SIMON LEWIS: Making the cut all in the mind
Yet those 90 or more hardy souls who battled their way along flooded roads and through a relentless downpour to reach Monkstown Golf Club on Thursday evening were rewarded for their spirited efforts with a fascinating insight into the work of celebrated golfing mind coach Karl Morris.
The man who helped Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel reach the pinnacle of their sport and land Major championships, needed a bit of mental fortitude himself to get to Monkstown, his flight from Manchester having been diverted earlier in the day to Farranfore, but Morris was in fine form as he offered practical and effective insights to achieving ‘Five Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing’.
Judging by the flurry of note-taking and biro-sucking in the audience, the advice, garnered over years as both a Tour pro and mind coach, was instructional and thought-provoking.
“I give away really what I believe are the fundamentals of the mental game as they apply to golf,” Morris told a columnist every bit as eager to scribble down his every word in search of better golf. “There’s key fundamentals technically — you’ve got to grip the club correctly and stand correctly and swing the club on plane, etc, but there are a few basic fundamentals of the mental game that are just as key and that’s what I talk about.”
Morris’s approach is not to deliver a series of mental drills or exercises but to try andinstill an overriding mindset in golfers about how they manage their rounds psychologically and cope with the inevitable bad shots that pepper most handicappers’ scorecards.
“They’re more principles rather than tips, so people will go away with an understanding of a principle that they can implement for a long time. It’s not just about playing better tomorrow afternoon. It’s not a kind of motivational, quick fix, feel better tomorrow, it’s hopefully some keys that they can keep working on.
“I’d definitely say it’s a philosophy about [golf], that one of the key things, and it sounds negative, but accepting that you will hit a lot of bad shots.
“You can’t control the fact that you could hit bad shots, because everybody does but you can control your reactions to it and a lot of people don’t do that. So one bad shot leads to another and they’re waiting for a good shot to feel better. But, as I say in the talk, there are only two things in golf you actually control — one’s the ball, the other is yourself, and everybody just looks at one of them and ignores the other.”
Morris’s hope is that his audience members each leave with at least one idea they can implement for the good of their game.
“None of this is an instant fix,” he cautioned. “The keys from nights like this are practicing better in a way that’s relevant to the game, adopting a good routine before you play the shot and what you do between shots because 90% of golf isn’t golf, it’s walking and thinking. And a really important bit is what you do after the round. There’s some really good research about how memory affects us in terms of confidence for the future, so it’s really important to understand how you should best process your round.”
Morris was not about to entirely spill the beans to all and sundry — you have to fight through the elements to hear those — but he did offer to share a little of his knowledge with Irish Examiner readers.
“The most important thing is to look at the way you practice. Most people practice in a situation that bears no resemblance to the game of golf; you’re on a flat lie, 50 balls in front of you, one club in your hand, ball after ball. There’s an element where that’s useful but your practice should simulate the game a lot more. If you’ve got an hour, don’t necessarily think the best thing you can do is to go and hit balls. The best thing you could do is go and play six holes and get better on the golf course. At least when the weather’s better...”
US WILDCARD DECISION IS NO GAMEBREAKER
United States Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson cut his number of wildcard picks from four to three for the 2014 contest at Gleneagles in Scotland.
The 63-year-old said he canvassed former captains on the subject and all agreed it was the right decision to make. So Watson has nine qualifiers and three personal choices as he bids to win the trophy for the US for the first time since Valhalla in 2008, when then-US captain Paul Azinger took the number of captain’s picks to four.
“There’s not a lot of method in my madness, but I think the players ought to have another shot of getting on the team by merit,” Watson said.
Does the number of wildcards at a captain’s disposal really make a huge difference? The USA has won Ryder Cups with two, three and four of them while Europe have moved along nicely with two. Though individual picks have made an impact, rarely have they swayed this compelling duel en bloc.
On the flip side, reducing wildcards reduces Watson’s chances of messing up his selections as his immediate predecessor Davis Love III undoubtedly did, more by omitting the likes of Nick Watney and Hunter Mahan than the guys he did include. Yet surely the onus is on the captain to organise, motivate and inspire players he has under his command, whatever their pathway to the team entailed? That will be the measure of the Watson and Paul McGinley’s captaincies in Scotland next year.
FORAY INTO FOTA SEES ME GET USED TO THE BALL-HOP
As I’m sure you’ll be delighted to learn, my attempt to rejoin the land of living and actually play a bit of golf is coming along nicely, thank you very much, and it’s time to let Fota Island Academy pro Brian Kelleher pass on some of his key pointers to fellow beginners and more seasoned handicappers alike.
So here goes with Brian’s opening tip of the week, with thanks to Fota Island Golf Academy.
“This one’s for beginners essentially but it helps anyone wanting to work on their hand-eye coordination and balance and it’s very, very simple,” Kelleher says. “Just grab an iron and grip it one-handed down towards the club-head, then simply bounce a ball off the head. Just bounce it the once and catch, then repeat, bouncing twice and upping the repetitions.
“You’re trying to keep the ball under control without straying from your standing position. Once you’re comfortable, move your hand further towards the shaft and repeat and gradually you’ll become better balanced and better coordinated.”
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