Unsolicited advice. I dish it out all the time... can't lie. Random stuff, what roads to take after 5 PM, what curling shoes are best, how to pass the 8th grade, why you need Amazon prime. When it comes to the golf course it's like men can't stop with the advice. Choke down, choke up, feet wider, feet more narrow, stand closer, stand back a bit, arms loser, firmer grip, loosen the grip... rapid fire, unsolicited, I'm gonna punch you if you don't stop talking, advice. So how's a girl to deal? Here is some... uh, unsolicited advice on how to deal with it on the range and more importantly, in the middle of a round. :)
This week has been tough. I'm trying to really working on making good contact, leading with the left wrist but not breaking the hinge, and finishing with weight transfer to make the ball go straight with good loft. That's a lot of stuff to work on. However, because I practice and practiced and practiced my set up I'm fining it easier to work on what I want. That's been my deal all week - everything is off to the right though. Shank freaking central. Shaw Shank Redemption. It's bad news. Brad and I went to the driving range and he was determined to make this work for me. So he starts talking, moving me around, do this, do that. Bla bla bla. This is why I have a pro. The best thing to do is remember what your coach told you. If the person you are with tells you something your pro told you take it as a good reminder. If they say something that helps you understand something your pro already told you... great, it will only help to hear it in another way and maybe it will help make it stick. If they start saying something that contradicts something your pro told you just gently tell the advice giving man, no. Case in point. I need to keep my feet shoulder distance - even a touch more. My shoulders are really wide - wider than my hips for sure. It looks funny to have my feet that far apart but I need to have them that way at this point because it helps with my hip rotation. Brad didn't like it. I just said, hey Brad, it's something I'm working on with John because bla bla bla. He says okay and we move on. In the end he helped remind me of some things I needed to be working on and I'm not hitting balls off to the right nearly as much. It's good to get out and practice with different people. It makes practice more fun and it helps me get used to golfing with more people so I'm less nervous in the tee box.
Story two... we had our tournament of champions yesterday at Bixby. We still drew names and I got Brad's friend Brandon. He and I have played together before and I could tell he was a bit disappointed that we drew the same number. I knew he thought he had a good chance of winning with the right partner and that partner probably wasn't me. We were one of the first groups to tee off. I did my set up, took a deep breath, tried to calm my nerves and gave it a sold hit. Right. Right into the trees. I pulled my tee, and walked back to my bag, tossed in the stupid six iron, threw my bag on my back and started down the fairway. This was not how I wanted to start my round. I could feel my body was tense, my heart was beating fast and I even felt a little numb and shaky. CRAP. I wanted a good first shot and I wanted to impress my partner. I know Brandon is super competitive and I knew he wanted a chance to win. Right away he started giving me advice, how to play, what the strategy was, not to let the other pair with us get in our heads. Important to have fun... all this bull. I walked up to my bad shot, picked my ball up and said, "Listen. Take some of your own advice. Just be cool and let's have a good game." We did and he had nothing else to say to me about my swing I shaped up after that and didn't have too many bad shots. In fact, I golfed really well and we had a solid ham and egg game finishing -1. Be firm about what you're working on and don't let anyone work you up or get in your business.
