Following on... Process v result!

Following on from punkrockpga's thread....

I had a student today, and he was flushing his irons, but he was P**sed.....

I ask why, although I knew why, the ball was going way left of the target...

So I ask him what he should do...

And the answer is the one I get most often..... " I have to be upright/flat at the top of my swing".... or "take away more inside/outside" or another of a zillion different conflicting thoughts/tips...

The simple answer, align properly... he was hitting the ball so solid, but aligning way left...

Setting up on the mat, drag a ball to his feet, hit it and grumble because it missed the target... then do the same thing again...

Not once did he get off the mat to see where he was aiming....

So the process was great, (except for aiming) but the result was not what he wanted, so like most handicap players, the first thought is try something different in the swing....... but the swing was fine......

If he had changed the Process of hitting the ball the result would have been way worse......

So I agree that the "result" is important and unfortunatley most noticed, but if the ball goes haywire, you must first ask yourself "was the process correct"

i just like to add......

input ALWAYS equals to result, good or bad, there are no exceptions.

the most amazing thing i see most of the time is when someone shanked a shot, they will immediately look at the sole of the club as if to say, behave!...my thoughts: poor club its not your fault.

in your case AK, i am sure your student looked at you as if to say...what have you done to my swing.

DGman

but it is also very normal (at least for myself) that i am not able to spot my own mistakes. thus hitting at the range sometimes is very frustrating because hit after hit, doing nothing but perfecting my mistakes ...

I find it really hard to align to the target, even by putting 2 clubs parallel on the ground and aligning my shoulder using the club that I am going to hit the ball with. Most misses are pull. Any tips on aligning properly?

This is what I do in driving range and might not be correct, maybe a pro can advise. I put 2 balls, 1 left and 1 right and form a like a gate about 4 " apart, in front of the ball that I am going hit about 10 " behind the gate.

I am trying to feel that I am going hit my ball through the gate .. This is just what I do sometime in driving range when I found my alignment is off.

Wah bro... You bring rulers to driving range????

"How you know" bro ? Haaaaa

I do carry a ruler in my golf bag to measure the height of my tee on the tee box. To made the ball height is actually half a ball top of my driver face ... And then I hit the ball on the lower potion of my driver face and the ball did not pass the lady tee box ....

Now I know it is some wrong with my ruler

Shorthitter, you remind me of 1 person. Everytime I will see him standing on the mat and use the club to pull the ball towards him to hit. Without moving his feet, he will repeated the whole process again, ball after ball
And he will keep on complaining "Why I can't manage to hit the ball to the direction I want?"
I told him to look for David Copperfield

Process......for me tats the way to go

During game , I will be very happy if I had done:
1. check alignment before hit
2. good contact
3. good tempo (this one must thanks Bro SBY....after watching him, I swing slow motion liao)
4. Good composure and smile

Regardless of results as long as I have the 4, I am happy.

process is a very fair thing. what i am referring here is the 'freak' results that was brought up.

i am sure alot of us here had 'good misses' but we just never hang onto it. shank the ball, fly straight right, then hit a tree/lamp post and comes bouncing back to the fair way. or like a certain GOH recently... top his approach shot on MBGC's 18th. the ball was rolling and bouncing toward the green, got a lucky bounce over the little canal over the front, rolled onto the green and curved towards the hole setting up for a nice birdie chance.


i know many of us here hang into the mistakes we did for the last few holes, but how many of you here count your blessings on the lucky shots.

again in the same game and flight, i noticed that another forum member here just let the bad shots weigh him down. even after a streak of good holes and good shots, no joy was taken but just a nervous look and obvious hope that the streak will continue.

Hoping would be what most of you ladies and gentleman here will do but it should be confidence that what keeps you going. I see nothing wrong with a 24 handicapper playing against a scratch golfer. Golf is more of game against one's self rather than against others. of course we all cannot run away from the occasional friendly wagers, then it is time to learn from a certain buayaee here. Be shameless and ask for more strokes! Otherwise see it as an opportunity to learn from someone of a different standard. Be confident in yourself. Like I said once, "if you do not even believe in yourself, who else will?"

Thanks MC ( can I put you in my category of 'Idol' ? ), the elements of contentment cum gratefulness plus confidence are something that need to be continually embraced as I get on the course. Thanks for the reminder

Typically if there is a streak of bad shots, I persevere coz I believed there must be an end to it.

In general, as long as I get on the green, I am very contented.

...just me 'D'.

getting the routine night is an important process to give one a sense of confidence. if you can add some mental drills and thought, it will even help you score even better.

case in hand is the first game in 7 weeks that produce the same results (as the last 18 hole game, with no practice in between) at the end of the round. on route, we even beat the club champion at saddam and won the "insurance pot" as well with a chip in birdie.

kopi anyone? also looks like its time to spend more time playing golf too.

DGman

If you take care of the process, the process will take care of the result