Current Mood: "Wintertime Blues" -- John Hiatt 

(current condition. courtesy wild Sound Filmaking)

Well, it finally happened. That son of a bitch winter finally showed up – and with a vicious vengeance nonetheless. After a January full of 40 degree weather and hour drives to the shore to take advantage of the precious bonus golf, the Northeast is now blanketed in close to two feet of the unwavering white bullshit that myself and all other sane people loathe with a glowing white hot passion. Or “snow” as some people call it.

With that in mind, it’s time to turn my attention to “indoor golf activities.”

In my case, it’s a little exercise, a lot of reading and – as you’ve probably noticed – “intermittent” writing about my progress and method and trips to the cigar lounge to accomplish said writing.

I know that last one seems counterproductive, but I say dance with the one that brung ya. I didn’t go from a free-swinging hack who couldn’t break 100 to a 2.4 handicap on “clean living.”  

As all of you know, there are plenty of roadblocks on the way to good golf for someone not blessed to be a trust fund baby or a golfing prodigy. Instead of naming them all, we’ll just call it “life.” In my case, “life” has happened a lot lately. Not all of it bad (as you’ll see in the relatively near future) but not all of it good (big ups, Granny! Say hi to Avo for me!) but all of it has kept my laptop at arm’s reach – until now!

So what have I done to improve? Good question. Glad I asked it!

-         

-     - Finished Bob Rotella’s, “Golf is not a Game of Perfect”

-     -  Finished "Zen Golf" by Dr. Joseph Parent

-           -   Began reading Bob Rotella’s “Putting Out of Your Mind”

-           -   Exercised 7 minutes per day (at least) for 5-7 days a week

-           -  Cut extra carbs from morning routine, opting for veggie/spinach/sausage omelets for breakfast

I know a lot of that doesn’t seem like much, but when you were eating “Man v. Food” -type breakfast sandwiches every morning for a year, that’s a shitload of break being completely nixed from the diet. Now if only pizza weren’t so damn yummy….

By far the largest thing in 2017 has been those books. I’m not what you would call a voracious reader, but I’ve already read three books cover-to-cover since January. The first, was “Zen Golf” by Dr. Joseph Parent and the second was a book about money (which has helped, too – but I’m going to keep my personal finances to myself as I’m finally becoming someone whose identity someone might actually want to steal. The third, and most recent was the previously mentioned “Golf is Not a Game of Perfect.”

Both books have paid immediate dividends. Armed with a new focus and a concise yet consistent pre-shot routine, I played some of my best golf of the last 12 months in January. The putting and chipping were easily my best performances of the year, averaging 25 putts per round in the first 5 outings of 2017.

The hardest part of the next couple months will be watching tournaments from sunny parts of the country and looking out at the never-ending blanket of white while I wait to put my gains in the gym and between my ears to good use.

In the meantime, I’ll keep digging and writing whenever I can. I have a couple pieces chambered, too, that I haven’t forgotten about that’ll be up soon.

Until next time…