Equipment
Three tips to think about nothing while over the ball
After delivering a seminar for the PGA of Philadelphia, a gentleman walked up to me and said “Hi, I’m Dr. Howdy Giles. I was Arnold Palmer’s dentist.” Howdy, and I have been friends ever since and he was kind enough to introduce me to the King in April of 2016. On that memorable day, we asked Arnie what he thought about when standing over the ball, and his response was simple.
Nothing.
To condition yourself to think about nothing while standing over the ball, you must be highly disciplined. These three tips provide you with a dose of daily discipline so you can start thinking like a king today.
No. 1. Challenge Yourself Daily
This self-empowering activity is so much fun and highly motivating. Off the course, your Daily Challenge could be as simple as completing a task, starting a task, making that certain phone call or committing to one thing that will take you out of your comfort zone.
On the course, your Daily Challenge might be to visualize every shot, stay positive the entire round or to think about nothing while standing over the ball. Once you determine your Daily Challenge, it takes only 2 seconds to write it down. Writing it down makes you much more committed and self empowers you to achieve it. Every one of our golfers doing the Daily Challenge absolutely loves it, and I know you will too.
No. 2. Crush Your Morning and Evening Routine
If you want to take control of each day, physically change your path to get in and out of bed each day. The reason why is that 95 percent of what you do today is the same as what you did yesterday, which means you are on auto-pilot almost the entire day. By changing how you get in and out of bed, you create the perfect framework for constant improvement because you are in control of the very first thing you do each day, and the very last thing you do.
Total time required to reroute your path in and out of bed is about 1 second.
No. 3. Ask Yourself a Better Question
Did you know the quality of your life is only as good as the quality of the questions you ask yourself? The conversations you have in your mind must be focused on improvement, not on what’s wrong. The danger in asking yourself the wrong questions is that your subconscious mind will provide you with all the right answers to your wrong questions. You know that dreadful feeling of being stuck or frustrated and you have no clue how to improve? The reason why is your communication creates a perpetual road block with no chance for a detour. Asking the wrong questions makes it virtually impossible for you to succeed, in golf and in life.
If you ask yourself why you can’t perform under pressure or why your short game stinks, your subconscious provides you with a host of reasons why. By asking questions that start with “Why is it so easy,” everything changes instantly.
For example, say any of these questions out loud right now and see how they make you feel:
- Why is it so easy to make this putt?
- Why is it so easy to relax and be totally calm right now?
- Why is it so easy to think about nothing standing over the ball?
By constantly asking “why is it so easy,” you will feel more relaxed which equates to lower stress and less anxiety. Lowering your physical and emotional anxiety translates to better golf, and the best part about it is that asking a better question takes about 2 seconds!
In Extreme Ownership by U.S. Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, they said something at the end that really caught my attention.
Discipline = Freedom
These three simple discipline tips will help you play your best and create freedom in your game, both on and off the course.
To recap:
1. Take the Daily Challenge (2 seconds)
2. Crush Your Morning and Evening Routine (1 second)
3. Ask a Better Question (2 seconds)
- LIKE103
- LEGIT10
- WOW5
- LOL5
- IDHT2
- FLOP9
- OB1
- SHANK90
Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
- LIKE13
- LEGIT2
- WOW1
- LOL1
- IDHT0
- FLOP1
- OB0
- SHANK3
Whats in the Bag
Akshay Bhatia WITB 2024 (May)
- Akshay Bhatia what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. Bhatia is deciding between drivers. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees @7.2, 2 grams lead tape heel, 4 grams toe)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (44 7/8 inches, tipped 1 inch)
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees @13.9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X (43 inches, tipped 1.5)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW Prototype (19 degrees @17.8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees) Buy here, Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Split
Grips: Iomic
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
More photos of Akshay Bhatia’s WITB in the forums.
- LIKE5
- LEGIT1
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Whats in the Bag
Emiliano Grillo WITB 2024 (May)
- Emiliano Grillo what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
5-wood: Cobra LTDx Prototype (18.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Callaway MD3 Milled (46-08S), Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S, 54-10S, 60-08T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Flatso 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Emiliano Grillo’s clubs here.
- LIKE1
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
19th Hole1 day ago
Report: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole1 week ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Whats in the Bag1 week ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
TaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract
-
Equipment1 week ago
Golf fans left surprised by LIV’s choice of course for its 2024 individual championship event
Pingback: Don’t think over the ball—especially about shanks or white elephants
crit5011
Feb 6, 2017 at 2:33 pm
I mastered thinking of nothing in the 60’s and my high school teachers will confirm it and and….sorry what was I saying.
edge of lean
Feb 6, 2017 at 12:46 pm
Uuhhh*
Miuralovechild
Feb 5, 2017 at 12:37 am
I remember watching Peter Jacobson and Matt Greaser on Golf Channel talk about their 26 swing thoughts before impact.
Spencer
Feb 5, 2017 at 12:26 am
I think of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
Scott
Feb 6, 2017 at 8:51 am
You were suppose to keep your mind totally blank!!
Double Mocha Man
Feb 4, 2017 at 9:02 pm
This article’s been posted for about 8 hours. Apparently nobody’s thinking about nothing. No comments.
Tom
Feb 5, 2017 at 10:17 am
we’re still caught up on the Under Armor golf bag article
Double Mocha Man
Feb 6, 2017 at 1:32 pm
Thanks alot Tom…now you have me thinking about the UA golf bags. Try not to think of elephants…