New Post #25

Hi Friends,

I have finally finished this newsletter! Took me quite a while to write. This was partly because of the research I did but also I think it’s important to think deeply about your goals and direction and needs to be given the proper space and time to ruminate and digest.

I think it’s safe to say that if you read this, semi-regular, newsletter then you love your golf. You probably play quite bit, hit the range, practice, read about the game and watch plenty of golf on Sky Sports and of course my personal favourite YouTube.

So has 2024 gone to plan? Did you achieve what you wanted out the game? Do you even know what you wanted out the game?

I certainly didn’t, My golf has stagnated, I put a lot of time and energy into it and I didn’t really get any better, I stayed about the same. I’m sure that’s a similar tale for a lot of us.

Now if my goals were to play lots of golf with good people, then that was achieved, in spades. I played a lot of golf with a lot of really good people and I enjoyed every round (some of you may not believe that!!)

But that wasn’t my goal, and while I’m not sure I had any firm goals actually written down. I have wanted and do want to get to at least a Scratch Handicap (Nearest I’ve been is 0.9 index back in Feb 2023)

My handicap started 2024 at 3.5 and has ended at 2.9 so that is some progress but as we all know a couple of bad rounds and I could be 4 point something very quickly. I suppose if I was looking glass half full then my handicap could come down as quickly with a few decent rounds!

I did manage to play in the Surrey County Mid-Am Championship, at the very hilly Tyrrells Wood Golf Club, and there were some highlights, hit it to 3 foot on the first hole of day, started the afternoon round Birdie, Birdie but having the Surrey Rules Referee follow my group in his buggy for most of round 1 as one of the players in my group was literally the (un)official slowest golfer in Surrey. And after 4 provisional tee shots on my 28th Hole (Ended up with an 11 on the card) - you could say, and I am saying, things did not go to plan. Added to this the other player in our 3 ball was literally shouting “F**KING USELESS C**T” aggressively at himself as early as the 3rd hole.

Needless to say, it was a long day.

Enough of 2024,

It’s a great time of year to think about new beginnings. But as Einstein allegedly said

“If you do the same things you’ve always done, you'll get what you always got”

Do you want what you’ve always got? If so great, you’re already winning. Stop reading, pat yourself on the back and go and have a cup of tea.

If not though, or if you’re curious about the type of mindset needed to change and take action and actually improve, get better and therefore hopefully enjoy your golf more (and I think most of us can agree, our most enjoyable rounds are the ones we play at least half decently) then maybe get that cup of tea and read on…………..

Thanks for all those who sent me your 2025 goals, it’s really interesting to see what people want to get out of their golf. Below are some of the responses so you can see the type of thing your peers are wanting to achieve this year

• Break 80 for the first time

• Have lower worse rounds. Would be great if my worst round in 2025 was below 95

• Play more team competitions

• Try to fix/reduce my early extension. 

• Keep having fun

• Stay golf healthy

• I want to win the Triple Crown. Club Champs, Scratch KO, Scratch Open.

• Finish writing the book.

• Hit driver everywhere, get it pin high, miss it on the high side.

• Practice to score low this means (work on swing thoughts that cement repetitive quality shots, get wedges dialled in love my putting stroke)

• Work on mental game

• Lower handicap by shooting low rounds in qualifying competitions 

• Better commit to every shot / be less distracted

• More quickly accept the result of each shot, forget about it and focus 100% on next shot

• Eradicate 3 putts!

• Commit to a more upright swing

• Win a red shirt

• Break 80 consistently

• Get back to playing regularly again after injury (knee op)

• Tick off some top 100 courses that I’ve not played yet

• Cure my slice with the driver off the tee

• Focus on improving core strength to reduce the effects of aging on my golf swing

• Find 3 new courses to go in my top 10

• Improve putting stats to below 36 per round average

• Improve my up and down ratio from 50yds and closer. I practiced this a few years ago for Months on end and it really help pay dividends, I need to get back practicing it

• Get my handicap back down to 3 (number 1 above should help with that)

• Erase poor shots/decisions from my mind much quicker instead of carrying them around for a hole or two afterwards and ruining my score.

• Greater consistency

• Fewer missed putts from 6 feet

• More thoughtfulness in approach to the game in general

• Play more golf

• Play golf with my daughter

• Post a couple of competition scores to be proud of

Some great goals there.

BUT……………………………….

Do these goals excite you?

What I would say is that the goals are a mix of outcome, performance and process goals and I think we can organise these a little better to help us really achieve what we want.

Now I have asked you for your goals, so only fair that I share mine.

I have an overarching goal this year and then below that some outcome and process goals,

The overarching goal that I have this year is to move from

Searching

to

Knowing

I’ve played a lot of golf the past few years and I thought with volume, quality would come hand in hand, unfortunately golf isn’t like that. If you go to the gym regularly for 2 years, and put the effort in you will see results, you’ll be able to lift more weight, run a faster 5km etc etc

However golf is but a fickle mistress and effort doesn’t always equal results.

So what do I mean by move from “Searching to Knowing”?

I feel like every time I play or even practice I am searching or striving for something that is just out of reach, occasionally I grasp it but as it is fleeting.

In Alistair Brownlees excellent book “Relentless” - Michael Owen (Former Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle, Man Utd footballer and ballon d’or winner, who has actually managed to be disliked by all of his former clubs supporters, quite a feat considering the goals he scored) talks about the difference between Confidence and Self Belief.

Confidence can be transitory, based on recent performance and as such can ebb and flow, while true self belief is at your core knowing you can perform, that the required skills are not only within you but also accessible.

Now I prefer the term “knowing” rather than “self belief” and the reason for this is I think I can feel the state of “knowing”

It’s like riding a bike or driving a car - we don’t have self-belief we can do that we just know we can.

I’m sure we have all had that feeling at some point when playing golf, you stand over the ball and you just “know” your going to hit a decent golf shot, maybe not perfect but decent.

This is the feeling I want more often on the golf course.

Let’s talk about the brain and a little science, and how that can help us with the concept of knowing, and make it slightly more tangible.

Have you heard about Myelin and Myelination?

Myelination, is the wrapping of brain axons by extensions of glia, it increases the speed at which signals may be sent from one neuron to another by a factor of up to 100x

In effect it is the insulation of your brains nervous system and allows for the speed and strength of brains signals to be quicker and stronger.

So if you have practiced the right thing (that is key!!) the more you do it, the stronger the connections in your brain that initiates the movement become. It then is easier to repeat that movement (this is also the reason why we all have our own unique swing faults and why it is hard to remove them - we have been myeliating the connection in your brain that produces those movements every time you have been doing it, for a lot of us that is years!)

As an example of a bad swing motion ingrained, due to playing a lot more cricket in my youth and not much golf I was always very keen to get on the front foot (green English wickets, ball keeping low!), So I now have a golf swing issue of a slight reverse pivot. That means I often hit the ball a little thin as I get my weight forward then backwards, where as for golf we need it the other way round!

(and hence one of my goals you’ll see later is working on my AoA and Low point)

Added to this insulated path of brain signals, I also want the signals coming from the correct area of the brain and I don’t want any interruptions (that horrible thought that comes from nowhere and shouts “don’t hit it left” just as we reach the top of the backswing).

The first part of the brain that we will look at the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC), this acts like the CEO of the brain, it oversees all the processes occurring in your brain physiology. When you think about something it is the PFC doing the thinking.

Then we have the motor system, when you produce any sort of fluid motion, in any sport, the signal during that motion bypasses the PFC and goes directly to the motor system, it is the motor system that communicates with the body to produce a motion.

The problem with our brain’s systems when we are playing golf, occurs when the PFC delays the signals moving to the motor system - In other words when we think to much.

So to have a nice fluid motion with a good strong signal and no interruptions, we need to make sure we have ingrained the right technique, so those axioms are nicely sheathed in Myelin and create motorway like pathways within the brain AND that we don’t “think” too much and involve the PFC when swinging/chipping/putting etc.

I’m sure we have all heard about muscle memory? Well our muscles don’t have brains themselves BUT our brains have a part that holds memories for our muscles - the basal ganglia.

Once we have grooved a particular motion, muscle memory (or basal ganglia memory) does not break down - that motion is stored within you. 

What breaks down is your ability to access what you already own.

As I said earlier we have all had periods where we have played great, so we know we have it in us - but as I also said it’s usually fleeting. For the better players it’s less fleeting and they can access their skills more often and its the accessing of our skills is the aim.

So the reason I’ve gone into the detail on this subject here is to highlight the importance of how our brains work and how we can use this information.

In my case to move from Searching (too much thinking, not enough Myelin - or wrong pathways myelated) to Knowing (strong clear brain signals without interruptions)

I may have butchered some of the science but all I have said above makes sense to me!

My simple statement of “Knowing not searching” is my “simplicity on the far side of complexity”

It’s an easy mantra for me to keep close and embodies all the above and all the processes/systems/outcomes and habits described below.

So I have an overarching goal (Knowing not searching) my next process is that this is then broken down further.

What are the actual things I would like to achieve and what are the systems/habits/actions that will give me the best chance to achieve those goals.

Let’s go through these one by one,

Mental game/Mindset

What are the things in this area you want to work on this year?

Read a Bob Rotella book and implement what he says?

Not swear at yourself after a bad shot like my friend at Tyrrells Wood?

Physical

Improve swing speed? How and by how much?

Join a gym and actually go!

Work on Mobility?

Equipment

Do you need any upgrades?

Is your equipment the right equipment and does the job you need it to do for you?

Driver or Putter fitting?

Different golf ball?

Technique

Do you have a fatal flaw? What is it and how will you fix it?

Lesson with your pro?

Dedicated range sessions?

Drills around the house?

Strategy

Hit driver more?

Putt from off the greens?

Get the ball pin high? (take more club)

Sign up for something like Arccos or Clippd?

Stats (Its key that the above things you decided upon will influence these)

Improve GIR?

Reduce 3 Putts?

Sand save%?

Scrambling?

And how will you measure this?

Events

Club champs?

Club knockouts?

Roll ups?

Just to beat your mates in your fourball?

Opens?

County events?

National events?

lastly Outcomes (what are the actual results/outcomes that you would like to achieve this year)

Handicap goal - reduce handicap to…………

Get to single figures

Break 80

Finish top 10 in club champs

Win a stableford/medal

Win a knockout

Qualify for the Open

Here’s mine - what do you think?

Last words on Goal Setting,

It is my belief that we all have a Goal-orientated mechanism within us, and that mechanism needs a destination or goal (but that’s a whole other story, more on that in the future maybe)

Anyhow, Justin Thomas uploads his seasons goals up on his instagram each year and if he achieved them. He simply has his outcome goals and stats goals.

Coming soon,

I have promised another elite amauter interview with a Surrey Golfing legend. Well hopefully that is coming (when he stops ghosting me) but I have lined up another Elite Amatuer in the meantime and am busy organising getting his story.

This Senior golfer has played for golf England, (even though he sounds very Scottish) won numerous titles and he used to fly satellites for a living - How cool is that!

Here’s to an amazing 2025 for one and all,

Ciao

Couple of other books I used as resources,

The Talent Code - Daniel Coyle

Talent is Overrated - Geoff Colvin

Simplicity - Steven Yellin