One of the things this blog prides itself on is NOT telling you how to improve your game. Sure, we may highlight a product or two that we feel is useful (like those neat pocket guides from Golf Genie). But what you won’t find is us telling you how to fix that hitch in your swing or how high to tee-up your ball…that’s just not us.

That being said, about nine months ago I wrote a post entitled; “I Get My Swing Advice from a Guy who Doesn’t Golf.” The book (Golf Sense – Practical Tips On How To Play Golf In The Zone) inspired me to proclaim the following:

“Golf Sense is packed with simple ways to put you in (and keep you in) a calm and relaxed state of mind on the course (which will translate into a more relaxed swing, and subsequently lower scores)…my plan is to put [the] book to the test. Beginning in the new year, I am going to practice a few of the exercises at home. Then, once the weather gets warmer, I will move to the range and finally to the course. I’ll post sometime next season about how I’m progressing.“

I wrote the previous statements with all the gusto one has in the early off-season – you know, that “I can’t wait to get back out there next spring” feeling. Well, an unusually long offseason (more than six months passed before I stepped out on the course again) threw me off my normal routine a bit. And when I finally did resume hacking up courses, my drive to test out some of the techniques in the book had passed.

Not to treat the book like an old girlfriend, but…it wasn’t the book; it was me. Two things had happened in those six months: First, I had never missed playing in April and by May, I was putting pressure on myself to get back out there as quickly as possible. The second thing was…well, it was another book I had read (ok, maybe this is sounding a bit like a breakup).

The other book (Little Balls Big Dreams) is a novel about an average golfer who, after hitting a hole-in-one, starts playing scratch golf. Anyway, there’s a chapter in the book where he attends this golf school that mentally prepares up-and-comers for the tour. In a passage at the beginning of that chapter, the group is being taught how much time it really takes to play a round of golf:

“It takes only two seconds to execute the average golf swing. ‘Bout a second for the back swing and another for the downswing and follow through…Say you shoot a 70. 70 times two seconds equals 140 seconds…I’m going to teach you boys how to make the best of those 140 seconds. Take charge of them. And how to use the other three hours, fifty-seven minutes and forty seconds to channel your energy [so you can] focus your attention on those two minutes and twenty seconds.“

Of all the swing advice I’ve been given; all that I have read – over 20 years worth…nothing has stuck with me as much as that previous passage. It just makes sense. You can do whatever you want during the rest of the round (BS with your buddies; take-in the scenery; ponder the type of beer you’ll have in the 19th-hole…whatever). But for those two minutes and 20 seconds (or in my case, 3 minutes and 6 seconds) focus on nothing else but making the perfect golf shot.

And that’s what I have tried to do on each and every shot this season – focus on the three minutes and six seconds that count. Hey, if I was willing to take golf advice from a guy who doesn’t golf, why not take it from a fictional novel?

So, has it worked?

Simply put…Yes. Am I a scratch golfer? No. But for not golfing all that much this year, I have been playing much better than I expected. My scores are a full two-strokes down from last season and I’ve been hitting better shots overall. I can be BS-ing right up to the point where I take my stance. And then I try to clear my mind, focus on the shot I want to make and swing. Those are my two seconds.

Interestingly, it’s not always easy to remember I should be focusing right before my swing – and when I don’t, I tend to mis-hit my shot. Once I start focusing again though, my results improve. Perhaps many of you do this already, but it didn’t register for me until I read the passage above.

Nothing against “Golf Sense” – it’s a good book and in fact, it basically conveys much of the same advice (albeit in a more complex way). Perhaps I’ll re-read it again in the future. But for now, I’m sticking with the best swing advice I’ve ever received.