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    How to Drop Five Strokes Without Having One: Finding More Enjoyment in Senior Golf
    How to Drop Five Strokes Without Having One: Finding More Enjoyment in Senior Golf
    How to Drop Five Strokes Without Having One: Finding More Enjoyment in Senior Golf
    Ebook126 pages1 hour

    How to Drop Five Strokes Without Having One: Finding More Enjoyment in Senior Golf

    By John D Drake

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Ten years ago I could easily have cleared that pond.
    Im okay until about the fourteenth hole; then I can feel myself getting tired.
    Ive had to shorten my backswing; otherwise, my old back will keep me up all night.

    Sound familiar? As much as we may hate to admit it, at sixty-plus were different from younger golfers both physically and mentally. While this isnt necessarily bad, it does impact how we play. In How to Drop Five Strokes without Having One, author Dr. John D. Drake explains how awareness of these changes can allow us to adapt; we can still lower our scores and get more fun from our favorite pastime.

    Drake offers specific techniques and strategies geared toward seniors that can be readily adapted to every facet of your golf gametee box, fairway, bunker, and green. How to Drop Five Strokes without Having One provides not only easy-to-apply suggestions for lower golf scores, but also tips on how to reduce anxiety and tension.

    With photos included, How to Drop Five Strokes without Having One helps solve the unique problems encountered by aging golfers and helps you lower your handicap while enjoying the game.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateNov 18, 2011
    ISBN9781462060399
    How to Drop Five Strokes Without Having One: Finding More Enjoyment in Senior Golf

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      Book preview

      How to Drop Five Strokes Without Having One - John D Drake

      Contents

      Preface

      Acknowledgments

      Chapter 1

      The Senior Game

      Chapter 2

      On the Tee Box

      Chapter 3

      On the Fairway

      Chapter 4

      Around the Green

      Chapter 5

      On the Beach

      (Greenside)

      Chapter 6

      On the Green

      Chapter 7

      It’s All in Your Head

      Chapter 8

      Practicing Golf

      Senior Style

      Chapter 9

      Games Seniors Play

      About the Author

      Glossary

      For PGA golf professionals

      In appreciation for helping me, and countless others,

      not only to learn the game but, more importantly, to enjoy it.

      Preface

      Seniors Helping Seniors

      Clearly, my name isn’t Hogan, Palmer, Woods, or Mickelson. I’m not even a golf professional. How could a book by some amateur—an aging senior, no less—be helpful in lowering your golf scores?

      The answer is simple. I’ve been where you are. As a senior golfer I’ve seen my play gradually change both physically and mentally—my drive is shorter, but, on the plus side, poor shots don’t unglue me as they used to. I’ve learned that I can still improve my game, despite my eighty years. In fact, during the past year my handicap dropped six strokes, and I won both our club’s member-guest and member-member tournaments. My goal is to help you achieve similar success and to increase your enjoyment in playing.

      How did I do it? Well, first of all, I experimented with alternative shots and strategies to compensate for my aging. A positive by-product of this experimentation was that I discovered a few unique and sometimes unconventional ways to the cup. I wasn’t certain which of these findings would work best for other seniors, so I decided to put my findings to the test. For example, for the shots presented in this book, I hit twenty-five balls the conventional way and twenty-five using one of my senior alternatives. I tallied the differences, and the options that proved to be most productive are described here for you.

      Do yips sometimes mess up your putts? Do first tee tensions result in embarrassing worm-burners? If your answer is yes to either of these questions, my psychological insights (I’m a shrink) will help you conquer your feelings of anxiety and pressure. Golf should be fun; this book is dedicated to helping you experience more of it.

      The suggestions presented here are easy to implement—you don’t have to learn a new system or swing. In fact, the book contains hardly anything about the swing. Instead, you will find specific techniques and strategies that you can readily adapt to your own swing—any one of which could cut strokes off your scorecard.

      Here’s an example:

      Sharon, the wife of one of my senior golfing partners, tried one of my suggested alternative strategies—the flat take-back bump-and-run (chapter 4). She had been using her pitching and sand wedge to lob onto the green, but now (except for certain situations) Sharon uses the senior-tested bump-and-run. She dropped, on average, four strokes per round and is amazed at how more often she ends up close to the pin.

      Some shots and strategies offered in this book run counter to what’s currently in vogue. That’s okay, because some of the ways we’re taught to play are difficult for our older bodies to implement. In How to Drop Five Strokes you’ll discover some easy-to-use options designed for bodies that won’t allow us to swing the club as we once did.

      Also, you can focus on only those parts of the game that give you trouble. If one recommended idea works for you, great; look through the book for another, and watch your scores go down.

      Another reason this book may help your game is that the instructions are simple and are made even easier by use of many photographs. You will quickly note, from some photos, that I play left-handed. Lefties will like that, and right-handers tell me that with the arrow (in the photos) pointing toward the target, it’s relatively easy to transpose photos for righty use. To help further, more than half the photos portray a right-handed player.

      What about consulting a golf professional? Please do. Anyone who is serious about golf, regardless of age, can benefit from expert direction on developing a swing appropriate for his or her physical condition and skills. This book is neither designed to teach a swing nor to replace a professional’s guidance. In fact, you’ll find it helpful to take this book to a golf pro and ask him/her to help you implement shots you would like to use.

      My fondest wish is that How to Drop Five Strokes will help senior golfers rejuvenate their game and experience more fun on the course.

      John D. Drake

      Tequesta, Florida

      Acknowledgments

      I would like to express my appreciation to all those who so willingly gave their time to this book. My gratitude to:

      • Paul Compare, whose patience and skill produced all the photographs.

      • Jack Kelly, Dick Lamberts, Rob Drake, Sebastian Milardo, Herman Krone, Ken Sheeleigh, Jo Ann Drake, Bob Bye, Gus Wilson, Len and Muriel Franceschini, and Lou Bragaw, whose suggestions helped shape this book.

      • Val Marier and Bob Herzig, whose constructive critiques improved the book’s clarity and accuracy.

      • Fritz and BJ Clarke, Ann Barnes, Dee Drake—golfers who posed for the photos having to demonstrate the author’s way and not their own excellent swings.

      • The golf professionals who have helped me learn to play and develop my enjoyment of the game: Ken Raynor, Sam Marzenell, Bill Brown, Christopher Hayes, and Mark Mahon. Ken, Sam, and Chris also provided invaluable feedback about ways in which the book can help improve the play of seniors.

      • My loving wife, Delia, who, after seven books, once again read every word and provided countless constructive suggestions.

      My heartfelt thanks to you all.

      Chapter 1

      The Senior Game

      Golfer: Do you think I can get there with a 5-iron?

      Caddy: Eventually.

      Ten years ago I could easily have cleared that pond.

      I’m okay until about the fourteenth hole, then I can feel myself getting tired.

      I’ve had to shorten my backswing, otherwise my old back will keep me up all night.

      Sound familiar?

      As much as we may hate to admit it, at sixty-plus we’re different. We’re different from younger golfers both physically and mentally. These changes usually come slowly and subtly. While not necessarily bad, they do impact how we play. The good news is that awareness of these changes allows us to adapt to them; we can still lower our scores and get more fun from our favorite pastime.

      More fun and lower scores aren’t just wishful thinking. This is a special time in most of our lives—the pressure of earning a living is gone or

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