 3-putt avoidance distances. All of it feels like stuff I can tweak and improve, rather than making big changes.

[GooseHook]

> @HighBoomingDraws said:

> Was that picture a few pages back of that goofy par 5 on the back 9 at CC of MD?

 

It's a par 4, but yeah.

[FAbb]

I've never been a big goal-setter, probably because I tended to think only in terms of accomplishment goals, which feel like things one can't really control. They're more motivating factors than anything, and I don't feel like I need to explicitly spell those things out to be motivated.

 

I'm setting goals for myself next season.

 

1) Post at least 43 handicap rounds. This coming Monday will be my 42nd, and last of the season. I feel like I've played about as much as I possibly can this year, but I'd still like to one-up it.

2) Use the same putter I'm playing now for the entire season next year. < cue DC posting lol GIFs \>

3) Play in at least 3 individual stroke play events, and 1 fourball event.

4) Complete at least 30hrs of outdoor practice. That's about an hour a week, for the duration of the season. I'll be tracking my practice in a notebook, so I can measure this.

5) Complete at least 30hrs of indoor putting practice. Again, about than an hour a week.

 

I hope that pushing myself to get in reps and time on the turf will pay off in terms of some of the outcomes I'd like to achieve. It's been up and down at times, but I've definitely been better overall this season. I attribute that to playing more, and actually practicing some. I want to build on that for next season.

[TheCityGame]

> @SullGolf said:

> Good week of golf. Got out yesterday to play Turf Hialeah with PQ/City/FAbb. I didn't get there as early as I expected, missed a warmup session, and paid dearly for it. Took myself out of a decent score on a few holes, but played well on enough holes that I was in the match all day.

>

> Got out at Argyle with the FIL this morning and was playing well. Making putts. Making birdies. Shot 4 over on the front with a triple, then came in to 17 +6 thinking I could cruise in to a 79 with bogey/bogey (par 71). WRONG. Dunked my tee shot on 17 in the water. Dunked my drop in the water. Quad. Game over and I knew it. I was steaming on 18 and tried to stuff it on a back pin and went long and short sided myself and rolled in with a double. If 79 was on the line I'm hitting a club less and would have been an easy 2 putt par with the way I struck it. So instead of balling in with a 77 or 79 I slunk out with a 83 and my tail between my legs. If I had gone birdie birdie to shoot 83 I would have been ecstatic, but that hurt.

>

> My game has a few loose tee shots (though none today) and a few terrible chip shots, but everything else I feel like I'm playing above my cap by a fair margin. I'm striking my irons really solid but not entirely square (lots of pin high shots even when missing left or right). Putting is fantastic in the 10-25 range, but needs some work on those longer 3-putt avoidance distances. All of it feels like stuff I can tweak and improve, rather than making big changes.

 

That's about what I thought of your game the other day. Your distance on irons was generally spot on (when it wasn't an F). Putting looked great. . .even on a couple misses. Just too many F drives. But, that's a tricky driving course. I've found it's good for your game. . .there's a tendency on that course to try to "steer" the ball around and it's a good course for learning to just swing away and deal with the consequences. You showed up big time on a few holes int the game of wolf. . .in particular, 4, 8, 17, 18.

[TheCityGame]

> @FAbb said:

> I've never been a big goal-setter, probably because I tended to think only in terms of accomplishment goals, which feel like things one can't really control. They're more motivating factors than anything, and I don't feel like I need to explicitly spell those things out to be motivated.

>

I was listening to Bill Simmons interview Steve Kerr the other day. Steve Kerr was talking about meeting Roger Federer (or someone he knew met RF) and they asked RF how he kept doing it for so many years, and Fed was basically like, "well, I get up, get the kids ready for school, get them off to school. practice tennis for a couple hours, get the kids from school, eat dinner, go to bed."

 

He was making the point that it wasn't Federer's goal to "win the most majors" or get a grand slam or anything. Just keep plugging away.

 

Personally, I consider my greatest asset to having a decent golf game is not any athletic ability, or hand-eye coordination, or psychology, or playing as a kid, or a good swing, but just the fact that I enjoy practicing. I just like being outdoors, hitting balls off grass at targets and can do it for hours on end without getting bored.

 

 

[2moreTerps]

that's literally the secret to life. my dad sat me down and explained all these "wrong" decisions he had made. they all worked out fine. don't fret about the future. we are not in control of the future. just each day do what that day holds. and do it well.

 

[FAbb]

Your driving was a borderline catastrophe the other day, Sully.

 

\#1 - top

\#2 - slice into hazard

\#3 - slice OB

\#4 - clanky short ball, leaving 190 into green

\#7 - pull OB

\#10 - flare into trees leaving no shot to green

\#12 - pull into hazard

\#14 - slice OB

\#15 - slice into trees leaving no shot to green

 

That course is definitely more intimidating, and punishing off the tee than the average course, but those weren't marginal shots. They were bad.

 

It's a testament to the state of the rest of your game that you scraped some scores out and had some big holes for the airwolf match. Putting was really good inside 8ft. Irons were much better than the driving. If you had been putting the ball in play off the tee, you would've cleaned up in airwolf.

[SullGolf]

Well sure, of course it looks worse when you tell everyone what actually happened.

 

My driving yesterday was much better, which is why I had a good score going until I ruined it on 17. I've been practicing everything indoors recently and need outdoor reps. Didn't get them before Turf and was fiddling with stuff all round to get it in play. Got some practice cuts before playing yesterday and it was much better.

[TheCityGame]

> @2moreTerps said:

> that's literally the secret to life.

 

Well, it's not a secret anymore!

 

 

 

 

[Ocgolfrick]

> @FAbb said:

> Your driving was a borderline catastrophe the other day, Sully.

>

> \#1 - top

> \#2 - slice into hazard

> \#3 - slice OB

> \#4 - clanky short ball, leaving 190 into green

> \#7 - pull OB

> \#10 - flare into trees leaving no shot to green

> \#12 - pull into hazard

> \#14 - slice OB

> \#15 - slice into trees leaving no shot to green

>

> That course is definitely more intimidating, and punishing off the tee than the average course, but those weren't marginal shots. They were bad.

>

> It's a testament to the state of the rest of your game that you scraped some scores out and had some big holes for the airwolf match. Putting was really good inside 8ft. Irons were much better than the driving. If you had been putting the ball in play off the tee, you would've cleaned up in airwolf.

 

 

[FAbb]

 

[SullGolf]

On 4 I hit a solid pull that found a tree limb.

 

On 12 I pulled it but not in to the hazard.

 

The rest is pretty accurate. FAbb is paying attention out there and waiting to use his knowledge against you.

[FAbb]

If I paid more attention, I could probably play a round with a foursome, and recall every single shot that each person hit the entire round. I don't know why my brain can manage that, but forget things that actually matter.

 

 

[TheCityGame]

On 4, I was partners with Sully. It's the hardest hole at the course and the difficulty doesn't end with the tee shot.

 

Q is out of the hole. I have like 115 in, because reasons. Fabb has like 140. Sully has like 195.

 

Sully is stroking.

 

I tell Sully, "just keep it to the left". right is dead, and I just want a bogey/net par out of sully at this point. It's a tough run up to the green. You can't really fly it to the surface there and get it to hold.

 

Sully just stones a 4 iron right at the pin. It hits the "run up" area, slows down perfectly and stops like 5 feet above the hole. It was the shot of the day, except for maybe sully's putt-in from behind 9 with a stroke.

 

Fabb runs his birdie putt like 4 feet past the hole. I implore Sully, "just barely get it rolling". He does a little more than a tap and has 3 feet coming back.

 

Then, ensued, the dumbest conversation even wherein both fabb and Q were trying to give Sully his putt, and I was recommending they wait until Fabb hit his putt to see if it even was going to make a difference or if Sully could 2 putt for the win. Fabb sunk and then after a few more minutes trying to figure out what was happening, Sully's putt was conceded. Or something. It was very confusing.

 

 

[FAbb]

There were some bizarre moments out there.

 

City essentially talking us into watching me hit a putt that didn't matter on hole 4 was probably top of the heap.

 

Sully hitting his punch-out into the pond on 15 was hilarious, since I wasn't on his team. I could see the steam coming out of PQ's ears from 60 yards away.

 

I was the wolf on 15, and PQ stepped up to hit his driving iron off the tee. He hit this hosel adjacent looking clanker, and let the club go on his follow through. I'm thinking maybe he hit it so bad that it's gonna keep flaring short-right, and be blocked out from the green by trees. Instead the ball ended up in position A++ in the middle of the fairway. It was truly next-level airwolf gamesmanship.

 

Sully was so averse to going alone that on two separate occasions when he was the wolf, he passed on City and PQ, then called me as his partner before even seeing me hit my tee ball.

[baddomes]

There has been less airwolf this year, but airwolf is not dead.

 

 

Airwolf......is not dead.

[ceejay81]

Do you get an extra dot for going "blind FAbb"?

[2moreTerps]

I've been spending some time thinking about my driving and the difference between my driving and my short game. some conclusions:

 

I need my incredible ADHD to help me and not hurt me with my driving. when I practice my short game i'm always trying stuff. let me see if i can hit this one a little higher and farther. now this one a little lower and runnier. now this one with a little cut spin. now this one draw in. etc. etc. what it does is sort of build this connection between the shot i see and what my hands do. On the actual course the actual shots i need to hit are less varied than those that i practice. I never face a short game shot on the course that is uncomfortable for me. on the majority of my shots i'm so comfortable that there isn't even a need to consciously commit. (I've been working on hitting a lot more of my shots with a 54 degree wedge. that does require a little more conscious commitment).

 

I need to find similar ways to practice my driving. I don't really know what all they are yet. But certainly shaping shot left to right and high to low is a part of it. Maybe trying to see how close i can get to the right of the telephone pool at turf is another. I don't practice my driving by just playing around. I need a lot of that. I need to have the shots that i try on the course be comfortable.

 

I need to accept what i am. this takes a couple forms. First. i'm gonna hit bad drives. that's OK. I can still score from there and i can still have good rounds. Sometimes a couple bad drives in a row wears on me. I also need to understand that i'm not a golfing robot. I started thinking that my fidgeting over the ball really hinders me. Then i watched this dude at turf. he fidgets and wiggles and has an exaggerated waggle and then just tears the cover off the ball. So yeah maybe my fidgeting is too much. But there is always going to be some of it. And that's OK. Stuff like that is just acceptance of what i am.

 

i need to be a two shape player. if you want to watch my best swings tell me to hit high draws for ten minutes on the range and then come back. All my mechanical flaws are minimized. Now take the version of me swinging well. Ask me to hit draws. Ask me to hit fades. The results are much predictable with the fade. Now the next day when i'm physically tight and nervous ask me to hit fades and ask me to hit draws. The results with the draws are better (and sometimes they are fades). So i need to hit both. ESPECIALLY when i'm practicing. I also think the two shape thing is really good for the way my brain works. I'm not a point and shoot style thinker. i play with a guy periodically who says "i am down the middle on the first hole. if it moves left i play a draw that day. if it moves right i play a fade that day". it's only a mild exaggeration. I think something like that is actually probably more realistic for me than to expect to become a point and shoot style player.

 

I need to commit to every shot and be patient with progress. I'm not going to become dramatically better overnight. when i'm hitting a chip i'm always comfortable with my shot. With my driver i'm frequently not. I'm standing over the ball with a huge range of possible outcomes. what's the wind doing? how does my back feel? which way am i comfortable hitting it at this instant? so where do i aim? how much do i hedge? because of the self doubt i don't commit as much. the difference in results when i commit vs. not is dramatic. The actual physical movements of my body are a good bit different based on my commitment level. so frequently feel like i've made the wrong decision. sunday i'm playing with city. just a very meh day. on 6 i aim up the right and try to draw it. Not very committed. It fades. the second time we play 6 i aim up the left and try to draw it. Very committed. It draws. (more than i intended it too. and hits a tree and bounces 60 yards right). stuff like that is a perfect example. did i pick the right shape and aiming point either time? i don't actually know the answer.

 

i need through practice over a looooong period of time to develop a decent range of potential outcomes i'm comfortable i can produce at a decent frequency.

[misplacedtexan83]

Step up and bash.

 

Draw, fade.. whatever

 

/end

[Ocgolfrick]

> @misplacedtexan83 said:

> Step up and bash.

>

> Draw, fade.. whatever

>

> /end

 

New Advertising campaign idea for ya:

Black screen with bold lettering:

"Callaway .. No thinking required."

(Camera pans to Tex at Woodmore in full Callaway regalia.)

 

Tex: "Thinking. Pffft. Whose got time for that? Just Bash it!"

(swings, smashes one with driver)

Off camera voice: "Man, where'd that go?"

Tex : "Damned if I know. Let's go walk and find it."

(Fade to Black)

[ceejay81]

My 60* 2019 PM Grind wedge will be delivered today. I may or may not have ordered a 64* also. :shrug:

[2moreTerps]

also on goals. i had a really hard to define goal this year. I wanted to feel like i accomplished something in competition. qualifying for our CC and winning a match definitely counts. i actually think my goal for next year is going to be the same. accomplish something in competition. i just don't care about anything else.

[2moreTerps]

Does anyone want to have a pretend argument about whether tiger should pick himself or not.

[misplacedtexan83]

Step up and bash.

 

Draw, fade.. whatever

 

/end> @Ocgolfrick said:

> > @misplacedtexan83 said:

> > Step up and bash.

> >

> > Draw, fade.. whatever

> >

> > /end

>

> New Advertising campaign idea for ya:

> Black screen with bold lettering:

> "Callaway .. No thinking required."

> (Camera pans to Tex at Woodmore in full Callaway regalia.)

>

> Tex: "Thinking. Pffft. Whose got time for that? Just Bash it!"

> (swings, smashes one with driver)

> Off camera voice: "Man, where'd that go?"

> Tex : "Damned if I know. Let's go walk and find it."

> (Fade to Black)

 

Works 80 % of the time.

 

5% of the time I can’t find it

 

15% of the time I have a shot this save par.

 

I’ll take this odds everytime

 

Now irons— that’s another story