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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Self-image key to improvement

By Tyrone Hardy
For The Enterprise

Hello golfers. This week's question comes from John in Edmonds. He is a former student and has a 7 handicap. He has a very good overall game but is wondering how he can shave off those last strokes to become a scratch golfer.

To help him, I relayed a story that was told to me by a fellow PGA professional that helps quite a few low handicappers and also helps several tour pros. This particular lesson deals with the mental side of the game. I am a firm believer that our self-image has a huge impact on our golf game.

For most players, the idea of shooting under 80 is completely unrealistic. Unfortunately, if you think that way, no matter how good your swing gets, you will never break 80.

So, this lesson starts with a short interview with the client. We find out that the player is a single digit handicap with all the physical tools to be a scratch golfer, yet continues to shoot to his handicap of 8. When asked what score he usually shoots, his response is 78, 80, 77, 75, etc.

He plays a fairly difficult course from the championship tees. The instructor says to this player to play the course for the next two months (averaging 3 rounds per week) from the most forward tees before they get together and start working on his game.

After the two months, the player and teacher get together for a round of golf. The instructor asks the player how things went over the two months and what scores he was shooting. The player responds with 71, 74, 72, 69, 70, etc.

So the instructor and the client play 18 holes with the client shooting a 72. During lunch afterward, the instructor explains what the experiment was about. The issue is that prior to playing from the forward tees, the player's subconscious was not comfortable with the concept of shooting even par.

Because of this, the player would revert to his comfort level of 7 to 8 over par. It is the same concept as when a person shoots way under his handicap on the front nine and way over on the back nine. After the front nine the player is out of his comfort zone and subconsciously does what is needed on the back nine to return to that comfort zone.

In the case of our client, after two months of shooting par from the forward tees, shooting par becomes his comfort zone. Now the player is a scratch golfer and routinely shoots under par from the championship tees without any significant changes to his technique.

To help change your comfort zone, don't project during a round of golf. Stay in the moment. If you birdie the first hole, don't think about what you could shoot for the round. Think about how to play the next hole.

Keep those questions coming.

Tyrone Hardy is co-owner of Hardy Golf LLC and Director of Golf at Ballinger Lake GC and Gleneagle GC. He can be reached at: tyroneh@ballingerlakegolf.com.