The New Golf Season Is Here… Can We Finally Go Low?

The new golf season is finally here.

After months of conversations with some of the smartest minds in golf improvement, it's time to stop talking and start applying what we've learned on the golf course.

In this episode, Dave and Chris check in on their current handicaps, revisit the biggest lessons from recent guests, and share exactly what they're focusing on as they chase their goals of single figures and scratch golf this season.

🎯 We Discuss:

✅ Why our handicaps are finally moving in the right direction
✅ The five key components of golf improvement
✅ Scott Fawcett's advice to "own a shape with driver"
✅ Jon Sherman's lessons on process, resilience and not giving up on your round
✅ Karl Morris on mindset, pressure and the "I'll be happy when..." trap
✅ Chase Cooper's swing changes that are already transforming our games
✅ Alex Huang's simple formula for lowering your handicap
✅ The biggest areas we're focusing on this season

Whether you're trying to break 100, break 90, break 80, or get to scratch golf, this episode is packed with practical golf improvement ideas, strategy, mindset lessons, and real-world experiences from two golfers trying to get better.

🗺️ The Golf Improvement Roadmap

If you're serious about lowering your handicap this season, this is the roadmap episode.

⛳ Follow the journey as we put these lessons to the test and find out whether they actually work when the scorecard is in hand.

🎙️ ABOUT THE SHOW

How Low Can You Go explores how amateur golfers can improve their game, lower their scores, and actually understand what moves the needle — without wasting time on the wrong things.

🎧 Listen now and start turning bad rounds into better golf.

📸 Instagram
 https://www.instagram.com/howlowcanyougopodcast/

📺 YouTube
 https://www.youtube.com/@HowLowCanYouGoPodcast

💌 Contact
 howlowcanyougopodcast@gmail.com

🏨 Big shout out to The Leddie on Scotland’s Golf Coast.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:01

So if this podcast is how low can you go, it's also well how high are you willing to risk going? Really what what golf is is just like finding out different ways to distract yourself from the results. We're gonna really focus on owning a shape with the driver.

SPEAKER_04 0:16

If you do what I say, you will get better.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

What can I do to make this a never bogey book?

SPEAKER_00 0:21

I think most of us fall into the trap of I'll be happy when.

SPEAKER_06 0:37

The new golf season is here. The handicaps are moving, the scorecards are going in, and the hope springs eternal once again for golfers everywhere. Over the winter, we have been lucky enough to learn some of the best minds in the game of golf. We've taught technique, skills, strategy, fitness and performance of nine. Now it's the time to put those lessons into practice and see what happens on the golf course. So today we are checking in on where our games are at. We are revisiting some of the biggest lessons from our guests and sharing exactly what we're focusing on as we chase our goals this season. The roadmap has been drawn. Now it's time to see if any of this actually works. Born in Scotland. The show where we talk the talk, but we also walk the walk when it comes to getting better at golf. Isn't that right, Chris? That is right, Dave. And the handicaps are coming down, just like. Oh yes. Yes, they are. Chris, what's been happening with your handicap? Tell us, tell us all.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

My handicap has gone down to 2.7. It might be just 0.2, but it is coming down, and that's all we need.

SPEAKER_06 2:33

So hold on, you you were 2.9, but you're down to 2.7. Is that what you're saying?

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Yeah, I am down to 2.7. But I will say, and this is the dreaded thing of the Scottish Golf app, I have a 1.3 that will come off with my next uh shot. So basically, once that pings off, then who knows where the handicap could go.

SPEAKER_06 2:55

And I think most people can probably relate to that. That moment, whenever you've got one of your good rounds out of your kind of top eight on the world handicap system, when one of those is just about to drop off. And you feel pretty reluctant to put a card in, like a lot of the time. You feel like I just want to hold on to that a little bit longer, don't you?

SPEAKER_03 3:17

Exactly. And that's what's kind of I'm trying to listen to what like Dr. Raymond Pryor said about basically like not letting like my handicap dictate everything about my golf. But when this is sitting right there, and I know my next round, it's almost like a pressure for the next round, which kind of puts me in a threat mode. Do you know what I mean? When we've talked about that, it makes me feel it makes me feel like I'm almost under the under the gun kind of thing.

SPEAKER_06 3:46

Yeah, yeah, no, I absolutely know how that feels, and that that's the degree of golf. Everyone experiences that, no matter what level of golf they're playing at. I would I would suggest. But but then you get people who just put cards in absolutely every time they play, and I think we probably should do that, Chris. It's just I think sometimes when we are not totally sure if we're gonna get a full 18 played, or if we're gonna get whether we're just playing nine or whatever, and with with us both with time limitations, it's sometimes difficult to just absolutely commit to here we go, today I'm putting a card in, and that's what's happening.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

And sometimes though, it's like I feel like I'm not fully playing that well. So I'm like, do I want to put in a card when I'm having when I'm trying to figure something out in the swing?

SPEAKER_06 4:40

You know, I I haven't been striking it that well, so I'll wait until I'm playing better to then put a card in. But then you know, this is the crazy thing about golf. You could have the worst round of your life and then follow it up with the best round of your life the next day. So you've almost got to be there ready, prepared to catch those good moments, I think.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

Exactly. And what's uh what's your handicap sitting at just now, mate?

SPEAKER_06 5:02

So I've come down fairly significantly. So I come down from 14.8 to 14.2, so that like feels like almost a full stroke. So yeah, pretty happy with that. Is that the first time you've been a 14 handicapper? That's right, Chris. And you know, the other thing that I realized is because we played in a competition not that long ago, and I was handed a card and it said handicap 13, and I was going, here, what's happening with that? to Ali, one of the pros in the shop. And uh he was like, Oh yeah, that's your playing handicap, and I'm like, Wow, it feels like I've been cut, I've been cut even more here.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

What did that moment feel like? Like Sabin, you said, like, what is that mine? Was it almost like he gave you this kind of like nod of approval? Like, yeah, you're that guy, go out there and play some good goal.

SPEAKER_06 5:54

I don't know, like Ali is a pro, so I don't know if he thinks there teams that that much warranting a nod of approval, but uh no, it it uh it felt like progress has been made, Chris. And this is the crazy thing, you know what Carl Morris says all the time is that golfers have this problem where they're always kind of feeling I'll be happy when. I'll be happy when. And I remember years ago feeling like, oh, 13, 14 handicapped, whoa, that would be really good. I would be perfectly happy with that. You know, if I got to that level, then I would want nothing more. I remember even saying to people, look, I don't even want to be that good at golf, I just want to be kind of better than I am. And now you'd have a golf podcast showing again to sing about thank you. But it's funny, just when you you get to around, like I'm not saying it's great, but around where I am, I'm like, okay, uh this is this is definitely further forward in terms of improvement than than I was previously. So yeah, let's let's celebrate these moments, Chris, and hopefully we're trending and we'll continue trending in this direction.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

And do you think that's um came from obviously holding ourselves accountable and starting the podcast and having these guests on? Do you think like the words of wisdom you've heard from these brilliant people, do you think that's helping you?

SPEAKER_06 7:29

To give ourselves a bit of a shout out, Chris. We did appear on Carl Morris's podcast, The Mind Caddy, last week, which was a really surreal moment for us. And he was asking that question that you are asking. You know, obviously you've had these great people with really great information on your show, but has that almost meant that you feel like your head is too full of information, even though it's good information? He was asking us and we were going, oh, interesting question. I don't know, Chris. What do you think? I I I sort of think the way we've structured all of this, which we'll come to in a minute, uh, is uh is helping. And I certainly think having a podcast and that additional pressure that comes with that, hanging yourself out to dry in a kind of public setting. I think in some ways it's uncomfortable, but in other ways it it it hopefully stretches you and it means that you kind of try and rise to the occasion and and you get kind of used to feeling a bit uncomfortable and a bit pressurized and a bit exposed. And I think the more used to that I get, I think the more progress I am starting to see.

SPEAKER_03 8:53

Yeah, no, I I I agree. I definitely think that what Carl was asking about like, do we think that like our head could almost be like have too much information um going on? I have found like now that we've started the season, there's certain bits when I'm out playing that some information that I've listened to and I'm like, oh that I'm definitely going forward with that. I maybe put the the foot down way too much with it, and I can I can notice in the middle of the game, I'm like, that's not how I really feel comfortable yet playing with, especially if I've got a card in hand, especially if I'm playing in the middle. Yes. Like there was a lot of the times where my putting was very attacking, and let's say like before, I don't think I would hit a lot past like three or four feet and more. So I think when I was laying up more, it was leaving I was leaving myself in a position where I could like three putt from not even getting to the hole. And I'm not saying I need to get it to the hole, but I maybe just hadn't practiced my pace putting that well before I basically was trying to like foot down go for it.

SPEAKER_06 10:08

And I think what you were saying is that you've maybe you've taken certain snippets of information and you've possibly just gone a bit too far with it, or you you've kind of over-emphasized it too much. And it reminds me, I think it was like the kind of legendary old school golf teacher Harvey Pennock. I think he said something about golf advice, he compared it to like a bottle of aspirin. He's like, take the aspirin, but don't swallow the whole bottle. Yeah, and uh it's a bit like you can you can overfeed yourself on some of these things, but anyway, on the point of some of the really top quality guests that we've been having on our show, and we will absolutely continue to have because I think Chris, it's not just good for our game, we hope that it's also really good for our listeners' games as well. And we've had some really nice feedback from people saying that a lot of what they're listening to is really helping their game. So that's fantastic to hear. Keep the good feedback coming in. Um if you've been following us for a while, if you've been listening for a while, you have probably noticed we have laid out our five key components to golf improvement. We actually laid that out really early, Chris. We laid that out, I think, in the first or second episode. And they are technique, skills and shots, mental and performance, golf fitness, and strategy. And if you've been paying attention, you will uh hopefully have picked up on that the guests that we have been uh featuring on the show, they are experts uh in each of those key components. So a lot of these guests will correspond with, say, one or sometimes there's a bit of overlap, maybe one or two of the key components. So for example, technique, we had a fantastic conversation with Chase Cooper, and he actually analyzed our golf swings, and we're still working on some of the tips and the drills that he gave us recently. Um, then skills and shots. Adam Young, obviously fantastic at what he teaches with regard to really focusing on ball striking, the big three of ball striking. That's well worth a lesson there. And then also mental and performance. Obviously, Carl Morris, we were on his show last week, The Mind Caddy, Dr. Raymond Pryor. These are key leading voices in the field of mental and performance. And then Golf Fitness, we had a fantastic session with Chris Finn, and then also strategy, people like Scott Fawcett and Alex Huang from Decade. We love those guys. John Sherman, who was the guest on our last show. You know, interesting. John sort of said, yeah, he and Scott Fawcett debate this quite a bit. They're not quite sure if there is a real distinction between strategy and mental and performance. There's there's quite a lot of overlap there, but some really, really brilliant stuff from each of those guests. And that's what we're going to be continuing to do as we move forward. We continue to feature guests who correspond with our five key components of golf improvement. Because if you get slightly better at each of those, Chris, you're going to get better at golf, isn't that right?

SPEAKER_03 13:34

That is right. And as you can see from our handicaps, they're going down. So I've had the thing is as well, which is great, I've had friends messaging me, which I hope they keep doing, their handicaps as they're coming down that listen to the podcast, and that's what a great feeling that we're all winning together. See, with obviously having the five key components, is there any particular ones that you can pinpoint that you kind of hold to your chest when you're out there on the golf course that are getting you lowered, Dave?

SPEAKER_06 14:15

That is a really good question, Chris. So I think from my perspective, and we've talked about this a number of times, my ball striking needs to come up a level if I'm wanting to get to where I want to get to, single figures. And so over the winter, I have worked mostly on, I would say, in the skills and shots category, particularly with driver. And also, yeah, sorry, just quickly on that. For anyone who has been following this or anyone who's aware of my game is the driver could on good days be my best club, but on bad days it gets me into far too much trouble. And so over the winter, I spent a lot of time. I went to the track man a lot, went to the range a lot, just driver, driver, driver. And I think focusing so much on the likes of what Adam Young says for me is like trying to really hit that out of the middle of the club phase. But then interestingly, when I put that question to Scott Fawcett, who we sort of see more as the kind of strategy guy, less so on the kind of skills and shots, and he would quite clearly say he's not a mechanics guy. I always have his voice in my head when I'm practicing the drivers.

SPEAKER_04 15:35

We're going to really focus on owning a shape with the driver. I again, I don't care which one it is, but I want you to own a shape.

SPEAKER_06 15:42

I want you, you at your mid-handicap level, let's get you owning a shape with driver. For me, I kind of more naturally am hitting a fade, but which, as we've talked about, can sometimes be a slice. So I am really working on that. And then just on that point, with regard to the guys from Decade, when we had Alex Huang on the show, who uh worked really closely with Scott Fawcett at Decade, and he's got some absolutely brilliant information. He was saying to me at my level, he felt that if I improved driver and then I also improved pace control, and I did nothing else, I will get better at golf. He was saying 100% was what he said. 100% I would get better at golf. And just last point on that, Chris, what I find actually really frees me up uh is something that Alex Huang said is with regard to off the tee and driver. He said, Yes, we want to get it as far down there as possible. But he also said to me, I just want you to be able to find it again and be able to hit it again. Find it again and hit it again. So it almost takes the pressure off for me. It's like, oh, you know, feeling like I've got to hit a fairway, gotta hit a fairway, gotta hit a fair way. Just getting it far down there, and then hopefully so it's not in any severe trouble, and you've got a decent path for your next shot to be an attempt at getting it on the green, then that for me, Chris, really, really has freed me up. I feel nice like I have less pressure, but I also just feel like let's aim for somewhere where I can swing so free where I know I'm not gonna be risking sending the ball out of bounds or something like that. So that's really helped me thus far, and and I feel like I just want to keep going in that vein. Because you've seen it, Chris. I'd like to say you you've you've hopefully seen that my driving has definitely come up a little notch, I think, a notch or two. And walking off with the same ball I started with so often, which I think is a real indicator of better golf.

SPEAKER_03 18:05

I think there should always be like a little like tap yourself on the the back when you walk off the course with the same ball. Because if you think about it, there's like, say, for example, on average, like 85 or 90 shots that you hit on a golf course. That's 85 or 90 shots that you've hit that same, like you've hit 85 shots that haven't went out of bounds. So you definitely like I feel like everybody should like clap themselves on the back. I agree completely. I think yeah, I'll agree with you. I I definitely think your driving has come on leaps and bounds. Like you can there was a lot like when we first started playing together, like we've talked about before, your driving was like so erratic that it was putting you into dangerous positions, but I can see definitely that you're dri you have been working at the range and in the track, man, and getting that driver better. So congrats to you, man, and may the single figures come your way.

SPEAKER_05 19:02

Really, what what golf is is just like finding out different ways to distract yourself from the results.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Um I I would say for myself, I'll I'll definitely say the top one for me is from when John Sherman said that I need to be better at detaching from my actual score, like detaching myself from what am I at? Am I at two under, am I at one over, am I at three under? Like as I'm playing the round, because then all of a sudden I'm not playing golf freely in that.

SPEAKER_06 19:33

Just quick, just a quick thing on that, Chris. Because like I've played with you a lot, but I don't know if I I've ever noticed whether you are this type of golfer or not. But are you somebody who absolutely knows your score at all times? Are you? Yes.

SPEAKER_03 19:50

I can yeah, and I can go back and like say a round that we played, I can go back and tell you each shot that I've hit. And that's where I'm so attached, where it said, like, yep, you've hit a shot, move on to the next one. Like, I can think, which is probably like Carl Morris said, like journaling. Like you should I should I I feel like I've got a journal up here, but it'd probably be better to write it out and to just know exactly because I feel like when you write it out, you're more responsible for like what you've written down on paper and you can read through it and know where you went wrong. But yeah, no, I'm constantly like and I'm trying my hardest to detach from my score because for me, I think see when you're down at this, like two, three handicaps, two shots, two bogies, then I'm like, oh okay, like that's me at that's me basically shot my handicap, so now I need to like get some birdies. But I also think as well, Alex Hong said that the quickest way for me to get to scratch is bogey avoidance. He was like, the birdies will come. He said, bogey avoidance. If I can avoid so many bogeys, which is obviously golf, so yeah, of course. But he said, focus more on the bogey avoidance, like the silly little shots that have been like, say, the duff chip or the the laps and concentration. Yeah. He's saying bogey avoidance for me.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

At your skill level, if you can just par this hole and never make a bogey, and maybe you sprinkle in a birdie one out of ten times, you are way ahead of the pace that a one-to-two handicap should be at.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

So I think I need to detach from the scorecards. I need bogey avoidance as a massive one for me because I've said this to you before, like I bleed bogeys. It's not like I'm like double, triple. I'll be like, okay, bogey on the second, par, par, par, bogey on the boat, and then all of a sudden I'm four over, and I've not really I've had an opportunity for a boutie, but I'm kind of sitting at four over, which is great golf, but not four over. For where I need to be when I'm trying to get down to Scratch.

SPEAKER_06 22:05

And that just shows you, Chris, as well, how good a level scratch is. And I know it's all relative. Some people who are like really good golfers, maybe they feel they're looking over their shoulder and scratches behind them. But anyway, it is such good golf. And you just can't really make very many mistakes to get to that level. You really can't.

SPEAKER_03 22:26

I was playing uh golf yesterday at Can Moore in Dunfermline with one of my friends, and from the eighth hole, I powered all the way to the 17th, and then powered the 18th. I got a bowie on the 7 uh 17th, and it was it honestly felt because I was playing with my friend, it was sunny, was not like was not attaching myself to my scorecard. I was just tapping in four footers, like not even lining up, just tapping them in, everything was going in. And then, but because I had a double on the second, I was three over, so it's still not good enough. Yeah. It's good golf, but it's still not good enough golf to get to the level that I need to get to.

SPEAKER_06 23:13

Yeah. So I think something I took away from the John Sherman conversation, which I think is really related to what you're saying, is like try and detach from the score. Like John Sherman, I know it's and he said this himself, it's been beaten to death, but you know, focusing on process over outcome, process over outcome. He's he's a big champion of that approach to take, I think, not just to golf, but to anything. But also, I kind of view what he said about getting your hands dirty when things are going wrong on the golf course, which let's face it happens regularly, getting your hands dirty and not giving up, because he was kind of saying he believes that how you respond and if you don't give up on the bad days, that that has a really strong knock-on effect on what happens on your good days.

SPEAKER_05 24:07

In order to build the tool set that I talk about that you want to use on your best days, right, you'll have to develop them on your worst days.

SPEAKER_06 24:15

So even if you're having a bad day, it's kind of like you're investing in your future. You're almost trying to put away some kind of savings or money for your future self in some ways, right? Yeah. So it's almost like don't view one round as, oh well, this is the be all and end all, and you know, I've played badly, so therefore I'm a bad golfer, or I've wrecked my score, but almost be like this score today can feed into my broader improvement. Uh, you know, almost like viewing golf rounds as a collective where that collective will ultimately determine where my handicap goes. So just just like not giving up. So, for example, I went out earlier today, played a few holes. I was a bit unlucky to put my tee shot in the bunker on the second after a pretty good strike off the tee, and then I just had an absolute disaster out of the bunker. It was in a really, really tough spot. I would say one of the toughest shots in golf is that ball sitting on a downward slope in a bunker up against the edge and trying to get it out, and so I was too out of that, but then I blasted my second one over to way off the grain, and then I fluffed the chip into the other bunker on the other side of the green, and then I was too out of that. And honestly, in that situation, you're going, just pick up your ball and get out of here, like for crying out now. But I know I was like John Sherman in my ear going, no, don't give up, because I'm thinking I want to establish good grit so that this is going to help me for future rounds. And then on my second attempt from the second bunker that I was in, I got up and down from that bunker. Nice.

SPEAKER_03 26:17

Did he not did he not talk about the the A game and the C game and being more in touch with your C game? Is that not something he talks about, Dave?

SPEAKER_06 26:27

Exactly. And I think that's that's very much in and around the point that I'm trying to make here as well. Is that he he was saying that if you are able to improve your C game, that he thinks that that has a really, really big effect on your A game when your A game comes back around again, because it will like you don't always just sit there in your C game all the time, like it will. I know when you're in the thick of a horrible round where you feel like you've got your C or your D game, you feel like, oh, this is just the way my golf is, uh you know, I'm never getting out of this, but yeah, you you do, and I think that's just a really, really great way of kind of accepting the bad days when they come around, but almost rising to the challenge of the bad days, being like, right, okay, this is probably C game today, but yeah, let's try and with my C game get as good a scorer as possible. And he was talking about like turn a 98 into a 91 or turn an 87 into an 83. You know, I think that is the challenge. So even if you feel like, oh man, I wish I was shooting my best round ever today, yeah. Uh you know, you've got to accept that that's not on the cards today, but you've got a different challenge and a different game that you can commit to here.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

And one thing that he talks about as well, which like everybody should go listen to the two parts that we released uh recently with him, which really sat with me was I put a lot of pressure on myself, as you know when I'm in competitions, like and so does so many other people that play this game. He had said, like, say, for example, if you're feeling really, really under pressure, have some things in your brain, like for example, he said if when he goes home after a round, if he's played the best game of his life, the worst game of his life, and he sees his family, his family only see him as dad. They like, do you know what I mean? And it's that's really when I think of it, and I spoke about this before, like my wife Chloe does not care if I have played good. Well, she probably cares because I'll I'll like come home more happy. But at the end of the day, if you're in if you're in the midst of your round and you're having a shock and you're feeling so under pressure, it's like, listen, like when you go home, your family are still gonna love you the same if you played bad or played. And I and that is something that I'm taking with myself to just not have so much pressure on myself that this is what defines me as a person.

SPEAKER_06 29:02

If that makes sense, yeah, it really does. It really does. So what about you then, Chris? Aside from that, any other key things that because this the new season is very much upon us now, Chris. We've got high hopes, we want to get to our targets. Any any other key takeaways that you think are really helping your game that are gonna help shift the needle for you?

SPEAKER_03 29:34

So I definitely think the Carl Morris um seeing the green and where it drains away every time I'm walking up to the the green, and I was saying this to my friend yesterday, was every green has a certain part where it drains away, and that's normally where the brakes will be. So when I go into a green as I'm walking up and I'm kind of inspecting and examining basically where my ball is, where I think the role will be, that has helped me massively to just have a bigger picture of where the gradient is to the hole, and it's been helping me massively for my pace playing.

SPEAKER_06 30:14

Yeah, because when we were on that seminar with Carl Morris, he came to Murrayfield and he talked a lot about that. Where what you're saying is you kind of picture water flowing from the green and you can visualize where you think the water would flow if there was a lot of water on it, and that helps you read the break and read what's happening, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:35

And that's been massive uh for me because sometimes, like if you're not great at green reading, you stand up on a green and you don't know, you don't have a clue what is going on when you're looking at your pot. But if you if you take a step back, honestly, try it out. Anyone that's having problems with kind of green reading, have a step back and look to where you think, if you poured a bottle of water out, where you think the water would drain to, and that'll help you massively with learning and perceiving what you think the break is in putts. Um yeah, I th I think the another massive one that I'm taking with me is what Chase Cooper said about when um he was analyzing our shots and just with the the left arm feeling like you've got a steering wheel and turning it almost slightly to the right and then addressing the ball. And Dave, come on, back me up here. My driving now is I don't play with a slice or a fade or a I am hitting bullets like yes, and absolute bullets with a nice draw, it's just fantastic.

SPEAKER_06 31:46

Definitely big shout out to our main man, Chase Cooper for that because I have seen almost instant results with that, instant results with that. Uh and and that's the great thing, Chris. I think at your level, I think for most levels, even just a little tweak like that, yeah. And do you know what I really like about Chase and other really good instructors is they will give you maybe a setup suggestion piece of advice, but they'll also give you the why. Yeah. And for him, he gave you the why in that he felt that that was encouraging your shoulders a little bit to be too open, and then therefore, that is going to encourage more of a fade, if not a slice, on a bad day. And so just doing that little tweak for you has really helped straighten that out and almost just make it just a little tiny swing.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

Yeah, I swing as hard as I want at it, but obviously keeping my kind of form and also my chipping as well. I I have it, I don't duff chips anymore because he was telling me that I was coming too much on the inside, and it would be too hard to get the club back round, and it was hitting the ground too early. So he just told me to start wide, basically from my swing path, go a little bit wide, um, and I do not chunk a chip anymore, and like I've got my confidence back. So that was what that's what killed me last season was chunking chips. It wasn't necessarily like the the driving, driving was okay, it just there was that slice in my bag at some point. It was I would hit a massive drive, try to like have a nice little cute chip into the green, and I'd duff it, and then like then I'd have the yips, and that's what pushed my handicap from a 1.3 last season to a like a 2.9.

SPEAKER_06 33:40

Absolutely, and again, another big shout out to Chase Cooper. What a gent he sent over a video for you specifically, Chris, and then we put it out there on Instagram. And I would encourage anyone if you're struggling with your chipping, you know. I think it's a really simple video we've put out there uh with instruction from Chase Cooper. And you know, I I cannot imagine that it wouldn't apply to most people. I think that you know the advice on there is really simple and I think it's really, really helping Eurochipping. From my perspective, he also had a look and he he was saying to me technique wise, he actually likes my takeaway, which I was surprised about. I I I I sort of I think a lot of people, I think it's maybe the YouTube culture we've been in. A lot of people always think, oh, my takeaway is not good enough. I need to get a better takeaway. But anyway, he just did say that I am sort of like my head's moving towards the ball quite a lot. Yeah. And so I've been way more focused on that since that session, uh, that podcast with Chase. And then also the arms, he he likes me to feel a bit more like my arms are kind of almost coming down, bringing the butt end of the club to my hip pocket a bit more, uh, rather than sometimes kind of throwing it over the top a bit, you know. And I actually I'll say sorry to Chase on this podcast, but yeah, I actually sent them a few videos of me practicing. I'm saying, sorry to hound you with this, but is this the move you think I'm making? And like it's nice to just get somebody, you know, like Chase just to say, Oh yeah, I really like the look of what you're doing there. So I am going to continue working on that, Chris. I think the way I'm sort of structuring my practice is I would spend the first kind of 10, 20 balls just a bit on technique as our kind of first key component. And for me, that's all I'm really thinking about. I'm just thinking about and sometimes getting video. I don't like filming my swing that much, but just so that I get good feedback on what's happening with my head and so that I'm not moving it excessively towards the ball. Yeah. Like Chase was saying, just so that we're not confusing anybody, um, he was saying he doesn't mind head movement, but he just doesn't really like seeing the head move like you're sort of almost falling forwards towards the ball, because that can cause a lot of problems. So nothing major, Chris, but just I think a bit of that, and hopefully just to tighten things up. And that's really all we're trying to do. It's tighten up the seasons here. Yeah, yeah. So many aspects of this game, it's just tightening it up a little bit. Can we shift the margins? Can we get that dispersion a little bit tighter? Can we get that ball just a little bit closer? Uh it's just like these these inches, these inches, Chris, you know?

SPEAKER_03 36:42

Yeah, definitely. And I think with a season starting, I think we're both in a great, great position to go lower. And uh famous last words.

SPEAKER_06 36:53

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

And in this seat, this uh on Saturday, um I am playing up north. So Whereabouts? I'm gonna put a card in. Forrest. I'm gonna Forest. I'm playing Forest, so played it before, I enjoy playing it, um, and I'm gonna put a card in. I can't put this much pressure on myself. I've just gotta go for it and see what happens. Yes, and enjoy it. The main thing is enjoyment. Be grateful for the opportunity to get to golf on a lovely Saturday.

SPEAKER_06 37:26

Chris, and come on, we believe in you. Yes, I get it. A 1.3 is about to drop off. High pressure moment when one of those really good scores from your top eight is about to drop off. But come on, Chris, this is what we're signing up for. This is what we're here for. We're here for these pressure moments and to try and get good at golf and rise to these pressure moments and hopefully come out stronger at the end of it. So come on, son, let's go.

SPEAKER_03 37:57

Let's go. Listen, I'll I'll update you when uh when I come back in the handicaps lower, because I'm I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. Um I feel like we've got the podcast behind me willing me to play well. But if it doesn't if it doesn't happen, then listen, we're just at the start of the season, so keep it going.

SPEAKER_04 38:23

You should feel wheels off aggressive off the T with driver. You should feel slightly conservative with approach shots into the green. We want to hit the green on our chip shots, and we want to have immaculate speed control. That's that's really that's that's that's the name of golf right there.

SPEAKER_06 38:36

So, in summary, Chris, what would you say out of if you were to kind of really briefly and concisely sum up after all the conversations that we've had, what are you going into the new season really focusing on? What are your kind of like big three things that are really helping you?

SPEAKER_03 39:01

So I'd say detaching myself from the scorecards. Yeah, that's my number one right now. I'd also how are you doing that?

SPEAKER_06 39:08

Like how how how are you doing that?

SPEAKER_03 39:10

Enjoying the game more. I like because we played recently, remember, and I was like two under through the front nine, and then like it became a topic of conversation. And obviously, I I'm I I'm not gonna be that playing partner. It's like, guys, don't talk about my score. I'm like trying to detach from my scorecard. Yeah, yeah. But it's just something where I just need to be more mindful, like from what Dr. Raymond Pryor said, just like be there to like I need to be there to enjoy the game of golf first rather than like put like being in this kind of threat response rather than pursuit. So I'd rather I want to be in a pursuit of the game rather than threat response. Like I don't want to be like, oh, I've got a 1.3 coming off. I want to just be a good playing partner, play some good golf, be happy with being out there and dot and to be honest, I don't know just yet how to detach myself um from my scorecard. It's a work in progress, so yeah, uh, we'll come back to that.

SPEAKER_06 40:11

Yeah and I think it's become a cliche, but I think for someone like you, Chris, definitely having that uh in your mind as in process over outcome. I think if you I think you're somebody who would probably respond well to thinking along those lines. It's like process over outcome, value process more than outcome. Yes. And that just thinking about that could well help you detach from the score because a lot of this stuff, as we know, is way easier said than done because golf at the end of the day is all about that number on your scorecard whenever you finish your round. So it's very, very hard to detach from your score. But if you can develop skill to be able to do that, then I think it's gonna help.

SPEAKER_03 40:58

And what comes with that as well is bogey avoidance. Like that's my second one. It's like just avoiding bogeys in a way of and I know where mine come from is like the silly mistakes, like the losing a bit of attention, like focus when I'm playing. It's almost what we when we talk to John Sherman, it's like uh, yeah, have the conversations with you as we're walking down the fairway, but then when I get like 10 meters to my ball, it's like that's when my focus happens. Yeah. You're at the business end. Yeah, the business end, as you said, like knowing where my focus is, like having fun, laughing, but knowing that there's a job to do here and I need to fully commit to this next shot. That is what I need to focus on more. So I'd say detach myself from the scorecards, say bogey avoidance golf, and finally just making sure I keep that technique tip with the left arm raised to basically close my shoulders off so I don't fade or slice the ball as much and keep that great drive, and also coming on an outwards path with my chipping to stop chunking the ball. So I'd say my technique is Chase Cooper, with obviously the things that he's taught me. I'd also say the detaching myself from the scorecard is John Sherman. Um, and sorry, what was my and bogey avoidance would be more my strategy from Alex Pong and Scott Fawcett. What about yours? What's what's your three?

SPEAKER_06 42:33

For me, yeah, what I mentioned earlier is just keeping on owning that shape with driver, so I'm devoting so much of my practice time to the driver, uh, really developing that consistent shape. Um, I've got Scott Fawcett's voice in my head all the time with that, and then just reminding myself of what Alex Juan from Decade said is like is if you get better at driving and better at pace control with putting, you will get better at golf. Simple as that. So better driving, keeping that ball in play and getting it as far down as possible, and then pace control, the drill that Scott shared with us. We've got a short on Instagram, we can put something in the show notes on that. Uh, it's a Jordan Spith pace control. I have just been doing that as often as I can. Sometimes, Chris, if I'm on the course on my own and it's quiet, if I finish a hole, I will just start marking out that pace control um setup on the green and just do a few of those just to try and dial in with the pace control, and that really helps me from like 10 feet, 20 feet, and 30 feet. Good man. Um so definitely that what we talked about earlier, John Sherman, getting your hands dirty, don't give up on the bad rounds because the bad rounds. And getting those a bit better can long term help your good days whenever they come around. And that's essentially what we're building up for all the time, isn't it? Uh is just getting ready for those really good moments when they arrive in golf. Because that's whenever we are gonna maximize our returns. That's when we're gonna really grab it by the scruff of the neck. Come on, Chris. That's what's happening. Come on, the boys are going low. The boys are going low. And yeah, I think that will wrap us up there, Chris. I think the last one on my list that we haven't talked about, but I think I'll let Dr. Raymond close this episode for us. Let's revisit that because Chris, you can't shoot low if you're afraid to shoot high. Amen. Amen. We'll see you next time on How Low Can You Go?

SPEAKER_02 44:59

So if this podcast is How Low Can You Go, it's also well, how high are you willing to risk going if you want to actually go low? Because you can't risk, you can't risk shooting 65. You don't have access to the freedom required for that if you're not also willing to shoot in 80. So many of the club golfers that I have worked with over time, one of the primary barriers for them is domino wonder well, number one is this can't be really bad for whatever reasons they've attached to it. And then therefore, you're not playing freely enough to shoot lower than your handicap enough to move it down, and certainly not low enough to do that under pressure in your club events, your member guests, your so on and so forth.