Please join me in my quest, my crusade to get everyone (well, me first then the rest of you!) playing better golf.
OK, there’s a million golf blogs out there - so why visit this one?
Well hopefully together we can piece together a common strategy for improving our golf.
Let’s try and amass the biggest collection of words of wisdom, golf lessons, tips and advice that actually will improve our games.
If you have a tip, a juicy nugget passed on by a famous coach or player; or maybe just a recommendation for a book, DVD, practice aid or piece of equipment that can save us all shots - then for heaven’s sake let us know!
There is no doubt that anyone who has ever picked up a golf club (whether they still play or not) will wish that they could be that bit better at golf. From the rank beginner, to Challenge tour, European Tour, PGA Tour and Ryder Cup players we all have one thing in common - we all have room for improvement. Even Tiger Woods the undisputed world number 1 player, and probably the best player ever (with apologies to Hogan and Nicklaus fans), still works on his game tirelessly. He still has a coach, Hank Haney; and he still gets frustrated with his game as well as enjoying the occasional frequent moments of brilliance. This blog is dedicated to anyone who has been bewitched, bemused, befuddled and bewildered by this great game.
Perhaps, together if we can harness the collective wisdom of let’s say a million or so fellow golfers then we might just be able to come up with a formula, or formulae, or at the very least a tried and trusted and well trodden road to success at this game that we can all follow.
So here we go. I’ve already posted a few articles and video tips from the coaches I have met and worked with and will be posting more as soon as I get a little more time. First here’s what I have learned so far in my quest for better golf.
18 months ago I left quite a good corporate job and decided to do something else more interesting instead. I wanted to start my own business and also spend some more time playing golf in order to improve my level from a mediocre 24 to anything lower! I decided to combine the two desires and set about creating my own golf business (see: http://www.dizzyheights.com/).
My qualifications for starting a golf business were at best unconventional. I was not (and am not ….yet!) a scratch player or a PGA professional. In fact most of my playing partners have decided that my golf swing resembles a giraffe drinking at a waterhole (hence my profile picture). If you have ever been on safari then you will know what I mean; if you haven’t, then what are you waiting for? After golf, going on a safari is the next best way to relax for 4 hours (with or without your husband/wife). South Africa is one of the best places on the planet to combine both activities, check-out www.macit.co.za - they organised a superb golf and safari holiday for 24 of us + partners this year. The exchange rate is so good at the moment that it was great value too.
Anyway back to my qualifications. Having never worked for a golf company, or even in the sports and leisure industry my only qualifications were a background in sales, marketing and product development. But my most relevant qualification was my experience. My personal experience of trying everything under the sun over more than a decade to improve; every new golf gadget, the latest techniques, the expensive driver, the new balls, the old balls, dvds, magazine tips, books, the odd lesson, acupuncture, hypnosis, meditation, positive thinking, thinking about nothing, singing tunes (The Beautiful South “Song for Whoever” and “Ain't Got No - I Got Life” by Nina Simone - see other posts), humming tunes (same ones as before, plus the Dambusters from time to time) and occasionally the odd lesson from a PGA professional. Some worked, some didn’t. Some lasted 5 minutes, others have lasted the test of time. All I’d ever wanted to do was to try and get better, win more than the odd game off my mates and generally not embarrass myself too often at a corporate golf event. Why was I finding it so difficult? Why did I always feel that I was taking 2 steps forward and 1 back (and often the other way around)? Why could I sometimes hit it well at the range for 30 minutes before a round and then lose the ability to hit the ball cleanly once I’d stepped onto the first tee? Where were all the answers to these questions?
If only there was a definitive list of advice on all aspects of the game. If only I could have had all this advice 20 years ago when I first picked up a club, perhaps I’d be a little bit richer and a little bit better at golf by now.
Well there isn’t, but there could be. If only we (the long suffering golf playing nuts) could create such a thing together and share the thoughts and experiences of thousands of golfers then perhaps, just perhaps, we might all get that little bit better!
OK, there’s a million golf blogs out there - so why visit this one?
Well hopefully together we can piece together a common strategy for improving our golf.
Let’s try and amass the biggest collection of words of wisdom, golf lessons, tips and advice that actually will improve our games.
If you have a tip, a juicy nugget passed on by a famous coach or player; or maybe just a recommendation for a book, DVD, practice aid or piece of equipment that can save us all shots - then for heaven’s sake let us know!
There is no doubt that anyone who has ever picked up a golf club (whether they still play or not) will wish that they could be that bit better at golf. From the rank beginner, to Challenge tour, European Tour, PGA Tour and Ryder Cup players we all have one thing in common - we all have room for improvement. Even Tiger Woods the undisputed world number 1 player, and probably the best player ever (with apologies to Hogan and Nicklaus fans), still works on his game tirelessly. He still has a coach, Hank Haney; and he still gets frustrated with his game as well as enjoying the occasional frequent moments of brilliance. This blog is dedicated to anyone who has been bewitched, bemused, befuddled and bewildered by this great game.
Perhaps, together if we can harness the collective wisdom of let’s say a million or so fellow golfers then we might just be able to come up with a formula, or formulae, or at the very least a tried and trusted and well trodden road to success at this game that we can all follow.
So here we go. I’ve already posted a few articles and video tips from the coaches I have met and worked with and will be posting more as soon as I get a little more time. First here’s what I have learned so far in my quest for better golf.
18 months ago I left quite a good corporate job and decided to do something else more interesting instead. I wanted to start my own business and also spend some more time playing golf in order to improve my level from a mediocre 24 to anything lower! I decided to combine the two desires and set about creating my own golf business (see: http://www.dizzyheights.com/).
My qualifications for starting a golf business were at best unconventional. I was not (and am not ….yet!) a scratch player or a PGA professional. In fact most of my playing partners have decided that my golf swing resembles a giraffe drinking at a waterhole (hence my profile picture). If you have ever been on safari then you will know what I mean; if you haven’t, then what are you waiting for? After golf, going on a safari is the next best way to relax for 4 hours (with or without your husband/wife). South Africa is one of the best places on the planet to combine both activities, check-out www.macit.co.za - they organised a superb golf and safari holiday for 24 of us + partners this year. The exchange rate is so good at the moment that it was great value too.
Anyway back to my qualifications. Having never worked for a golf company, or even in the sports and leisure industry my only qualifications were a background in sales, marketing and product development. But my most relevant qualification was my experience. My personal experience of trying everything under the sun over more than a decade to improve; every new golf gadget, the latest techniques, the expensive driver, the new balls, the old balls, dvds, magazine tips, books, the odd lesson, acupuncture, hypnosis, meditation, positive thinking, thinking about nothing, singing tunes (The Beautiful South “Song for Whoever” and “Ain't Got No - I Got Life” by Nina Simone - see other posts), humming tunes (same ones as before, plus the Dambusters from time to time) and occasionally the odd lesson from a PGA professional. Some worked, some didn’t. Some lasted 5 minutes, others have lasted the test of time. All I’d ever wanted to do was to try and get better, win more than the odd game off my mates and generally not embarrass myself too often at a corporate golf event. Why was I finding it so difficult? Why did I always feel that I was taking 2 steps forward and 1 back (and often the other way around)? Why could I sometimes hit it well at the range for 30 minutes before a round and then lose the ability to hit the ball cleanly once I’d stepped onto the first tee? Where were all the answers to these questions?
If only there was a definitive list of advice on all aspects of the game. If only I could have had all this advice 20 years ago when I first picked up a club, perhaps I’d be a little bit richer and a little bit better at golf by now.
Well there isn’t, but there could be. If only we (the long suffering golf playing nuts) could create such a thing together and share the thoughts and experiences of thousands of golfers then perhaps, just perhaps, we might all get that little bit better!
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