After saying all that, if you were to imagine the two of us playing together but for arguments sake you are Ben Crenshaw & I’m Lanny Wadkins, in our primes of course. We may hit it about the same distance, even hit the same clubs into all the greens but the processes are like they come from different planets. Very different paths, techniques, mindsets to arrive at the same destination. If either of us tried to emulate the other I don’t think there would be a great deal of success. We’re both very good at what we do and are aware that our individual approaches to the game are going to maximize each of our potentials. Do what’s right for you, not what everyone else seems to be doing, that seems to be a pretty universal theme around here 
Id like to go back to IOZs question and thoughts about finishing a round. In a static environment every stroke has an equal value but in real world scenarios that is far from the case. Realistically the last 3 holes are by far the most important even in a stroke play format. The final 3 should always be the best played of the round as you have 15 holes worth of information already of exactly what you shot patterns are and what you are doing well that day. Also it is critical to walk off the course in the most positive mindset possible with a clear idea of what you want to spend time on in your next practice session. The best time to practice is always right after you play. And if nothing else dinner always tastes better when you birdie the last.
Whenever you’re working on your game (which is most of the time) you’re going to end up fighting it on the course a lot, facing a lot of shots that don’t feel right, trying to make mechanical changes stick & work while trying to post a score at the same time. This takes a lot of mental energy. If there’s a lot of stuff going on with your game and it feels like it’s hanging on by a thread on the course I think an adjustment in mindset would be in order. A lot of times if I’m playing a friendly nassau I play possum a bit, I want to just hang around & ideally be 1 down on 16 tee. I’m thinking from before I hit my first tee shot I’m gonna be 1 down with 3 to go, press & finish birdie birdie birdie to win the back, 18 & the press. I’ll even hit some shots in the first 15 holes that I’m picturing one of the shots I know I’ll face on the last 3 to get that picture in my mind of knowing that I’m going to be totally focused when I get to the end of the round. Try playing the entire round with this mentality, don’t worry so much about the first 15 but use them to prepare yourself to bring it home strong, there’s no doubt you’ll be fresher and ready when you get there.
Paul C,
Good story. ( Venturi, on " great ballstrikers thread")
And Venturi’s performance during his near heat stroke brings me back to what LCD started. He was in a horrific physical state, all he could do was play from his core , his swing DNA( as Lag calls it).
LCD said:
I think a lot of you are wanting to know about routine and preparation the day of and I got a feeling you’re going to be really disappointed.
If you had to choose between these, what would it be?
enough sleep…OR …playing on “automatic” ( your DNA)
good nutrition
no hangover
proper hydration
plenty of practice range time
yardage books
a team of coaches
Maybe the best world would be both. But maybe sometimes things on the left may inhibit playing on automatic. And automatic may trump everything else. It is said Hagen could show up in last night’s tux and hangover, and win. Maybe this is why.
So is this evidence that we should develop out swing DNA, then turn our mental over-thinking faculties off on the course…play by DNA.( like we brush our teeth…I could do that with a hangover with just as well).
Ok I think I know what you’re getting at, let me address Hagen first. He was a big time Persuader & went about things the PT Barnum route, I heard all the stories from both points of view & tend to believe that a lot of those cocktails got fed to potted plants & the tuxedos got put back on the next morning. He cared about money number one & made a spectacle of himself to open doors & get paid and it worked so well it changed the status & image of the entire profession. He was a master showman & I don’t think he ever put a peg in the ground without being prepared to kick ass & take names even with the circus going on all around. Any other thought I think demeans one of the all time greats.
What I’m getting after with my own day of prep is that I want to get to the course ready to compete. My style dictates that I view a stroke play tournament round about halfway between a boxing match & a game of chess (which btw I view as the more intrinsically violent of the two). The time for preparation is over, it’s time to focus & execute the gameplan I’ve already set out. I’ve practiced the shots at home & made my hole by hole strategy in the two or three days before the event. At this point an hour or two before I tee off if I need to work on mechanics I may as well withdraw. I want to stretch out, maybe work up a sweat & be left the hell alone with my thoughts as I get to ‘that place’. Like Lag says, it’s a big time narcissistic place you need to be able to channel & you have to be selfish to a high degree. I’m a Driver & when I compete I got total tunnel vision. My car could be on fire in the parking lot & as long as no one’s inside I could give a shit less until I’m damn well done. I know I’m not pleasant to be around & snap at any little thing so I go off by myself, it’s best all around. The hard part was turning it off after when my wife wasn’t traveling with me, all she ever has to do is look at me & I snap out of it because I know she’ll kill me. You can all imagine how strong & crazy anyone must be to spend all these years with a nut like me & still be in love. Insert big words here… But before the round I never felt it had anything to do with hitting balls or putts next to everybody else and all the bullshit getting to the course pushing two hours ahead of time, I don’t get it & it’s not me. Every time I’ve done it I got nervous & started obsessing about this guy or that guy & oh that guy’s got a good move over there he’s gonna be tough to beat. I don’t want to think about
ANY of that, don’t even want to see it. I want to be loose, focused on the task at hand & ready to rock. When I’m really focused I don’t even know if it’s raining, I’ve had rounds when I’ve gotten to the 5th tee & realized I’m soaked & it’s been pouring for half an hour. That’s the best part for me, I like the challenge of the competition & becoming so lost in it that the whole world fades away. I don’t like practicing all that much but I picture those moments in competition when I practice the best. That’s the goal when I’m going through the 4x4s & backbreaking putting drills where I wear the grass off of the practice green. It’s pretty private stuff & another reason I don’t like warming up hitting with my fellow competitors, how I go about preparing to beat them is none of their damn business & I don’t want to give them any ideas.
Some good stuff there. I can attest to getting too into other people’s moves on the range, as well as snapping at little things beforehand. When my dad and I go to one of my tournaments, I find it best to ride all the way there with headphones on in the car. I am too easily aggravated, and it has nothing to do with those around me or what they do, but everything to do with the prep process.
OMG, TM you’ve gotta be the single most patient person I’ve ever seen in my life. That has to be the longest thread ever, I’ve gotten thru about 25% of it & you’re website. Very impressive btw, I absolutely cannot believe you’re charging under 100/hr. That has to be the greatest bargain in the history of the game, good for you for making yourself about what really matters. There’s a bunch of guys at the Harmon Ranch with zero credentials charging 250 or more who I wouldn’t trust a Mickey Mouse putter to. I don’t know how you keep the positivity to keep going around & around with guys who just don’t get it & have no interest in simple logic, I mean really really simple logic. I read as much as I can & it gets so depressing because the arguments are so much bigger than golf. None of the kool aid drinkers understand that this is an argument of supply side economics, the death of American industry & the infestation of petroleum products into every aspect of our lives. The symbolism of the dumbing down & rampant obesity of the country I love is totally overwhelming, it makes me cringe reading over & over & over the way these people defend their useless garbage that they get conned into paying gargantuan prices for that’s made out of unsustainable, ridiculous materials that makes them worse every time they use them. It’s like eating McDonald’s every day except if was $100 & made out of California Condors. Big ups to a very patient consomate professional.
Out of all the crap that’s out there, the social media that’s totally misused, technology wasted by those with power but not foresight (or a soul) I’m really glad we’ve got eBay. I got all excited last week when I read that Levis reintroduced 3 vintage cuts of American made selvedge jeans. That was until I got on the J Crew website & saw the $350 price tag.
$350.00… that takes balls man, the same pair of jeans that my dad paid $5/pair for at Sears is now a limited edition I have to pay 350 plus shipping for while there are 40 million people in this country un or under employed. Let me tell you when that’s gonna happen, paying that kind of money but what are any of us supposed to do, how are we supposed to support our own when there’s nothing there, not even a decent pair of Levis that are made here & priced to buy rather than laugh at. It’s an insult, total disrespect & a disease we have been infected with by corporate decision makers without a care in the world for anything past the next quarterly profit statement & of course the bonus check. I have no problem ever paying for quality & even a little more for American but I’ll never pay for spontaneous consumption, especially after living in Las Vegas. The reason I was so excited in the first place to get some old school Levis that would last like a good pair of boots was because I split a third pair of made in Mexico Wranglers right down the ass when I was working out back. And it’s not like I’m a real big dude either, but if it’s a choice between that & being robbed & insulted I’ll chop wood with my ass hanging out. Thank goodness for an accessible marketplace where I can buy old stock products like a pair of jeans that won’t split since the United States of America decided they don’t make ANYTHING anymore. It might keep me from having to kill my son who sneaking up behind with his cameraphone thinking I’m stupid…
Just remember: bend at the knee…bend at the knee. 
The silent majority is rising up and taking back this country LCDV. Unfortunately, it can’t happen overnight! That’s all I will say on that subject as this is a golf forum.
Captain Chaos
LCD you should podcast or something…your rants are just as enjoyable to read as your golfing ideas. McDonalds out of California Condor? That’s solid and I might have to borrow it.
Funny thing LCDV, people look at the prices of lessons with TM and talk about how expensive they are. Always talking about making a cheaper deal, but are more than willing to throw away $400 for new drivers and irons. Brainwashed into believing that new clubs are the answer to distance and accuracy without swinging properly.
To: Fredrick Jacobson
3 cans Sherman Williams are in the kitchen as discussed, please wash the sprayer after finishing with the redwood stain outside. There’s an extra 20 in it if you’re done by 5:00. Thanks again, there’s beer in the fridge.
-A
Intersting to note that Sergio has allegedly switched to a “zero practice ball” tournament warmup and is having a decent open.
Bob Rosburg won the 1959 PGA with no warm up range balls. A few putts on the practice green to get a feel for speed.
He shot 66 the final round.
How to shoot 65? Maybe he should have hit a few warm up shots! 
https://forum.advancedballstriking.com/t/reverse-old-course-st-andrews/2256/2
Most definitely applicable for shot visualization and strategy. Throw out the rules and redifine.
Jacobi…
Been away for a while, inspiration hit big time so Keynesian opining hyperbole goes on the back burner for a while. Be back when I’m back.
I have no business posting in this thread – more along the lines of how to shoot 79 – but the effect of changing one’s attitude is interesting to me. Any credence to what he’s saying (around 4 min and beyond) regarding changing comfort zones and if so, how difficult is it to do w/ success?
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2220713/pga_tour_player_golf_instruction/
I went down & played the Cal Club a couple weeks ago with my son & it was really disappointing, they spent a ton of dough and it’s supposed to to be a return to Mackenzieist design & nothing could be further from the truth. I played some different tees on the holes to make the yardage play about right considering I was using persimmon & balata, I guess it would add up to just over 7000 yds. It was damn near impossible to score, there’s forced carries everywhere & the green complexes don’t work at all for the shots I was hitting a lot of times from 175-210. The bunkering is incredibly severe & the heather is insane I lost two balls in it less than 10 yds from the greens. This isn’t what the good Dr had in mind, there are zero runups available and no real bailouts either. Call me sour grapes but this just doesn’t work anymore. There are math problems that by definition so not have a solution & this is one of them. Even with proper gear & ammo it’s not possible to score on courses like these & I really really really really don’t want to hear that I have to find tracks that haven’t been converted yet because sooner or later they all will. LACC, Pebble, Olympic & Merion are all hallowed ground & they’re all done. It’s damn hard not to just call a spade a spade, I like playing golf but I’m not all that interested in shooting 68 but having to post 76 at Cal. It’s stoopid.
Playing golf out on the peninsula at anything near 7000 sound a bit too much. Wasn’t The Cal Club about 6600 back in the day? With the damp air, terrain, fog and sea level, that’s all you need with persimmon.