Recently, a golf buddy organized a round of golf for three foursomes at a Kansas City area public course, Shoal Creek. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and I thoroughly enjoyed being in the company of my playing partners. That is me trying to look on the bright side after shooting close to 100 and losing $10 to the other two teams.
My typical reaction to a bad round of golf – or a bad month of golf – is to think of all the things that I shouldn’t do. That’s not really surprising given the fact in my 300-page collection of golf quotes, advice, sayings and cliches, the DON’Ts outnumber the DO’s by at 8 to 1. In other words, over the last 30 years, I have apparently brainwashed myself to think that improvement would eventually come if I don’t …
For example:
ꕺ Don’t lift the body when hitting.
ꕺ “On your drives, don’t try to turn your shoulders. Get your back to the target.” – Golf instructor Michael Breed (Born 1962),
ꕺ Don’t be a showoff. Play the shot that makes the most sense.
ꕺ “Don’t press. You can hit hard without pressing” – Harry Vardon (1870 – 1937), the winner of six Open Championships and the U.S. Open in 1900.
ꕺ When you have serious doubts about a long carry over water, don’t try it.
ꕺ “Don’t try to keep your eye on the ball – keep your mind on it – and not on some bunker or pond on ahead.” – Englishman James (Jim) Barnes (1886 – 1966), who won the first PGA Championship in 1916 as well as the PGA in 1919, U.S. Open 1921 and The Open in 1925.
ꕺ Do not jerk the [putting] stroke, a fault usually resulting from a fear of sending the ball too far, and remember that the secret of good putting, as in good driving, is the follow-through. – From the book, Hints to Golfers by Niblick (The Salem Press Company, 1902).
ꕺ Don’t attempt a specialty shot in competition that you haven’t practiced.” – Tiger Woods (15 majors).
Well, I think it has finally dawned on me after all of these years that Don’t Thinking hasn’t given me the results I wanted. From this day forward, I am going with Do Thinking – as in …
ꕺ Do what you do best.
ꕺ There are two things you can do with your head down -- play golf and pray. – Six-time Major winner Lee Trevino.
ꕺ Do yourself a favor, take a few lessons.
ꕺ Think about what you DO want to happen, Think about your TARGET to the exclusion of all else. – From the website Golfnosis.
ꕺ Keep learning. There is so much you can do to improve yourself.
ꕺ Look at your divots to see if your swing is working. Do this when you are playing as well as practicing.
ꕺ “If you want to store up power and then deliver it at impact, you need to get behind the ball and stay behind it. To do so, I always make sure my head is behind the ball at address, and that it stays there until the after the ball is struck.” -- PGA pro Davis Love Jr. (Golf Magazine, September 2012).
ꕺ Remember, you do have time to think before every shot.
ꕺ “But, under pressure, I do use one simple swing thought: I pick a spot a foot in front of the ball and hit over it -- hard. That takes my mind off the outcome of the shot and keeps me in the process.” – Rory McIlroy, six-time Major winner.
ꕺ Do play the percentages – i.e., play to the middle of the green.
ꕺ “With a driver … think, slow takeaway. A lot of amateurs take the club back too fast, and that causes them to decelerate on the downswing. Do the opposite. By keeping my tempo smooth and taking it back slower, I can be aggressive through the ball without my timing being off.” – Jason Day (Born 1987), who won the PGA in 2015.
ꕺ Do establish a consistent pre-shot routine.
ꕺ “You must always be positive, because your body can only do what your brain sees. -- Chi Chi Rodriquez (1935 - 2024), winner of eight PGA Tour tournaments.
ꕺ Do focus on your short game – pitching, chipping and putting. For golfers with established handicaps, shots taken from 50 yards and in (including putts) typically account for 60% to 65% of all shots in a round.
ꕺ “When you have to hit between two trees you seem to concentrate a little harder. Maybe that’s what you should do when you’re hitting a normal shot, concentrate a little harder.” – Luke Donald (Born 1977), who has five PGA Tour win. As the European Ryder Cup captain, his team defeated the U.S. team twice -- at the Marco Simone Golf & CC in 2023 and at Bethpage Black in 2025.
ꕺ And finally DO have fun!
Yes, it’s true. I am now a believer in the DOs – not the DON’Ts so much.
Play Away!
Allan Stark
Illustration and Photo credits:
Happy Golfer Illustration by Clare Briggs.
Photo of woman putting: Sam Hood, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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