Latest Blog Posts
My blog has moved … to Substack
Thanks for coming to my website. FYI, that I have moved my blog to Substack and even given it a name: Up & Down. You can find me there on toconnor.substack.com. In moving to Substack, I'm taking a deeper dive into writing, and posting more often. It's my hope that if you've enjoyed my stuff in the past, or you're intrigued, that you'll take a look at my new blogging home. The website will continue to provide information on my golf and … [Read More...]
I’m Not Really a Goals Guy
It was bound to come up. I was hoping it might not, but it did. We had a couple over for dinner on New Year’s Day. We had a wonderful time, doing what couples do: reviewing our Christmas holidays and what we did on NY Eve—for the record, we made it past midnight—and the state of our dogs and kids. Then, the question was asked. “So, Tim what are your goals for this year?” There it was. I took a breath and offered that I was focused on … [Read More...]
A cold that’s so cold it slaps you in the face
How cold is -30 Celsius? It's so cold that when you throw boiling water in the air, it instantly crystallizes as my niece Siobhan demonstrated during our visit to Canmore, Alberta the week before Christmas.There’s cold and then there’s cold. Where I live in Guelph, Ontario, it can get down to -10 Celsius in January and February. To me, that’s cold. With some wind, it can feel like about -20, which is serious cold. On those -20 with the … [Read More...]
Why the advice you get doesn’t work
The best advice—or at least the advice I recall most vividly—that I ever got from my father was not about golf, school or business. It was about how to talk to a girl. Early one morning in our suburban living room, both of us in our pyjamas sitting on our floral coach, I told Dad about my predicament. At my high school, there was this angelic black-haired girl with dark brown eyes and olive skin. I was completely head-over-heels. But I was in … [Read More...]
Sticking up for Yourself?
Other than at work, most guys would rather put their hand into a burning flame than tell another man what to do. Even if it’s couched as a polite ask. And even if whatever the other man is doing is bugging the hell out of us. We suck at speaking up for ourselves. It happens in golf all the time. Let’s say you’re setting up to putt, and you notice that a member of your group is standing behind you on your line. He’s gathering intel on how his … [Read More...]
What to Think About Over the Ball?
During a Zoom group coaching call last week, one of our participants was fidgeting like a five-year-old after a birthday party. My Golf is Life online group was discussing some on-course strategies when—with obvious exasperation—he blurted, “Yes, that’s great. But what do you think about when you’re over the ball?” Everyone laughed. He hit a collective nerve; it was a flashpoint of recognition of everyone's never-ending search for the … [Read More...]
Are You an Earnest Grinder?
Are you an earnest grinder? I’ll bet that, like the overwhelming majority of golfers that I know, you are. How to tell? Do you show up before your round in a desperate search for a swing thought that—'please dear golf gods'—will work today? Are you forever tinkering with your game, trying this and that, combing through your Rolodex of past swing thoughts, and recallilng snippets of wisdom from Uncle Steve? Do you consider yourself a ‘student … [Read More...]
