by Pia Nilson and Lynn Marriott

Report by Nick Anthony

Introduction:

My personal read of this book made me feel that the overall theme of the book is that within every human being is the potential for greatness. The Vision 54 system is how we can unlock that potential within ourselves. Annika Sorenstam describes vision 54 as “a systematic roadmap to perfection.” This is related to golf with the simple thought: “If at one time every hole on the golf course has been birdied, why could they not all be birdied in the same round?” Pia and Lynn developed a system to help golfers with this vision. It is called Golf 54 (or 54 Golf). Annika describes it as “A toolbox or method to help a player get on that path to excellence.”

Content:

There is one tool that stands above the rest as what seems to be the most important key to reaching your potential with each shot. It is described as the Think Box / Play Box approach. What this means is that all thinking about the shot you are going to play is done in the Think Box. And then once you have crossed the Decision Line you step into the Play Box and simply make your swing with complete confidence and commitment to the shot.

My personal favorite part of the book was the chapter titled “Send Your Mind on Vacation.” This chapter talks about the idea that you don’t need to be focused for an entire 4 hour round of golf. You only need to be focused on your game for the 30-40 minutes that you are in your Think Box / Play Box. When you’re not actually preparing for or playing a shot you should truly be yourself. Many great players use techniques to help themselves take these vacations between shots. Lee Trevino would chatter incessantly, Ben Hogan rarely spoke to his playing partners, Jesper Parnevik does complicated math problems in his head, Nick Faldo sings, and Fuzzy Zoeller whistles. These are just some of the ways that you can simply enjoy the time between shots. I have taken this to heart and incorporated it into my game. I always knew that I played better and enjoyed rounds more when I walked instead of riding in a cart. I now believe that this is true because I instinctively took that vacation between shots. I have no started to walk much more on the course simply enjoying the time between shots.

Recommendation:

I think this book could definitely be recommended to anyone who is struggling to enjoy the game of golf. I think it can possibly help you discover why you love the game. When the authors speak of the roots of the game being the culture, beliefs, values and expectations, it helps you really dig down and determine why you play the game.

I went to the range and played a few games. I played tic-tac-toe with JP. Then he and I took on Jon and Brad in a game of par 2. It’s my favorite game and I believe the only reason my short game was good as a junior. I used to play this game with my friends at the golf course for hours on end. It’s one of the things I miss the most about spending the entire day at the course.

I think these games just topped off a great week of learning to love the game again. I have taken some tools and skills from this week that will definitely help my game in the future and I believe I am better equipped to help other people play better and enjoy themselves more when playing and practicing golf.

I again got up early and had breakfast but this time I didn’t head to the range. I was a little nervous about our group presentation for the book we had read, Every Shot Must Have a Purpose. So I spent the morning preparing for the presentation instead. I have to say that while a little long and possibly dull for some of the people watching, our presentation was very comprehensive and the entire group showed a great understanding of the book. To be honest though, I think we did have the best material to work with. Judging by the information presented by the other groups, once again this year I lucked out with the best book of the bunch. Last year it was Extraordinary Golf by Fred Shoemaker.

Today’s lessons on the range were bunker play and chipping and pitching. They were really well done but it was incredibly hot and the sun was really strong. I actually had my umbrella up for some shade. I didn’t do any work on the range as I was once again the first group off. My match today was a singles match vs Jeremy. I didn’t start well and was down 3 after 7 thanks to some quite poor play on my part and some great play from Jeremy. I rode in the cart with Jasmine again and she was a pleasure to play with. She played an incredible front nine, dropping an eagle on the first hole from 115 yards out and making birdie on nine to finish even par for the front. It was inspiring and I got on the bus winning holes 9, 10, and 11 with par, birdie, birdie to get myself back to all square. Jeremy went back up one on twelve when I doubled and he had a par, just missing his birdie. It went back and forth between him one up and all square. He had me on 16 by one and I hit a terrible drive snapping it to the left rough about 235 yards out. Jeremy had already hit his second shot up near the green (we were playing ready golf at this point) while I was checking yardage and getting a look at the green since the next shot I had to play was over a hill blind into the green. I knew I needed this hole to stay in the match. I hit the best shot of the week. A sweeping three wood draw that finished about 15 feet from the pin on the front left of the green. I made my par and Jeremy bogeyed. Unfortunately that was the last hole that I played well. He birdied 17 while my short game let me down and I got a par. Then on 18 I had a chance to halve the match and couldn’t get it done. I needed a par and blew it. Since I can’t have that hole back I will have to work on playing better down the stretch. I’ve been on the winning end of those close matches more than the losing end. I think being Jeremy’s friend really helped me take the loss in stride. He’s a great guy and I know he’s worked really hard on his game. He played great and deserved a good result. We both kept score and I finished with 82 while he shot 83 or 84. A really close match. And a great way to finish the week. I feel that I played better and better as the week went on and it had little to do with mechanics and more to do with the thought process of playing golf. Organizing my thoughts and playing disciplined golf has been my revelation for this week. I don’t think I could ask for any more to take from one week of training.

Dave Morland IV on the practice range

I hit the range early again on this morning. It’s getting even hotter and being out there early is a real benefit. I tried the 27 shot challenge while out there and it went fairly well. I think it’s a great way to simply get more focus on your practice. It’s also a fun game to play tic-tac-toe with the 27 shots. High shots across the top, low across the bottom, left to right moving shots on the right side and right to left moving shots on the left side. One disadvantage to being on the range alone is that little games like that are not as fun without someone else to play them with.

After breakfast and our lessons (putting and rules), Dave Morland IV met us on the range and hit some shots for us. He also talked about how he grinds out rounds when he needs to make cuts and what not. I enjoyed seeing him hit shots because they were all pure. Every shot hit the centre of the club face and worked the way he wanted. It was impressive. I have to believe that ball striking is important but definitely not what makes a golfer great. I think this showed why the theme of this week “how to learn to play better golf” has definitely helped me. Hitting those perfect shots all day on the range like Mr. Morland can, will not get you to Masters Champion…. or even a consistent spot on the tour. You need to have more than every shot in the bag. The mental game is what really separates good ball strikers from the best tour players.

Today I played with Jasmine in a scramble format. It went so well. I knew I could count on her to hit the ball in the fairway almost every time and she had such a significant advantage playing from the front tees that I actually had to really crush it to get past her drives sometimes. That left me on the tee with a green light all day. I delivered a few times from the tee but really my strength was from second shot in. Jasmine hit a few putts but I nailed a few long ones. We started all square through 4, tying each hole with a Par and then on 5 I drained a long putt from off the green for birdie that changed everything. After that putt we never let them in the match. We didn’t make a bogey all day and made 5 birdies. We closed the match on the par 3 16th with a great up and down for par. I felt really great after that and we then headed off to Orlando to watch the Magic’s home opener vs the 76ers.

I went out and hit the range after breakfast. It was a good way to start the day. It wasn’t too hot yet and there was nobody else out on the range. Peaceful. The only things I worked on were setting up square to my target and committing to the shot. Using the think box/play box concept from Every Shot Must Have a Purpose.

I played with Scott Simpson in a Greensomes match against Scott Tye and Shaun. I was glad to be playing with Scott because I had heard he had been playing well and I felt like I needed some help out there. I wanted to get my confidence back. He definitely helped get us in a good position early. We got a lucky break winning the first hole thanks to the other team blowing a short putt. After that we never gave up the lead. Scott helped early on with drives and he made a great long putt on 7 for a big swing in the match.  We never really let them get into the match and closed it out with birdies on the long par 3 15th.

That evening we got a taste of what our book report presentations would be like. I enjoyed the report about Harvey Pennick’s Little Red Book but the other presentation was forgettable. The worst part of the trip was after the reports we had a debate about how to handle a time conflict concerning finishing our round the next day or to head early to the Orlando Magic home opener. Personally I was all for a fun round of 9 holes and then having some time before we head to the game. There was a lot of passionate people in the room making ridiculous comments that were off base and got nothing accomplished. I figured it was finished as soon as a majority was established to want to finish their rounds of golf and then head to the game. This wasn’t the case though as we spent what seemed like hours trying to satisfy everyone. A real sour note for that night.

Our Ryder Cup style team competition began today. Andre and Rick chose the teams and we all hoped that they would turn out to be even. After the first day scores though it wasn’t looking good for our team Chosen by Andre.

In the morning before we had our competition for the day, Paul, Keegan and I delivered our lesson on the range. I think it went pretty well. Throughout the day I spoke to a number of people who really took something from what we showed them. I know it helped me with my pre-shot routine to see what everyone else in the class did.

I did not enjoy my round today as much as I thought I would. Jesse and I turned out to be a struggling team on that first day. Scott and Thain beat us. Scott hit some great shots throughout the entire round. I never really got anything going. I did hit some much better putts and with Jesse putting first in the scramble format I really got to work on reading grains much better. I hit the ball terribly though with a constant short fade. It started to bother me. I decided that if I was going to enjoy this competition I would have to play better. I’m committed to hitting the range in the morning and working some things out. I feel like I’m a much better golfer than my scores are showing but really the game is all about getting the ball in the hole.

Day 1 – Awareness Exercises

On the Front Nine we played holes with different emotions. I expected this to be challenging and it was.

Holes 1-3 – Neutral

I found it hard to hold conversations in completely neutral settings. We all seemed to struggle to find something to say that was neither positive or negative. I also found that while I could control what I was saying, body language was another problem all together. I found that I slouched when I felt negative and I had a little more bounce in the step when I felt positive. I scored the neutral holes absolutely terribly. Double, Triple Double.

Holes 4-6 – Positive

It was a nice change to shift gears into positive thoughts. After a few bad shots though it was realized that the positive comments when someone hit a bad shot seemed sarcastic and negative. This provided a real challenge.

Holes 7-9 – Negative

It may sound strange but it seemed like a relief switching to negative because we no longer had to be fake positive. The negative comments among friends did end up sounding quite fake and more like friendly chirping.  Once again controlling body language was difficult. When I did get into a negative posture I started to feel bad and therefore play bad.

The back nine was a little lighter and not as intrusive to the mental game as the front nine.

Hole 10 – Avoid Using Any Form of Routine

This hole was a welcome switch and actually helped loosen me up for a lighter back nine. I hit a very well struck drive well but into a tree on the right side. I believe this was because I didn’t choose a target and align with an intermediate target in my pre-shot routine.

Hole 11 – Pay Careful attention to the Natural Surroundings

I actually had been noticing and enjoying the natural surroundings for the entire round. It’s an interesting terrain and vegetation for me because I’ve spent so little time in Florida. I did notice a few interesting trees on this hole in particular that I may not have taken in without doing this exercise.

Hole 12 – Make your Tempo Silky Smooth

I hit a great three iron off of the tee exactly where I wanted to but ended up chunking my seven iron into the hazard. So…. silky ended up in a triple. I think getting too smooth can end up hitting shots fat.

Hole 13 – Focus all your energy on the target

I tried to focus on the target on this hole but got a little quick with my tempo off of the tee and ended up with a very long difficult put accross the entire green. I ended up three putting even though I was focused on the target. I think when I put focusing more on the line than the target works for me.

Hole 14 – Use the exact same routine for every shot

I have been very conscious of my pre-shot routine recently. I think this hole simply played as I would have normally.

Hole 15 – Exagerate the volume of all sounds

I hit my best shot of the day on this hole. A 4 iron into the par three to about 6 feet. It felt great. Unfortunately I missed the put. The loud hole was great for a release when I missed that birdie putt that I wanted so badly!

Hole 16 – Hit all shots with your feet glued together

Surprisingly I really hit my drive well with my feet together. Probably about 240+ and right in the middle of the fairway. I then topped my next shot but ended up getting up and down for a par. I struck a great putt.

Hole 17 – No sounds allowed at all

I thought this hole would be terrible because last year on the silent hole I made triple and I felt uncomfortable and awkward. This year however I birdied the hole. It was a par five and I only had about 190 into the green after my drive. My 5 iron came up just short of the green. My chip wasn’t great but I made a nice left to right breaking putt for the 4.

Hole 18 – play the hole as quickly as you can.

I didn’t hit great shots on this hole but managed to get down in par.

Overall I found that the front nine was very challenging and not really that enjoyable. The back nine however was more relaxing and fun. It showed in my scores as I went 47 – 41 for an 88. Not a great score but I haven’t played in over a month and really I haven’t played much at all this year.

I think I need to work on my game on and around the greens. Hopefully I’ll get some time to do that tomorrow before heading out for our match in the afternoon. I have never had to deal with grainy greens before and it really is a factor which needs to be considered.

I’ve been doing the Full Body Strenght workout A

- Treadmill warmup – 30s slow + 30s moderate – repeat 5 times

- Tricep Overhead Press Lunge Stance – 2 sets of 8 reps

- Squat to press – Dumbells – 2 sets of 8 reps

- Lunge stance Chop with Trunk Rotation – 2 sets of 12 reps

- Lunge stance Lift with Trunk Rotation – 2 sets of 12 reps

- Front Step ups – 1 set of 10 steps with each leg.

- Side Step ups (Heisman) – 1 set of 8 with each leg

- Standing One Leg Alternating Arm Pulls – 2 sets of 8 with each arm

- Standing One Leg Chest Flys – 2 sets of 8

- Stick Reverse Crunches – go until it burns.

Also to improve cardio I’ve been adding 3 interval sprints on the stationary bike.
I try and spread them throughout the workout.

It’s free to sign up for an account on myTPI.com and they have video’s for each exercise.
It’s a great site and I would recommend it for anyone who wants to improve their game.