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 Doubling Down on Fixes that Fail?
Whether it’s tour pros or weekend warriors, the overwhelming majority of golfers feel like their games are infected by something gross and horrible, but they seem powerless to cure it. A player knows, for example, that if she swings smoothly, the ball will arc triumphantly over a pond. Instead, her iron inexplicably slams behind the ball, and the ball ignominiously scuttles into the drink. Or a player dreams of a buttery putting stroke. … [Read more...]
Make it your intention to have an intention
The role of intention is a key component to the game-changing holistic program that golf professional Nate Robinson and I are launching in April called Quiet Mind Golf: Better Golf Through Inner Mastery. Contact me at tim@oconnorgolf.ca to explore the exciting possibilities for your game. Yes, your friendly, neighbourhood golf and performance coach became that guy. The no-talking, sulking, pouting, fast-walking angry man that no one wants … [Read more...]