After coming off of my best score of the season last week, I had high expectations for this week. I followed my best week with my worst week. I’ve been golfing well and it was an unfortunate set of circumstances.
Take Care of Your Body
For my “day job”, I sit at a desk all day. My posture is terrible and this often leads to pain and soreness in my upper back and neck. Before going out to the course I tried to do some stretching. I got on my inversion table, something I had not used for about 2 years. My back popped, and not in a good way. I had to lay on the floor for about 20 minutes before I could move. I probably should not have golfed. But I did, and I could not take a full swing without pain. I was pulling balls repeatedly and got punished several times with OB penalties.
Going into the round I thought I would lose some distance, but could manage to play a decent short game. Anything beyond about 50 yards was a struggle.
This was sort of a brutal reminder of how important it is to take care of your body. I had been doing some swing speed work a couple of days earlier and was not hitting as far. Not as bad as my round yesterday, but the body was definitely not working at top performance. Admittedly, I have not been following my own plans in terms of stretching and exercise. I have stretched a handful of times, but that is clearly not enough. Yesterdays round was a reminder to get into gear and make it happen!
Mental Game
Although I had the worst round of the year, I still had fun. I certainly had my moments of frustration, but overall I still enjoyed the night. It was beautiful weather, nice breeze, good company. I have to credit Jon Sherman’s book, The Four Foundations of Golf! Had I played this round prior to reading his book, I would have been miserable. The book has helped in many ways, but for last night it helped to keep me grounded.