I’ve always loved golf and for the first 50 years of my life, I was clueless and horrible.  I was a fairly good athlete in baseball, football, soccer, volleyball, ping pong – you name it.  But the things that made me good in those sports didn’t seem to help in golf.  Being a ball of aggressive energy ready to attack doesn’t help the golf swing.

About 10 years ago, I started going to golf schools in Florida, and little by little, I have learned about the golf swing.  On many occasions, I can actually make it work.  I no longer feel hopelessly frightened standing over the ball.  That’s important!

I am still grasping to find the “secret” to improve my game.  I subscribe to golf magazines.  They have articles that promise 20 extra yards on my drive and that I will never three putt again (that can be accomplished by always missing the third putt).  I have a closet full of swing devices that are supposed to solve all my problems.  The only one I don’t have is the club with the hinge in the middle of the shaft.  A pro told me not to buy it, because he was afraid I would hurt myself.

I also have a wide range of how-to-play-golf books.  I know some of them are really good, but you can’t learn to play the violin by reading a book.  When Carole and I go to our favorite used book store, I migrate over to the sports/golf section.  Two weeks ago, I found a book that I thought might help.  It was entitled, “Golf – The Mind Factor.”  It was written by Darren Clarke and a sport’s psychologist, Dr. Karl Morris.

Clarke is from Northern Ireland and the first two chapters seemed devoted to how great it was for the Europeans to beat the Americans in the Ryder Cup.  If I had been smart I would have stopped right there.  But I was looking for that little gem that would help my game.  There was a chapter entitled, “The master key: Correct breathing.”  The next time I went out, I took a deep breath before each shot.  I must not have been doing it right.  At the very end of the book, they mentioned that taking a couple deep breaths to get  rid of negativity and reduce the emotional charge “is completely ineffective.”  It’s not the breathing in that’s important, it’s the breathing out.  I thought they kind of went together.

This book was written in 2005 before Tiger Woods wrecked any SUVs.  They thought Tiger personified confidence.  They liked the way he walked down the fairway.  The message was if I walked down the fairway like Tiger Woods, then I would play better.  I’m not buying it.  Of course, I watched the press conference.

They asked me to reflect on my most embarrassing experience on a golf course.  The message was to forget the bad experiences and remember the good ones.  Most people do exactly the opposite.  My most embarrassing was down at Walt Disney World many years back.  I took a lesson right before I played.  The pro noticed I was dipping my front knee on my back swing.  This lead to a reverse pivot and to me falling backwards as I was hitting the ball.  To solve the problem, the pro had me start my swing with most of my weight on my back foot.  When I got to the golf course, I tried his approach with a fairway wood.  I swung over the ball and smacked it with the bottom of the club.  The ball went straight up into the air.  I had to step smartly out of the way to keep from being hit.  After that, I decided to forget about the lesson until I had a chance to practice.

I’m giving the book one star out of five.  I’d have given it a star and a half if they hadn’t slammed the American Ryder Cup team.  The only thing about the book that excites me is that I am pretty sure that I can sell it back to the used book store for half price.

Written by PJ Rice at www.ricequips.com