Seriously. Palmer had it given to him in the playoff, and managed to hit a tee shot that was almost as bad as Keegan Bradley’s. Keegan hit a decent escape shot, though. His 68 today was pretty solid compared to the field.
It’s fatigue more than anything else probably. I play a very hilly course and my feet start to hurt around the 13th hole or so. I think it is a ‘walking’ issue more than physical conditioning. I’m sure that I could have run the entire distance (with a bag on my shoulders) and not have sore feet, if that makes sense…
I don’t want to clutter up the thread with something that may just be of interest to me, but I welcome any tips or training suggestions.
I’d be interested in hearing that too. I am planning out a conditioning program now that I’m out of school for summer, so I’m open to suggestions.
There ain’t no threadjacking, in fact it’s getting to be a little tense getting a hundred hits a day on this thread & jrich is the only other guy that posts regularly. It’s a little lonely in here to tell the truth. What comes to mind first is caffeine & nitrates. Both of them will constrict blood flow, I try to eliminate both of them if I’m playing anything significant. Also if you drink anything with caffeine & a lot of sugar you’re bound to crash toward the end of your round. I’m by no means a health nut, I still smoke but I control my diet pretty seriously when I’m competing. Night before generally poultry or seafood with pasta to Carb load & usually a single glass of pinot noir; morning of just a bagel with a shmear & lox if I’m somewhere civilized. I always have a couple of Payday bars in my bag, I hate those gross energy bars & Paydays won’t melt, & mostly water maybe 1 Gatorade while I’m playing. What I eat & drink has a huge effect on how I feel especially down the stretch & it definitely affects performance big time.
Also this is one of the other notes I made for the travelling section, never play a tournament with new shoes. I made that mistake a couple of times when I was younger, the worst was the first time I played in the NorCal Am. It was the first time I went off to a tourney without my folks & they got me some really nice shirts & new white spikes for me to wear at the event. I never even tried to walk more than around the living room in the golf shoes until the day of, wanted to look my best & by the 3rd hole I was in tears. I’ve still got the scar on my left heel from the silver dollar sized blister I got that day, and that was 20 yrs ago. Always wear comfortable shoes, I don’t care what they look like.
LCD wrote:
I agree, most of those things taste like cardboard with a little chocolate on them. I’m not a gourmet or nutritionist, but Barry Sears "Zone " bars are pretty decent. If you read his stuff, or watch the videos on his website, he makes a good case about evening out fluctuating levels of stuff in your body(carbs,proteins,fats, hormones), and you can’t help but wonder if it’d help your game.
Sounds interesting, I have always tried to stay away from most stuff that was made in a chemistry lab, a Payday is just peanuts & a caramel like substance, I trust that more than all the stuff that’s masquerading as anything but a candy bar. As far as I’m concerned the energy bars are just candy bars in disguise that taste like crap & are injected with 20 things that 5 yrs from now will be discovered to cause cancer & gallstones. I already have cigarettes & hard water for that anyway.
Also I’ve got tight hamstrings so I’m always looking for a cart path curb or something to stretch them out & I try to catch myself when I’m walking to keep good posture, not hunch over looking down all the time when I’m carrying my bag especially if I just hit a poor shot. If my posture gets bad my feet & my shoulder where my bag strap rests are bound to get sore. Little things like that can make a big difference too. Plus you’d be amazed how much posture affects your mood as well.
Keep posting LCDV, this stuff is fantastic! Thanks for the Carey Mumford info, got the book and a profile done out of a deep curiosity to understand what’s going on in the ol’ noggin about golf and life… will be studying it with earnest. It’s lonely at the top… I’m really not in a position to add anything significant, so I just sit and absorb like good students should. 
Some great thoughts here. I really need to elimate caffeine intake.
I AlWAYS bring snickers bars to tournaments, along with a 6 pack or so of gatorade if it’s summertime (very easy to lose electrolytes quickly out here in AZ in the summer). I typically try to drink gatorade every other hole and water on the ones in between.
I can relate to the blisters as well. I did the same thing a few years ago for a 4 day basketball camp. Brand new nikes, and after part one of day one, the insides of the heel were blood stained. It was a tough week, and I still have the scars to prove it.
Thanks Alec, I tried most of the things you suggested. I have eliminated coffee and sugar and the meals and nutrition are actually quite similar to yours also… Well, at least it’s good to know that I have it narrowed down to a feet or shoe problem.
Your suggestion about wearing comfortable shoes did give me an idea as I may just need insoles to provide some more support. I’ll try it tomorrow, who knows maybe I just have flat feet 
I always buy my golf shoes 1/2 size larger than normal and this variance allows for the natural foot expansion that occurs under stress.
As for food: When I used to play alot, I used to carry some home-made “muffkies” that were great. I don’t think I have the recipe anymore, but it was highlighted in Golf Digest, I think, years ago. The muffkies were something that Barbara Nicklaus made for Jack to eat during the round. A lot of unusual stuff in it as I recall, which doesn’t require refrigeration, and a bit dry to eat, but it worked really well along with just a plain bottle of water. Maybe Two has it in his archives!..I think they were called Muffkies.
Now Mall Rat makes something that is kind of similar in approach. Here’s the recipe ingredients, stolen from Dr. Mike’s Cookies:
Truvia…agave nectar…egg…vanilla…whole wheat flour…baking soda…cinnamon…salt…black pepper…vanilla whey powder…oats…dried cherries…almonds. These “cookies” are very good and work really good for energy and stamina.
Now for the good news…Mall Rat just informed me while typing that she saved the Muffkie recipe!!!.
Anyone want the recipe straight from the Golden Bear?
You bet, I’d like to see the recipe RR.
Seriously, we’re talking about energy bars and buying a larger size golf shoe so your feet can have room to expand? Really?
C’mon. LCDV, let’s get to the heart of it–more on the X and Y axis, impact, where it counts. We’re all here, reading and…waiting…Not all of us are competing weekly. I may be wrong, but I’ll bet there are minions on the sidelines here, mid-to-high cappers, looking for some inspiration. If I’m wrong, say so, and I’ll move on from this thread…Btw, I’ve used the clear key and Mumford’s practice teachings with some success.
If you had six months to live, what would you tell us…let’s get to it…
As always, with all respect…
“What is it FOR?” A critical question I often forget to ask when thinking about something.
Food and liquids…what are they FOR?
“An army travels on its stomach” is an old adage attributed to Napolean. So even the great general thought about it, and gave it importance.
Proper nutrition can prevent high(which can be bad also) and low blood sugar…which can prompt the adrenal gland to secret adrenaline( which will get the blood sugar back up)…which is probably not good for most of us coming down the stretch. Anxiety usually provides more than enough adrenaline without our mismanaged blood sugar adding on.
Al Geiberger, “Mr. 59”, was famous for keeping peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in his golf bag, to eat at a time to keep his energy up.
We need liquids to prevent dehydration, which can bring on all sorts of dysfunctions, including heat stroke and death. It is said that one reason the the Israelis won the 6 day war so handily was their aggressive hydration( one liter per hour)…and that many opposing soldiers were found dead in the desert…of dehydration, not bullet wounds. Anyone can monitor their own hydration simply by noticing the color of their urine…the lighter, the better the state of hydration.
Well then…from the rat files:
Teebox: Straight from the recipe that I clipped from Golf Digest and Mall Rat saved.
[b]JACKS TREAT
What contributed to Jack Nicklaus shooting the lowest playoff round ( 65 ) in USGA history at the Senior Open? Perhaps it was the high-energy treat Jack often munches during play. Here’s wife Barbara’s recipe for what they call “muffkies”
Combine: 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1 cup quick oats
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinamon
Then set aside.
Combine: 3 cups pureed bananas
3 egg whites, beaten until stiff
Blend dry ingredients with banana/egg white mixture
Add: 1 1/2 cup raisins
Place on lightly greased cookie sheet in the shape of a large chocolate chip cookie.
Bake at 325* for 10 to 12 minutes. Best if a fraction undercooked. Yield: 12 to 14 muffkies.[/b]
They work well…
That is great information Eagle…really good to know.
Also good stuff about hydration. Most people however go about it all wrong- they get the water bottle out for the first time when they notice they are thirsty- whatever hole that might be. However it’s too late by then. Proper hydration starts hours before the event and continues from the first tee onward.
Ok, LCDV, now we have recipes. 
How about 1 cup of X axis, half cup of Y, third teaspoon of grit, two-thirds cups of determination and perseverance…what does that get us?
Paul, breathe man… while I would rather not turn this into the cooking channel with Mrs Nicklaus’s cookie recipes, there’s still nothing wrong with that. It’s pretty funny & the boss says that recipe sounds good.
I’m not gonna get into mechanics here, it ain’t my place & I ain’t gonna do it. Y’all have one of the best instructors in the world and he knows what he’s doing. If I’d have had these modules whean I was in college I might have actually won something with a purse bigger than 15 grand. The reason I want to do this thread is to share what I was always good at, grinding it out & turning nothing into something. What I’ve posted already is honestly the bulk of it, about 80% of the nitty gritty and enough to spend a lifetime putting to use. Reps, reps, reps… Add 1 more variation… do this a tiny bit better… nothing here is glamorous at all. That the game, always has been always will. And here there’s no secrets, no BS, that’s pretty rare. I like it.
Paul if you’ve worked with CK that’s excellent, you’ve probably figured out that it’s not compatible with a hitting protocol, there’s ways around that by using shot visualization instead of the mantra. Everything is adaptable. I’m gonna get to the rest, but I’m also in the middle of administering 3 final exams for 3 different classes, both my sons are graduating and the boss just bought 2 alpacas last month & I’m just now figuring out what the hell they are… It’s gonna take a few weeks to get all this in here & then I’ll start putting some video in & a YouTube channel to be a companion. I figured the whole time it was gonna be a project thru the summer & that sounds right.
Please post & PM thoughts questions recipes whatever. I’ve got it setup so my Droid ding-dongs anytime somebody posts or PMs. Please do, this is supposed to be fun dammit…
LCDV–you’re right, and I’ll stay on the other side of the wall. And I appreciate your insights so far and will read and learn from them from the sidelines. All the best.
L,
Been busy lately and having computer issues that I think are resolved now so I haven’t been too active but I do have some questions. I need to get reset on where we are with this thread first.
Again - thanks for taking the time to massage this one.
robbo
I’ll jump in here for a moment to discuss how I approached things on tour… quite the wrong way I am sure looking back.
I tried to bring as much sameness to each day… I would eat the same concoction each morning, stretch in the hotel room the same way, arrive at the course at the same time, warm up the same way each day. It certainly contributed to burnout and feeling robotic.
If I went out there now, I would throw all that away and view each week as a unique situation and just feel my way through it using intuition and common sense. I would eat the food that is grown locally, I would stretch if I felt I needed to. I would warm up if I felt I needed to or not. I would not waste my practice rounds stepping off yardages, instead I would focus on shaping different drives into the fairways with different trajectories…I would try to hit as many different shots into the greens as I could, and not participate in Tuesday money games or other similar comps. I would not grind balls on the range ever, but would spend time chipping and hitting a few sand shots. I would not try to force any week, and spend more time exploring the various cities and other places of interest. I am sure I would shoot 65 more often.