Mar
02

Being the Golf Ball Cuts 9 Strokes off My Golf Score

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These 3 things knocked 4 strokes off my golf score since my last outing.

I played golf today the first time in 2 weeks and knocked 4 strokes off my score on my home course. And today’s result is 9 strokes better than my golf score 3 weeks ago. The most amazing part is I accomplished this while missing 2 planned trips to the driving range. Here’s how:

  1. My Zen Putting method works beautifully. I 3 putted on very few holes and did not have any 4 putts all.
  2. Core conditioning. I’ve done Yoga classes for 2-1/2 weeks and 1 Pilates Class. Both have strengthened & stretched my core muscles. My back did not tire and tighten up until the 18th hole (BTW I walk and carry my clubs).
  3. Being present. My ability to address the ball, see and execute my planned shot was much better.

My Zen Putting method worked very well. On long puts > 10 feet I left the ball withing 2 to 3 feet on most putts. Within 6 feet I hit about 65-70% of the putts I had. I huge improvement. The times I missed putts my mind had grabbed onto some stray thought making me not present to the putt.

Core conditioning is paying off. I did not realize just how weak and inflexible my lower back was. It doesn’t take long in a Pilates  Class to know that I’m indeed a Core Strength Girly Man which is very humbling in a room of ladies who are Core Strength Giants. After the class I needed to take a nap and the next morning my fat and skin were sore. I’m going again tomorrow morning. :D

Being Present on the Golf Course playing golf was another big factor. I blew up on 2 holes scoring an 8 on a par 5 and a 10 on a par 3 with water. After the big numbers I settled into the next hole and did the job at hand. I can see the foundation I’ve built with 20+ years of Zsa-Zen Total Stillness Meditation practice.

My biggest joy today was seeing immediate and tangible results in the physical world of the Golf Course. So many times our practices are esoteric or long term in nature. Dropping my Golf Score 9 strokes in 3 weeks with only 1 physical practice is a very nice improvement. Many people have said that golf is a mental game but it is also a physical game where conditioning counts.

As a side note, I may have won today’s Encinitas Ranch Men’s Club Golf Tournament. I did not win the long drive. I had the distance to win but sliced my ball  into a parallel fairway. This next week I will work on maintaining my putting progress and correct my recurring patterns of slicing on specific holes.

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Feb
15

Is it a magic pill or mind screwing?

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Zen Putter – In the hole!

Nike has the slogan “JUST DO IT” which is usually promoted with very sweaty people doing extreme and gravity defying feats. Every time I see or hear “just do it” I recall a lesson I was taught over 20 years ago by my meditation teacher. The lesson was to “be sure I was doing it and not just thinking I was doing it.”

The context for the lesson was “self healing”. As part of my meditation practice, I was taught self healing where you focus your mind and attention on passing a “white light” through your body which relaxes you and removes disharmony. All in all it’s pretty esoteric stuff but it works when you practice.

Over the years I’ve had various experiences with “doing it” vs “thinking I was doing it”, but none as profound or results producing as today. I was practicing golf. The typical stuff chipping, driving range and putting. It was during my putting I experienced the almost magical results of  “doing it” vs “thinking I was doing it”. (if you’ve ever seen me putt, today’s results were nothing less than magical.)

You’ve probably heard of “visualization” before. Visualization is seeing something in your mind’s eye which tends to make your results better. I’ve been visualizing my golf game for the past several weeks with mixed results. Today’s practice was pretty crappy. My chipping was about normal. I hit my woods and irons with complete inconsistency. But during my putting, something cool happened. I started “doing it” and not “thinking about doing it”. The difference was subtle, but the results profound.

Today felt like the Putting Equivalent to Zen Archery.

Here’s what happened. Sometime during my putting practice, I started mentally seeing my ball travel it’s line and go into the hole as I hit it. I did not look at the ball with my eyes but with my mind’s eye. When I eventually looked up I would see the ball dropping into the hole or very close to it. I was dumbfounded by the accuracy, pace and precision of my putts. As I continued to put, I observed my mind directing my body to make the right stroke to hole the ball. The best part is my ball acted the way I had already seen it in my mind’s eye.

Whenever I did miss badly, my mind was thinking about something else or only “thinking about” the putt and not seeing the putt go into the hole. I realize for many people this may be as simple as “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?”. But for me, hearing the sound of the ball dropping into the hole after mentally seeing it do so a few moments before was spectacular.

Zen Lesson: “Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them….” by Alan Watts. The moment you stop trying to understand or control life (or the golf ball) and start directing life with mental clarity you start controlling your results immediately. Today “do it” rather than “thinking you are doing it”

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Feb
14

Creativity & Results

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Thomas Edison was a pretty effect guy when it came down to the business of invention. He once said “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” He also said “Religion is all bunk” but that’s something to look at in a different article. As a business website developer my job is about the same 99% grunt work and 1% genius or inspiration.

The struggle ends up being all the grunt work doesn’t matter if my clients don’t like the inspiration. My source of inspiration is my client’s love for their business. It’s getting them a website that fulfills 3 results that is my constant koan. Said differently it’s “Website V C P“SM which is Website Visibility, Credibility & Profitability. All 3 components are required for a website to be a profit center vs a cost center.

Each website must be profitable is my business koan. To clarify profitable websites generate revenues greater than it’s costs. I set out in a process that is not mastered by me as yet. I know the ideal or the end game if you will, but what I do has to be unique and different reflecting the business for whom the website is representing. My next struggle is that all of the most pretty designs are inherently not SEO friendly. When a search engine bot indexes a website any images are seen as a big empty spot.

My practice and intention for this week is getting lots of production complete with inspired designs that our clients are blown away by.

Zen Lesson: It is said “a jug fills drop by drop” or a bit differently “in time and on time”. The lesson is to work diligently with discipline and you will progress forward. That is if you plan to go forward. Business, life and golf are all a series of actions which yield results. Each results determines the next appropriate action to accomplish your plan, goal or intention.

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Feb
14

Spitting and Golf Don’t Mix?!?

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Imagine you’re lining up your put and right in the middle of you line is a big fat loogie. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww!

The European Tour fined Tiger Woods for spitting on the 12th green in the Dubai Desert Classic. Read the article here. Hmmm. Is professional golf filled with some major tight asses or what. I’m just saying. But according to the tour’s code of conduct “voluntarily submits himself to standards of behavior and ethical conduct beyond those required of ordinary golfers and members of the public.” and conduct is subjective. Spitting is bad conduct.

I was raised in the Southern United Stated where spitting is an art form. Especially true when you have people who use chewing tobacco and snuff. According to some all oral tobacco is a nasty habit and I have to agree. This time of year in SoCal we have American Coots who hang around the water holes  crap on the greens. All I can say is putting through coot crap is quite difficult. At least coots are wide animals. Tiger Woods had control over the timing of his expectoration and on the green after missing a putt with TV cameras everywhere is not the best choice of timing.

Zen Lession: Tiger Woods can win golf tournaments. It’s our actions when we’re not winning that reveals our nature. Billie Jean King said “I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.” As we each mature it’s our recovery from our past actions which reveals our inner workings.

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Feb
10

Golf: I Cut 7 Strokes off my game

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This week’s golf game was a marked improvement. I cut 7 strokes off last week’s golf score. Down to 105 from 112. I finished with a net 70 which was 5 strokes away from winning the tournament.

panoramic ocean view from tee box #10 at encinitas ranch golf courseBetter Putts & Fewer Penalty Strokes made the difference. This week’s difference was the number of penalty strokes I saved by NOT hitting my drives out of bounds (OB). While my driver was more erratic it was erratic in bounds. I hit nothing out of bounds and only 1 shot where I had to take a lateral drop. My putting was in much better control. I only 4 putted 1 hole which is my personal best.

Encinitas Ranch Golf Course has the nick name “Easy Ranch” so had I been playing a tighter course my score would have been 120 because of the 4 or 5 drives with massive slices landing in other fairways. I did hit my 3 wood and longer irons quite well and lost 1 stroke due to totally wiffing the ball (I swung to hit the ball but missed).

The Choke factor. I choked in 2 areas this week. First on the longest drive hole. I tried to murder the ball and totally blew it. The ball landed 10 yards short of winning (which was 50 yards shorter than my typical drive) and off the fairway by 10 yards. Second I could NOT remove the images of past bad shots from my mind and duplicated or over compensated the bad shots on 6 or 7 drives.

A windy day. Our golf day was almost perfiect. Warm, sunny but very windy. During our 4.5 hour game, the wind shifted 180 degrees. When we started the wind was blowing in from the desert and as we ended it was blowing in from the ocean. The wind did make the day exceptionally clear. The panoramic ocean and mountain views were crisp and clear. I adjusted for the wind fairly well making good club selections and adjusting my aim on the cross winds.

Energy Time. One factor that may have made a difference is I chose to eat some energy bars during the round. I ate 2 Zone Bars which seemed to have me finish the last few holes stronger than I recall finishing in the past few weeks. I walk the course and carry my clubs. At my current body weight, I burn between 2,000 and 2,500 calories by walking and carrying my clubs for 4-1/2 hours. I also drank about 3 quarts of water during the round.

Other Notes: I was the worst golfer in our foursome and the only one walking. What that looks like is 2 golf carts carrying 3 people (with one empty seat) and a guy who is hitting the ball more than anyone else chasing the ball everywhere while the superior riders watched and waited. This combined with Encinitas Ranch’s new speed up the play policy caused a bit of pressure for me to rush shots. I realized that the golf marshal is like the hall monitor from my school days. I never liked the hall monitors.

Zen Lesson: Golf, life & business are games of recovery. Each action has a result. Each result receives an emotional reaction or response then the next action is taken. In golf your next action is simple, move the ball toward the hole. The same is true for Life & Business if you have your intentions as clearly defined as the intention of golf.

Cheers,
-terry

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Feb
06

Golf: My first 10 rounds

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About 6 months ago I had a decision to make about the best way for me to get more clients for my business website development company. I had lots of choices:

  • Advertise
  • Join the Chamber of Commerce
  • Start playing golf
  • Hire a sales rep
  • too many to list here…

At the time, we were barley breaking even in the business and we needed more clients to become profitable. After lots of thinking and debating we decided on golfing for business. Advertising is mostly not effective, the Chamber is filled with people who want to sell me more than I want to sell them, sales reps & employees are a crap shoot. In my experience golfing generated business.

Just after deciding golf was the solution, we attended a mixer for our BNI Chapter. The mortgage guy in our chapter is Don Formiller. Don said he played golf every Wednesday at Encinitas Ranch in their men’s golf club.  Wednesday mornings didn’t work too well, but the opportunity to play weekly was just what I wanted.

The plan was in place and it was quite simple. Play golf every week walking and carrying my clubs (get in shape). Meet people who needed websites or knew people who did (make money). So I started playing last September.

No Handicap, Tight Money  & Out of shape

When I started, I did not have a handicap. My first goal was to survive walking 10 rounds and establish my handicap. I took me about 3 months to get 10 score  cards which I entered 12/15/2010 which was too late to get a handicap in December.  Beginning Jan 1, 2011 I had my official USGA Handicap Index of 32.6 through the Southern California Golf Association – Now I could compete. Business wise, I did get 2 contracts (1 consulting & 1 website). The plan was working!

As of today: I have my handicap. I’m in better shape and lost 20 pounds.  And I’m much closer to turning a profit. My next golfing challenges are:

  • Getting my business profitable
  • Upgrading my old golf equipment
  • Finding golf shoes that won’t give me blisters.
  • Being almost 50 before starting to take the game seriously
  • Losing 40 more pounds
  • Getting down to boggy golf & stop my handicap from getting higher

The best thing that I have going for me is I can drive the crap out of the ball. It’s not uncommon for me to drive the ball 300+ yards which garners me a level of respect and satisfaction. I have bought one piece of new equipment which is a Taylor Made R9 460 Driver with a 10.5 loft. I hit the club in the neutral position and I almost never duff the ball which is very nice. Of course when one gets away from me, it’s usually out of bounds which costs me 2 strokes.

Zen Lesson: Golf is a 4 letter word. As well is should be.

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