A New Focus on Fundamentals

Until a few months ago, my time at the golf course was split between playing and practicing. I used to play 3 days a week, and also do about 3 practice sessions every week.

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As my time commitments have increased in other areas over a period of time, I now have less time available for golf. The practice sessions have, of course, become the first casualty of this paucity of time. Now I play 2-3 times a week, but have virtually stopped going to the driving range or the practice putting green. As a result my game has stagnated, and I no longer have as much fun on the course as I used to.

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As I pondered this turn of events last night, I realized that I needed to do something different to rekindle the passion for the game that I felt just a few months ago. As a result I have decided to give up the game for 3 months.

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I will not play a round on the course for the next 3-months. Instead I will use the available time to focus on the fundamentals of the game with renewed vigor. Over the last 2.5 years I have learnt a lot about golf, and about myself. This sabbatical from golf will give me an opportunity to figure out how to get better at this wonderful sport.

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My approach over the next 3 months will be based on a few guiding principles.

• Almost all good sportsmen have excellent fundamentals. Aberrations like Jim Furyk are very few and even in such cases, a single quirk in technique is highlighted and talked about endlessly without alluding to the fact that 99% of their technique is still extremely sound
• A problem with one of the "true" fundamentals is likely to hinder progress even with great commitment and hard work
• My 47 year old body has limitations - primarily around flexibility - but there are ways in which I can reduce and even overcome those limitations. It will just be more work in the gym!
• It takes some time and many repetitions to build "muscle memory"

My tools will be

• My video camera - it has already been an asset to me over the last couple of days, helping me understand a few "interesting" things about my swing
• A good set of practice balls, and few other practice aids
• Quick tips from my friend and best coach in town - Aditya Kanitkar. I intend to use him as a sounding board and expert rather than a conventional coach
• Videos and articles on the Internet - Rickert Strongert's videos on http://www.videojug.com/ will surely be a part of my schedule
• My imagination - some would argue that it never existed or is already extinct, but what the heck, let me see if I can find it and use it!

How do I improve my golf game?

Golf has been a struggle for me lately. Apart from a three-round purple patch I experienced about a month ago, I have not even been close to holding my handicap, which is currently at 21. When I had hit a handicap of 18 several months ago, it seemed like 15 was not very far away. It is.
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Given my other time commitments, I don't have much time to practice, and without regular, focused practice, it is hard to improve at anything, let alone golf which is a difficult pursuit.

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A few days ago I was chatting about my challenges with my friend Viren Ahuja. Viren lives in Mumbai and was in Pune for a few days to get his 12 year old son to play a few practice rounds in Pune to keep him sharp for the national junior ciruit. Viren is a savvy media guy, and used to run his own advertising firm in Mumbai for a long time. Like me, he has given up his former career to start a golf company. He runs a golf academy in Thane, and is looking at several other business opportunities in golf. Viren is a good golfer himself and is a very keen student of the game. While we were chatting, the subject of holding and improving our handicaps came up.

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Viren has a very interesting take on holding one's handicap, which sounds very logical once you hear it, but like many other things, it is not very obvious. He asked me which part of the game I was good at, and which part I struggle with. My short game is reasonably good and has remained stable over the last one year, while I am plagued with inconsistency off the tee and while hitting all my long clubs. He then asked me which part of my game took up the bulk of my practice time. Lately I have not been practicing much, but the little practice I do is almost exclusively on the driving range.

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"That is the bloody problem!" was Viren's response. His point is that we take for granted what we are good at. We do not work on it to keep it sharp and improve it. Instead we focus a lot of our time on what we are not good at. In my case, the day my short game is not on, I struggle mightily. It happens more often now, since I have stopped working on it!

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So here is Viren's advice. If you want to hold your handicap, spend at least 50% of your practice time on your strength. Use the remaining time to work methodically on your weakness. That will ensure that you experience a consistent improvement in your game.

Golf Strips You Naked!

Sujit Dasgupta is a regular golfer at the Poona Club Golf Course. Sujit is a tall, lanky guy, clean-shaven, with a full head of hair. Sujit loves to talk and share his experiences and is very warm and engaging in an aggressive sort of way. A few weeks ago, I was enjoying a beer with Sujit at the Golf Course clubhouse when he said something to me that was incredibly perceptive, and sums up the character building aspect of golf very well. Sujit’s exact words were “Golf strips you naked”.

Golf is different from other sports in a couple of significant ways. Firstly, two people with very different playing abilities can, and do compete against each other very meaningfully, often fiercely. This is enabled by the handicapping system in golf, which gives a person with lesser ability a head start. It is like me competing with Carl Lewis in a 100m sprint, with the stipulation that I start from the 60 metre mark, while Carl starts from the 0 metre mark! The handicapping system levels the playing field for everyone.

Secondly, barring professional tournaments, golf is played without any referees or umpires. It is largely a self-regulated game based on trust. The very large playing area means that playing partners/competitors are often widely separated depending on where their ball lies.

These factors create opportunities and motivation to cheat, whatever the stakes. Consider a situation where I am the competitive type and want to show my regular playing partner that I am playing better than him. The game gives me ample opportunities to cheat by kicking the ball out of a rough, count strokes incorrectly, take an illegal drop and so on. However it is not hard for a playing partner to see through this type of behavior. Therein lies the beauty of the game – it really does strip you naked.

There are other personality traits that come out loud and clear. For example:

• How do you react when you are not playing well, while your playing partner is having a good day? Are you generous enough to appreciate his good play?
• How do you react when you are playing well, while your playing partner is having a miserable round? Do you gloat about your shots, or encourage your partner?
• Do you call out the fact that you hit the ball twice when no one else saw it, and it might lose you the round?

I have learnt a lot of things about myself while playing golf – some good, some not very pleasant. However, it has given me an opportunity to become a better person. Playing with others has also given me insights into their minds and motivations in a two-hour period, things I probably won’t discover in two years of business interactions.

All in all, Sujit absolutely hit the nail on the head – Golf does strip you naked!

In the Presence of Greatness

A few days ago I went out to play a regular golf round in Pune with my friend and business partner Parag. It was Thursday, an industrial holiday in Pune, and a very busy day at the course. Poona Club requires at least a three-ball on Thursdays. Therefore, an elderly gentleman, who was by himself, joined us. This is one of the interesting aspects of playing golf – I often play with complete strangers, and have no idea how it will turn out. Well, Thursday was a lucky day for me. I didn’t play very well, but as things turned out, I was in the presence of greatness.

The person who joined us was Mr. Nandu Natekar, one of the all time greats of Indian badminton. At one point of time in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s Mr. Natekar was ranked among the top-5 badminton players in the world. He was the first person to put India on the international badminton map. He is probably in his early seventies now, and looks very fit. He walks briskly, but without hurrying, and plays a good game of golf. He out-drove us several times, and putted very well. However what impressed me more than his golf game was his humility.

Mr. Natekar played the golf round with utmost respect for his playing partners. He waited for us when we were away, appreciated our good shots, and downplayed his own good shots. He never talked about what a great badminton player he was, and refused to dwell on it too much when I brought up the subject several times.

Hemant Kanitkar is another top-level Indian sportsperson who played two cricket Test matches for India in the mid-seventies. For a cricketer, Test cricket is the highest level at which one can play, and it is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication. It is like playing in the NBA or the EPL for a basketball and soccer player respectively. Mr. Kanitkar played with distinction on his debut – he made 65 in the first innings with 11 boundaries – the best innings by an Indian in the match. Mr. Kanitkar is in his early sixties now, a person who is enjoying his retirement. His son is my business partner, so I had invited the entire Kanitkar family to my home for dinner a couple of months ago.

I am in awe of great sportsmen. When Mr. Kanitkar visited my house, I asked him what it was like to play for India, and how he faced Andy Roberts and Vanburn Holder at their very best. However Mr. Kanitkar is humble to the point of being shy in talking about his achievements.

People like Hemant Kanitkar and Nandu Natekar teach us that true greatness is not only a matter of what you achieve. It is also how you handle your achievements.