Driver woes? Might be time for some Positive Priming.

There have been some ups and downs with the driver lately, to say the least. That stick has broken a lot of potentially decent rounds and managed to interfere with some great ones. Occasionally the big stick has treated me well and I’ve managed to get around a track with 7 or 8 fairways hit, but those rounds are way too few and I have been intensely focussed on ways to improve my driving statistics and limit the damage in my misses.

During this trip (especially after Orlando where I at least hit the ball pretty solid one day) those misses crescendoed into a splattering of lost balls. I have hit more golf balls OB over the last three rounds than I had in the rest of 2014 combined. It was straight up confusing as I couldn’t tell what I was doing wrong with each swing and I felt relaxed and confident, but was having horrible misses.

Yesterday I went out to play my final Hilton Head round of the trip and luckily I was joining a sports psychologist I met while here. We met up at Berkley Hall, which is an awesomely kept course with great facilities, and warmed up on the range. On range, as always, I was hitting my driver very well. I’d pick a target and let it rip, either hitting a nice draw or fade. I felt good and it was a beautiful day and we were both excited to play a fun 18.

On the first tee my mind was clear and I felt relaxed. I just wanted to hit the same driver that I could stripe on the range. But, I somehow managed to pull-hook it off the tee just a little past the red tees. I had to hit a 3-wood on the approach of this 340 yard par 4 just to get to the front of the green. On the second hole I basically shanked it again leaving me with yet again a 3-wood to reach another short par 4. The third hole was a par 3 then on the fourth hole I tried to really put a smooth swing on the ball and ended up losing it in the bushes about 100 yards from the tee.

I told him that this is what happens. I know that I could pull a 3-wood and hit the fairway, but I need to learn how to hit my driver and was honestly just confused at what was going wrong as I literally had no idea what I was doing. To me it felt like I was making the same turn as on the range and that was what I was thinking about.

On the fifth hole I hit a 3-wood over water on a par 5 to hit a fairway. Afterwords he asked me what I was thinking about when I hit that shot. I told him that I picked a target and then just try to pound the ball out to that spot. He asked if that was my thought when I hit my irons and I told him it basically was: I picked a target then made a good turn on it. A-ha, he said. And with the driver? What do you think then?

I told him that with the driver I was trying to….. and then….. and with the face…. my hands….. and then I realized that I was attempting to over-manipulate the club face and was thinking about my body and internal aspects of the swing instead of focussing on an external thought: the target.

He teed one up for me on that same water-carry par 5 and told me to pick a target. I picked a tree way off in the distance and he told me that was too big of a target and to pick something smaller. I then went down to a smaller tree and he said to get smaller. Eventually my target was an object about 3 feet across some 400 yards down the fairway. I could see it and he told me to focus on that target and to let it rip.

I stood there and thought only about hitting my golf ball at that target. I took a big turn and let it go and to my surprise the ball launched almost directly at my intended mark.

From that 5th hole until the 18th I didn’t lose a ball and my misses from driver to wedge were much closer to my intended line. With the driver I had somehow forgotten one of the tenants of solid golf: to focus externally instead of internally. When on the range it is appropriate to work on different feels but when in action on the course it helps to keep your attention on the intent of the shot’s destination.

We also talked a lot about priming performance which will be a subject of interest from here on out. It is amazing how much mental cues can either help or hinder performance. Here is a simplified version of Priming explained by two dapper individuals:

That concept can be beneficial for anything and is fascinating to me. I’ve been negatively priming my driver over the past and it’s no wonder why it has failed to instill confidence in my tee shots. It’s time to both prime myself for a successful attitude and to pick conservative targets while applying aggressive swings.

Hilton Head proved an important learning period for me. It’s been a great two weeks and I hope to return one day soon. For now it’s time to head back to Portland and sign up for some tournaments. Golf season has officially begun.

7 Responses to "Driver woes? Might be time for some Positive Priming."

williamevanl says:

April 1, 2014 at 9:22 pm

Dan, at 5,000 hours can you address some of the predictions that were stated over and over again several years ago. (Stalling out around ~80, being a 4 handicap at 5,000 hours etc…) What are your thoughts about these predictions being exactly right from the beginning.

You shot an 81 a few days back (going to ignore the 101 as an anomaly). You are always shooting right about 80, exactly what you were shooting right around 2,400 hours in. Can you at least at some point explain ‘the wall’. Everyone hits it no matter how much commitment/work they put in. (although people that routinely break 80 after 500-1000 hours of practice hit a much lower wall)

btw, I called when you would be at a 6 a 4 and I have you ending at lowest a 2. (not to say you will be a ’2′ when you finish but I think you will by chance alone and playing so many rounds break into the 2′s before this is over) That is the extreme upper limit though. If you join some random company men’s league you will probably be able to beat almost everyone and people will say “you know with a little more practice you could be good” and you will find this hilarious.
williamevanl says:

April 1, 2014 at 9:37 pm

Are we only allowing positive posts now? Good job Dan. Still shooting in the 80′s, such wow!
Richard Chen says:

April 2, 2014 at 6:57 am

What you described was an excellent “playing lesson.” Playing lesson in golf is when the coach joins in an actual real round of play to work with the player. For an advanced player, actual on course work is needed, as work on the range is limited. Things sink in better on the actual proving grounds of real courses. How many times it had been mention in prior comments here about being target focused? This had been mentioned many times like Nicklaus selects a mark a few feet in front of the tee to aim the driver swing, and Byron Nelson wrote to visualize a farther down range target to aim and to guide the swing, and more. These prior comments on being target focused obviously did not stick, or even made the slightest dent, as they were not being able to be timely and dramatically presented as the above on course live presentation. Some time had been wasted as the comments did not made the slightest dent, but not too much time. Going through some sufferings may be good for the learning process, as long as there are no permanent scares being formed. Now the door should be opened to par and better golf, unless the late round problem is still there, but that can be worked out if it is still there.
Philip Winn says:

April 7, 2014 at 10:47 am

Dan, I was blown away by your post. It so applies to my game. BTW I so appreciated Malcolm Gladwell’s video. He is a speaker at Leadercast May 9
Brian Kuehn says:

April 7, 2014 at 1:07 pm

We are looking forward to your tournament season. Eventually one has to be able to take one’s game from the practice tee and casual rounds and replicate those results under pressure. You had a break through last autumn when you cracked 80 in a tournament. Now is the time to start regularly competing and learn how to score under tournament conditions.
You might consider, during some quiet evenings, studying the Rules of Golf. It is immensely helpful to understand the Rules and have the ability to properly apply them in real situations. One can’t depend on other competitors to provide correct guidance as often they are less aware of the Rules than you might be. Also, carefully review all Conditions of Competition and Local Rules whenever playing in a tournament.
jackinlondon says:

April 9, 2014 at 8:50 pm

William, I respectfully disagree that Dan will end at a 2. I actually think that Dan has a very good chance of making it onto the PGA tour, provided he continues consistent focus and puts in the time. I do believe there are keys, though, to helping ensure the success of his endeavour, and one of them is having a LOT MORE COACHING than he seems to be having currently. I also believe that at some point soon this will become more a mental than a physical progression. As the parent of a junior athlete who is on the “pro” tennis track and who is training at a top tennis academy, I see it all the time. Mental toughness and sports psychology applies here as much as it does in any other sport. William, from what Dan has said, your (and others like you) negativity merely spurs him on and motivates him to work harder, and so therefore I think your negativity might be useful to him. I – however – can only say two words…GO DAN!
Travis A. says:

April 11, 2014 at 9:03 am

Dan, can you elaborate on how you are priming your driver in a positive fashion? Definitely would like to hear more about this process you are using to drive the ball better.

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