Paralysis by Analysis.

I really can't take it anymore. I can't read my favorite forums such as GTO and Manzella, or active golf for that matter. I just can't participate in any of the discussions regarding lag angle, wrist angle, reverse pivoting, chunking, etc... to me this game is all about your menality. Just think about what you want to do and do it, don't force it - but do it.

I used to play soccer, professionally in Indonesia and Thailand for a couple of years - then I found this game, this beautiful game of golf. I found that this game became an obssesion and my thirst for it lead to oversimplification of the mechanics, rather than the feel. The soccer player/natural athlete in me didn't kick in until two days ago when I had my first lesson with Liz. I completely forgot I was a feel player, that isn't just a title - it's a feeling all by itself.

When I played soccer I never...ever cared about what my leg looked like when I struck that ball - not once, yet I knew had to play a slice, a draw a straight knuckle ball that had the goalkeeper grasping at nothing but air. I had the ability to kick the ball out of the air, over my head - through my legs...everything. What made golf different? Just because I've got a club in my head, I still got a ball right down there, sitting still at that, yet I thought about my reverse pivot - my angle and my constant swing thoughts of ...hit down on the ball...don't look up too soon, keep your spine angle...blah!

In soccer you learn the fundamentals first - that's what Liz addressed first with my golf game, gotta lower that pride no matter what your handicap is, it's the basics that are going to get me out of trouble quicker. And thankfully it was just a very easy problem at address.

1. Lift your hands higher.

Turns out my hands were too low at address - this is why I was pulling everything..phew. So basically I got stuck. Lifted my hands higher --- straight...driver...straight..iron...straight... :)

There are no "kick thoughts" so why should there be "swing thoughts"? Well, here I believe I can only have ONE swing thought - "pause at the top"....and that's it. I was very successful with this, and I truly believe if I have any other swing thought, I will fail...there's no question.

When a soccer ball is coming to you, you're already thinking about the next action you're going to do - you don't think about it while you have the ball in your possession, I think keeping one swing thought in my golf swing is equivalent to the thought of thinking ahead in soccer. I was very successful in soccer by not thinking too much - the same will be for golf.

No more letting forums get to me, no more - my posts will be short and will always go to the mental side of the game...not once will it be mechanical; I fear I could paralyze other players this way. I wish some of the bigger names on their forums would gladly keep all the mechanics and analysis of the golf swing away from those who need help in the game - that's all.

Starting from Scratch - to get to scratch.

My season officially started today, this being my golfing season. I spent the best $50 I will ever spend in my life, Liz Smart is one of the best instructors ever.

I hope to play well on Thursday to get me prepared for the Club Championship in June. I really feel like my game is coming together and even though my handicap has risen from a 5 to a 10, I believe I can get it even lower with no problem. My short-game, with the exception of today, is my absolute strongest part of my game. My putting has been dead-on and today all my chips came within inches of the hole.

So combine that with my new found setup and one swing thought, I am rock solid. The plan is also to focus more on fitness, but I'll save that info for another blog - this was fun.

COURSE: Overland Park GC (South)
HOLES: 9
SCORE: 40 (+5)