Blogging is bad for your golf!

[Tiger]

I gave the blog up a month ago and haven't really played much golf. I played a round before I went on holiday 24 Sept and didn't play well at all. I had a weeks holiday abroad and since I've been back I've been to the driving range once, practiced at my course once, played and won a team comp and had a round this morning. That has been the entirety of my golf since 24 September and had it not been for a good drive that ran too far and disappeared into a bush I may well have had a new PB.

That lost ball meant no score on that hole but I scored 83 from the other 17 holes which was +17 and worth 43 points.

But the most important thing was how enjoyable today's round was and as the round wore on and I blew off the ring rust I got better and better. Played last six holes +2 gross. Never enjoyed my golf this much nor played this well when I was blogging. So this is my health warning to anyone considering writing one!

 

[Tommo21]

Never considered it could just be coincidence. How did the blog effect your game?

 

[Tiger]

Blog made me think too much, over analyse, over practice, be too tense on the course. I've got a medal next week so I guess then I'll know for sure.

 

[brendy]

Hallelujah praise the lord. You have seen the light!

I always wondered why people write about their issues etc. I am slowly but surely getting over the shanks, if I wrote about them, would that not make even more prone to hitting them, I think therefore I do?
As you said tiger, over analysing something which you are not fully in control of can distroy you.

 

[bladeplayer]

Il be honest mate & im not trying to be rude so apologies if it comes across that way, esp as i havent read your blog , i was wondering why you were doing it , i see your new sig says it all for me "playing for the love of the game " if you enjoy a game & practice a bit youl get better , then as the h'cap gets lower you practice differently & a bit more intensely & youl get even better, i think you have turned a corner on the mentality of golf & the game will follow , very best of luck with the medal & the game in general , looking forward to hearing how you go , hope it works then other people might follow suit & where as they should always keep their intence intrest in loft /lies /shafts etc mayb they could read the lines you wrote below & see does it apply to them ..

 

[Tiger]

bladeplayer the blog wasn't my idea. There was a guy on here under username of Bogey who started playing when I did and decided to try and get to scratch in five years. He challenged me to take him on. He then gave up the ghost almost immediately and left me on my Todd. I've kept it going until recently but then gave it up. If I could go back two years I wouldn't have bothered but c'est la vie!

 

[bladeplayer]

Sorry Mate didnt know that .. wasnt on here then , best of luck with the new mental aproach , ironacily im looking forward to reading how you get on .. best of luck

 

[Midnight]

Well played Tiger, good shooting there mate.

 

[Swinger]

If you start having too much fun mate you could always get the blog going again!

Glad to hear your having fun though Tiger and hopefully there will be plenty more good times to come.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

bladeplayer the blog wasn't my idea. There was a guy on here under username of Bogey who started playing when I did and decided to try and get to scratch in five years. He challenged me to take him on. He then gave up the ghost almost immediately and left me on my Todd. I've kept it going until recently but then gave it up. If I could go back two years I wouldn't have bothered but c'est la vie!

Thats a funny point of view. I read your blog and enjoyed it. It didn't seem overly self analytical compared with some of the posts on here and you mixed it up with a lot of comment about the goings on in the world of golf and the pro ranks in particular. I know you posted your stats every month including practice time which was probably the only thing that really was close to self analysis. Other than that it was a comment on trying to reach a defined goal. I can't see a correlation between writing something after the event and not playing well

 

[Tiger]

Thanks to all the well wishers and Swinger I'll bear your suggestion in mind! Homer when I first started writing the blog I was posting about four times a week. Then I had a lot of things to write about and wrote a post a day for about three weeks. My readership went up dramatically as a result. Writing about me every day would have got dull so I threw in more commentary about the wider world of golf. I then noticed that all the big spikes in readership came after I posted on here. These most often related to breakthroughs.

About three months ago I was listening to a Bob Rotella audio book when I was reminded of the journal concept, where you write down positives about your game to create a positive mental self image. I started reading some of my old posts, ones where I thought I'd been positive, the blog after all was my journal. It turned out my posts were littered with self criticism. All the aspects of my game I was worried about I had repeatedly told myself I was no good at. I tried to then only write positive things about my rounds. My scores improved, readership went down. People who read these things take comfort in your short comings and insecurities. It relates to their struggles in this wonderful game.

The stats and practice tracker were also less innocent than they first appear. Practice hours recording prioritised quantity over quality. I often found myself out on the Heath hitting balls for no other purpose than getting the numbers up. And the stats were depressing leading you to question why they weren't improving when you had completed so much practice the month before.

But the main problems was a burning desire to get the handicap down not for personal satisfaction but to buy some digital credibility in trying to reach my target. Two years in and he's still off 28!!! A good%