The Secret of Golf

Those of you who play golf understand the false promise of the title of this blog. There are probably 10,000 tips out there on how to play golf well.

And they are as easy to execute as those two famous diet tips - Eat properly and exercise.

Last week I had the game of my life. For me, shooting an 88 was pretty exciting news. I shot 41 on the front nine and 47 on the back. My front nine was a "best ever" score.

And I did it by remembering three things. My Dad calls it "the Canadian Football rule". For those of you unfamiliar, in Canada, football is played using 3 downs instead of the 4 we're used to here.

Here are the "3 downs".

1. Slow down. Practice your swing in slow motion. When you're ready to hit the ball, swing even slower.

2. Hit down. Hit down at the ball to help insure good club contact and to use the club loft correctly.

3. Head down (or stay down, if you prefer). Watch the club head strike the ball. Don't be in a hurry to admire your shot, else face disappointment.

Those rules worked for me (once in a row). I'm heading out for another round this weekend to try out the 3 Downs rules once again.

The good news is that if they don't work this time out, I have another 9,997 tips to try.