Flag Hunters Golf Podcast
Hello and welcome to Flaghunters ! It is a privilege to bring to you this powerful insight into playing better Golf. In all my years of being in the game of Golf from competing at a high amateur level, to caddying, teaching, and being a overall Golf geek, I have an insatiable, curiosity driven desire to get down to the bottom of what it takes to truly get better playing the game of Golf that we all unconditionally love. This has been one of the greatest journeys of my life and I am deeply grateful for all that Golf has given me. Thank you for joining me in this incredible journey. This is my ever evolving love letter to Golf. Jesse Perryman P.S. Please Rate, Review and Subscribe !
Flag Hunters Golf Podcast
Brittany Lincicome Insight into Women's Golf and Family Life
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Discover the delicate balance between the precision of putting and the demands of parenthood as Brittany Lincicome an esteemed LPGA Tour pro, joins us to share her story. Golf isn't just about the swing; it's a mental marathon, and Brittany gives us an inside look at the sheer resilience required to stay on top of her game while juggling the joys and challenges that come with being a mom. She illuminates the path taken by many female athletes, where the pursuit of greatness on the greens intertwines with the nurturing role of a parent. With a candid conversation, we celebrate women's golf and advocate for the acclaim it richly deserves.
Dive into the psyche of a professional golfer as we tackle the mental toughness essential for a formidable short game. Brittany divulges the strategies that keep her mentally grounded amidst the high pressures of competition. From the reliance on cutting-edge technology to the age-old wisdom of golfing greats, we unravel the complexities of maintaining a competitive edge. It's not always about the perfect shot; it's the relentless pursuit of progress and the capability to recover from the inevitable imperfections that define a true champion.
The fairway to equality in sports is long, but strides are being made. We address the disparities female golfers face compared to their male counterparts, focusing on the prowess and skill that women bring to the game. Brittany's insights into the training nuances and the sheer technical mastery of LPGA players underscore the potential for men in the sport to learn from their female contemporaries. As we wrap up, we rally behind the female competitors who dazzle us with their talent and call for increased recognition and support in their sporting journeys.
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Flag Hunters Golf Podcast.
Speaker 1:This is Jesse Perryman, your host, and this week we've got Brittany Lensicum on. Brittany, a longtime member of the LPGA Tour, multiple winner out there, has a couple majors under her belt, so undoubtedly she has reached the top of the mountain and is aspiring to ascend again, to, uh, climbing the mountain, which is phenomenal. And this is a conversation about just just a couple of golf geeks just riffing. I mean, we talk about just about everything under the sun to motherhood, parenthood and how that impacts on the golf course. Off the golf course, what off the golf course? What she works on, what she struggles with and what she aspires to be. It's everything under the sun. This is kind of a kitchen sink, everything under the kitchen sink conversation and it really truly is a couple of people that just love the game of golf and we are trying to figure it out together and I I enjoyed this conversation. I'm a big fan and in part and parting excuse me I'm going to encourage all you men out there to take a look at those girls, because when you look at what they do and what they can do out there, I'm going to echo something that Brittany said in the conversation. She said you know, we're a little bit more relatable than the men, and I couldn't agree more, because we're not able to produce these prodigious club head speeds and I think that the girls club head speeds and watching their action and how they play is a little bit more relatable to most of us men and that's not a slight on anybody. That really is a high compliment to the ladies out there and I think that in golf we need to celebrate them a little bit more. Their skill is out of this world and they truly are masters of the game and it's my hope and wish that the LPGA Tour gets put on blast every week and really to honor and celebrate the talented women that they are and, quite frankly, great human beings as well, very approachable. You can ask them questions and they'll try to answer to the best of their ability. They're very kind and I really want to celebrate Brittany in this conversation and I really want to celebrate Brittany in this conversation and I really want to celebrate women's golf and the LPGA Tour in particular. Check them out, support them, don't be shy, you're going to learn a lot. And cheers to everyone and you know, in closing, congrats to Xander Schauffele for winning his first major, massive accomplishment, and we've got a gal who's won a couple of them to listen to. So enjoy and have a great week.
Speaker 1:Hello, this is your host, jesse Perryman, welcoming you to another edition of the Flag Hunters Golf Podcast. Justin unfortunately isn't joining us today, but we have one of my favorite women out there, brittany Lincecum. Brittany is a two-time major champ. She's won a few times out there. She's a mom. She bombs it. She hits it probably a lot harder than most of us who listen to this podcast. So we're going to listen to her and really get inside of her mind and what it's like to play out there and to earn a living playing this great game that we all love, and to be a wife and to be a mom, and how she balances it all, and it's really not too far from what we all do in our normal lives. So, brittany, welcome. Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:Awesome. So you got started pretty early in your career. I mean, you were a kid.
Speaker 2:Not, it was Tiger, like two or three years old, so I started when I was nine, which back then I felt like was pretty early. So, yeah, definitely, just, you know, fell in love with it right away. I played with my dad and two older brothers and honestly I think I just like driving the golf cart more than anything. But yeah, just I thought golf was so cool. I love trying to hit it as far as possible, and kind of still do to this day, so it's great yeah absolutely so you.
Speaker 1:You turned pro early. Yeah, what was? What was the thought behind that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I turned pro out of high school. I did homeschooling from middle school through high school so I just wasn't as certain of how to like time manage. You know, trying to golf, trying to study, is trying to. You know, play on a team. And you know my family and I big supporters, you know they just said, hey, let's try to turn pro. And at the time when I did it you could go to Q school. If you didn't make it, you still had the chance to go to college. So there was no drawback to trying to turn pro. So you know, I made it through Q school my first try and the rest is history. So I've been super lucky to play for 20 years, which is a crazy number to even say. Which is a crazy number to even say. But yeah, it's been, it's been a cool ride.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. I mean that's that's a pretty, that's pretty cool. You're young. How old were you when you first got out there? You were 19, 19. Wow, what was that like? You make it through tour school. You had to have been just out of your mind, excited.
Speaker 2:Yeah, super excited, obviously had no clue what was getting ready to happen or how the year was going to unfold. And you know you go to junior golf tournaments and you know everybody on the range, you know the golf courses really well and now you're coming to the LPGA Tour. You don't know hardly anybody like Paula, I know, was there, but like I didn't know anybody else obviously. So now I'm having to learn new golf courses. I'm hanging out with girls I've never met.
Speaker 2:Luckily, again, I had my parents and my parents still travel to this day now helping me with my girls. But they have followed me everywhere and have loved every minute of it. So that was really helpful. You know, a lot of girls come over from maybe overseas or out of the country and they don't have so much family support so they're kind of just thrown in. And that's probably the hardest adjustment is just it's so lonely on the road. So having my parents was obviously a big help. My dad caddied my first two years on tour, so that I mean the transition. They made it seem super easy, even though obviously turning pro and trying to keep your card is not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what a great support system. That's an incredible support system. I don't think a lot of people realize that, that you know it's a big risk to do what you did, Huge, huge risk. And if you don't have the support, oh my goodness, I can't imagine. I mean, it's already hard enough as it is.
Speaker 2:Yep, the support, and financially too, I mean junior golf was costing my family about 60,000 a year. So, turning pro now, traveling all three of us, it was probably close to $100,000 a year. So that weighs on your mind burden just coming out. My parents are schoolteachers. We own a daycare. They don't have money. I was never able to go to the big IMG academies or anything of that route. My dad taught me when I was younger we had a couple pros here locally. I only played in junior tournaments that we could drive to. Um, so I always I love telling the story because you know especially young kids watching you. You think parents think that you have to send them to these big academies and you have to have a lot of money. But um, you know your, your child, can come through. You know the lpga girls golf program or the first team program and still make it on tour. So, um, there's not one way, and I love that about the game.
Speaker 1:It's everybody has a chance, which is great. Yeah, that's well said. If there's there, where there's a will, there's a way. Exactly, you know, and having that intent out there, it's funny. The universe kind of unfolds in front of you when you have that intention to play better. So when you were growing up and learning how to play the game, who were your inspirations? Were there any other gals out there that you really looked up to? Oh, yeah, or I want to play like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, annika was obviously hot back then. Lorena Ochoa, julie Inkster funny, Julie Inkster and Pat Hurst were both playing practice rounds in Hawaii my first tournament ever. So I played you know nine hole practice round with them. I think I took a few dollars off of both of them and you know Pat Hurst joke that week that I was taking her kids. You know money, shoe money she called it Both went on to play. Well, I think I missed the cut.
Speaker 2:But it was just cool to like watch these women on TV and grow up watching them and thinking you know one day how cool it would be to be one of them and be inside the ropes and we had the JC Penny classic back in the day. It was a mixed team event over at Innisbrook and just going to watch Laura Davies and John Daly and these, these people and just being the, I was the standard bear for them. So just to be a young kid, to be inside the ropes to watch, that is so cool and then to get out on tour and to be standing next to Anika Sorenstam, it was truly incredible. And now we're friends to this day, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is really cool. What a dream come true. Yeah, that had to have been a trip at first.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, the first time I had to play with Anika, I feel like I played really bad that day. I remember when I had to play with Annika, I feel like I played really bad that day. But just watching how good she was with the golf ball like if she needed to hit a cut she could hit a cut. If she needed to hit a draw she could hit a draw, high level, like every shot she had and it was just so cool how in control of her golf ball she was. And just a young girl looking up and watching, I mean it was just really cool. Yeah, what an impression too.
Speaker 1:That you know, especially with today, brittany, that you know, I fear, with a lot of juniors, both men and women, boys and girls, that they're they're playing golf swing versus going out and actually playing the game itself. And that's such a great story that Annika, I mean you know, at first glance we can look at her especially back in her. Annika and I are the same age as just this machine that just hit fairways and greens and hit it dead straight and was technically proficient, but she was actually very creative out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah for sure. I mean, like I said, she had every shot, I feel. Like the next year I tried to teach myself how to hit a cut and I think I had one of my worst seasons ever. So I just stick to your own game to hit a cut and I think I had one of my worst seasons ever. So I just stick to your own game. You know you don't need to reinvent the wheel if you don't have to, but, um, it was just cool. You know they do that a lot like the US Opens, the bigger tournaments. They like to tuck that pin on the back right and, being a draw player, you know I always just have to aim for the middle of the green, which has worked for me, so I'm going to stick with it. But it was cool to watch another player, you know, be able to attack all different pins at any, you know, any time, and I just thought that was incredible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, good. Good thing to think about too For those who are listening. You know having all the shots, but at the same time, if you have a shot, it's all right, you just maximize that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure, because even my game now, you know, I've eliminated the right side of the golf course. So if I miss it right, something has gone way wrong. You know I'm a draw player, I love hitting the draw, so I know my miss is going to be left. So every shot, you know I'm not guarding against it, but I know in my mind what, what I need to do to not hit it left. But I know I'm not going to hit it right, so helpful of trying to. You know, just pick one shot, stick with it, go with it and you eliminate one side of the golf course, which is very helpful.
Speaker 1:Are you working with any swing coaches at the moment?
Speaker 2:No, I haven't really had an official lesson since probably 2007. I've always been a field player and I had a great gentleman here, matt Mitchell, who taught me for probably eight or nine years, got me you know where I am, we're on tour, and it was just kind of repetitive, you know, we did the same things, just kind of needed a break. And then, um, I'm just a field player, like I said, I'm gonna hit it left, I'm gonna miss it left. I either got quick normally, I just got quick really, um, and I just kind of do that, but I, I, you know, I play with the director instruction of instruction at our club and if I do have something else going maybe he'll just make me aware of it, but it's, it's normally something so small that, um, it's, it's not not anything too too big, so it's good yeah, you don't have to reinvent the wheel if you miss a few shots we are kind of doing that with putting.
Speaker 2:I've, um, I had a putting lesson with gary coke the other day and everyone's like does he give lessons? And I'm like I'm not. But I've known him a long time and I know he's a local guy. He's been around the game a long time, so I did go see him the other day, just because putting is it always comes down to putting, doesn't it? I mean, it doesn't matter what level you're at, it's always short game. So I saw him a week or two ago.
Speaker 1:So if we're looking at a pie chart of Brittany's game, you know what? What would you say, is the part of your game that requires the most attention that you need to keep coming back to. You need to keep making sure that it's good and up to standard.
Speaker 2:Um, I definitely say short game. You know I always say putting, but chipping is not any less. You know valuable Like chipping is definitely um. Know valuable like chipping is definitely um. You know big. You know drivers my strong suit. You know I hardly miss fairways um, knock on wood um, but definitely it always comes down to putting. You know you need to be able to make you know a 5-10 footer here or there to kind of keep the momentum going, keep the round going and um, you know that's crucial. You know you can need to make a couple maybe 20-30 footers every down again, um, but you definitely need to make a couple maybe 20, 30 footers every now and again. But you definitely need to make you know inside 10 feet. I've been working on those hard this offseason.
Speaker 1:Well, that's good. Yeah, that'll definitely pay off too. Yeah, I mean putting. It just seems, brittany, it seems to me that if you're a good putter, there's a few things that happen and it bears to bring to light. You know, first thing I can think about is it takes pressure off your long game. Whether you're aware of it or not, it's a trip to me. Scotty Scheffler might be the best ball striker on the planet and he's kind of a rare bird where his ball striking keeps him in it. But when he's putting well, he's pretty much a rare bird where his ball striking keeps him in it. But when he's putting well it's, he's pretty much gonna win. And that might not be the case for everybody, but it seems if you're a good putter it's such a superpower, oh for sure. And then other and then other people know that like oh my god, there's britney. You know I'm gonna play. I'm playing with britney today. She's gonna make everything I look at, she looks at.
Speaker 2:It's like playing match play. You know your opponent's going to make it, you have to make it and, like you said, if you drive it out of play off the tee, you need to get it up and down. You always know that your putter's there to save you. But unfortunately, it's the first thing to go, especially for amateurs who don't get to practice a lot Obviously a lot, you know, obviously have jobs and don't get to play as much as they would like. Um, it's the first thing to go every time, either putting or chipping. You know you can go months without hitting balls and go to the range and stripe it right down the middle, no big deal. But when you get to the green and you have to chip a ball, um, see ya, it's gone.
Speaker 1:So you, you, yeah, absolutely, and, and you put a lot of time into that. I find that really interesting. You know, and it's something that I repeat all the time the best players in the world are, and you know I'm sure that's no different out there on the LPGA tour You're really, really, really good with your wedges and you know, once again I'm going back to seeing kids and I'm not trying to poo poo Trackman or Flightscope or anything like that. Those are parts of the game these days and they're great. Feedback tools Fine, whatever feedback tools fine, whatever. But the the heart of the game lies inside of what?
Speaker 2:100 yards, you know, 120, maybe, something like that yeah for sure, playing with a buddy and I don't get it within like three feet and I hit it to like five feet and I'm like so upset and he's like, oh, get in the cart, you know whatever. Um, but if I think of other lpj players, like NB Park back in the day or Lydia Ko or any of the top players, I mean they're going to hit from 100 yards. I swear they're inside like three feet every time and it's probably like 10 feet. It's probably not as close as I feel like it is, but they're not. I mean they're going to make birdie, they're going to get it up and down and that's it.
Speaker 2:So around the green again, the same girls that they miss the green Most times. Indy Park would chip it in. I'm like what is happening? These are incredible. And I mean, like you said about those machines, you know they always. You know if it's not a Thursday around a tournament round, I don't swing as hard. I don't think, or maybe adrenaline is not the same. So I never go on those machines because they'll tell me I'm hitting my driver like 220.
Speaker 1:And we know I don't do that. Yeah, yeah, exactly, you got to take them with a little bit of a grain of salt and sorry to all the instructors out there who might this might be offensive to you, but not everybody, you know, adheres to these things. Not everybody, but you know. Let's. Let's segue, brett, let's set the segue into what. What do you do to take care of yourself out there? Mentally Now, I mean, what do you do? I guess let me rephrase this. I mean, how many times in a 72 hole event are you going to absolutely stripe it? How many days in a row are you going to stripe it?
Speaker 2:Probably not very many. It's obviously, obviously. I mean, that's what everyone always says. You know, when I hit a bad drive again, I hit it off the bottom of the club face. Yeah, it's going to go straight, but it's not going to go as far as as I wanted it to. So it's definitely a game of just keeping it in play. Don't hit it out of bounds, don't hit it on hazard, um. But for that many days in a row, I mean you're going to get tired, you're going to have that late afternoon round by the end. You're going to be exhausted and hit a errant shot every now and again. But again, as long as the miss is not as long as the miss is in play, it's okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you're, you're pretty much accepting of that and that's part of the game, and you just keep moving forward.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, I mean, the mental side is something. That's what's holding me back. Honestly now and I just started talking with Brett McCabe just trying to get my mental size Something happened after having my four-year-old, obviously four years ago, like just taking so much time off.
Speaker 2:I've never, knock on wood, if I had an injury where I've had to take time off in my 20-year career. So when I had my first daughter, just, she came eight weeks early in another state. We were in the NICU for a long time and by the time we drove home with her 20 some hours, the season was basically over. Like they were going to Asia. I wasn't going to go to Asia with a new baby, it's just, I took so much time off. So, trying to come back, I'm like, oh, I got this, no big deal, but now not realizing you know. I'm like, oh, I got this no big deal, but now not realizing. You know, I'm like, oh, I'm the same person, but obviously your body's a little different. Um, now you're traveling with an infant. Um, it just, it was hard coming back mentally and still to this day now having two children, um, something, I, I love it so much.
Speaker 2:I think I put so much pressure on myself that when I'm out there, especially on a friday, on the day that has the cut day, it's just like my hands are shaking, I'm so nervous my heart rate is. I would. I should wear one of those whoops because it would be really entertaining to see, like how high my heart rate gets. I think everyone would have a good laugh. But it's just, it's just crazy, it's just different. It's just not how I used to play Back in the day. I would trying to win the trophy, trying to beat all the girls out there, and now it's like, oh, let's just make the cut, don't make, don't make mistakes, keep it in, play middle of the green and hope we make a putt, you know. So it's just different and something I'm working through. But I feel like in my heart I still have all the shots. I can do everything that those other girls are doing, even though I'm like twice their age.
Speaker 1:But it's just kind kind of learning how to calm my nerves and trying to get back into a winning mentality. Yeah, yeah, what do you think that is, brittany? What do you think that is as far as a winning mentality, is there certain things that you think about? Is there a mantra in your head that you think about? You know, I mean, if you can, if you can share.
Speaker 2:I mean, these days I'm just trying to slow down my breathing and and I would love to win again and just have my girls with me and show them like what I do for a living. I mean, obviously they come most, um, which is really cool to have them out even a little bit and, um, just to see, kind of they just obviously like playing. They have no idea what I'm doing, but one of these days I'm going to tell them, you know, when they get older, um, but just you know, slowing down my breathing, one shot at a time. You know, I keep pictures of my yardage book of my girls to kind of, you know, just bring back some happy memories, maybe if it's going bad on the golf course. But it's a struggle, it's something that I'm gonna have to work on really hard to overcome and we'll just see how mentally strong I am.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean it takes time, it's a it, it's like a reconfiguration of your career, you know, to you know Brady Lincecum 2.0, you know, being a mom, being a wife, I mean, you know, being a mother to young kids. I mean we have kids. We know what it's like. I mean it's that's. That is a, a, a big, big, big, big job in and of itself and then to go out and be competitive with the world's best. You know that's a lot to handle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know, I think that now, in which which I think is great in society that we're bringing up mental health awareness which is great, you know and how that can translate at the highest levels that you play at on the golf course, in competition, where you know, I'm sure that folks that listen to this, that play at a high level, that play competitively, can identify that all of your gremlins are coming out. They're coming out, whether you want them to or not, they're coming. You got good gremlins and you got bad gremlins, but they're speaking, whether you're aware of it or not, and it really is. It almost seems like that's kind of our life's work out there, playing competitively. How do we overcome ourselves out there? How the hell do we get out of our own way.
Speaker 2:Yeah right.
Speaker 1:And so.
Speaker 2:I played a tournament this past week and I've been out to this golf course multiple times before. The first time I went out I had shot seven under. The next time I went, I shot five under. Like it's so easy when and there's nothing on the line, you're just playing. I play a dollar birdie game with my buddy Um, and then I step up in the tournament and I'm like I literally have played this golf course a million times, 30 minutes from my house, and just that little bit of pressure of teeing it up in a tournament and having a few people watching, it's so crazy how it just kind of flips a switch and it's like I have to make it so much harder. Like the game was so easy last week, like why can't it just be so easy this week? And 20 years later?
Speaker 2:I mean I've talked to Julie Inkster even about it and she said if you're not nervous, you're not human and if you're not nervous it means you don't care. So she's like it's really, really good that you're nervous, even though in the back of my mind I'm like it doesn't feel that way when I'm on the golf course. I mean it still means that I care, I still want to be out there. It means a lot to me. So you know last, or you're retiring and I was like, wait a minute, no, like that hasn't crossed my mind yet. So that scares me more than you know. Shutting it down, retiring that's. I've done this my whole life, so it's kind of my identity and who I am. And you know, trying to transition is tricky too. So it's kind of a snowball effect of everything, I think.
Speaker 1:Boy, julie sure did it. She did it. She sure did. Yeah, yeah did it. She did it. She sure did. Yeah, yeah, girl, it can be done, it can really be done. I mean, that's yeah boy. I'll tell you, that's such a rabbit hole, britney, to go down.
Speaker 2:It's such a rabbit hole do we have that much time?
Speaker 1:we're gonna have to have you back on again. Um, because I think that you know and I I know exactly what you're saying we want to play well and we care about it so much and we invest so much energy, so much of who we are and it's hard not to take it personally, it's hard not to not identify with what you shoot. It's really really hard. I mean, I don't really care who you are. If you go out and you shoot 65, you're going to feel pretty damn good about yourself, but if you go out and you shoot 75, you're going to feel pretty bad about yourself, you know. So it's like the the what's? The riddle is how can you detach from that and have have a good, solid feeling, image, whatever you want to call it of yourself, no matter what?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's definitely trying to get back to that, because I mean, I don't even know how to. I was just thinking about how I was going to say this and I still don't know if I have the right way. But you know, when you have a bad day, I thought after having my first daughter that it didn't matter how you played on the golf course, you would go home. You have this beautiful kid, a beautiful husband, I have this beautiful life, and then you still have the bad day, but you're still just really upset and down. And not that my daughters don't make me happy. I don't know how to explain this properly. I don't think daughters don't like make me happy. I don't know how to explain this properly, I don't think.
Speaker 2:But it's still like golf makes me so mad when I have a bad day that you know everyone's like oh, but you have, you have this over here and I'm like, yeah, but I still played really bad. You know like so it's hard to split the two. And know that like, yes, I am a golfer, but yes, I'm also a mother, and the two kind of get mixed. You know a little bit, and but it's just golf for you. I think it's just something I've literally done since I was nine almost 30 years that it's just hard to split the two sometimes. Well, you're a competitor, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:You're a competitor, you know it's. It's easy for all of us, on top of our soapbox, to look and go well, brett, you know you. You know you have all of these things and you've been able to make a living and you've won eight times out there in a couple of majors. Isn't that enough? Well, when you're a competitor, it's not, it's just not. You know, it's great, it's cool. Dinner conversation, sure, yeah, but but you know, I think that when, when you have, you know, I think that when you have, you know certain armchair quarterbacks that are commentating on certain golf channels, without saying the golf channel that can really, you know, try to put themselves in your shoes, both men and women, because when you're a competitor, you want to play well all the time, and it's really, it's like a Zen riddle. How can you have it in perspective and and not have your competitor diminished? Yeah, is that, is that possible?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean is it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good question, especially like this year. You know, I'm definitely getting closer to retiring than I am starting my career. So if this were to be my last year, like each tournament that goes by where I don't play good, you know, I make the cut, and then I don't play good on the weekend, or I don't play well and I don't make the cut. It's just like, oh, another week like wasted, or you know. So I don't know. I got to. We got to figure it out. Season's getting ready to start.
Speaker 1:Yeah's right, oh, you're. Oh, I have no doubt you're gonna figure it out. I just had a thought like how okay? So I got a thought right. Oh, how okay. How? How can you redirect that competitive energy into something that is intangible, for example, you're not identifying so much with an external result, but you are redirecting your energy into, like you said, like be in the moment, or you know something like that. How can you redirect that competitive energy into your level of focus? Yeah, you know something like that, because that energy has to go somewhere. Correct, yeah.
Speaker 2:I gotta go somewhere.
Speaker 2:Ask it. I've tried that. That doesn't work. In this past week I tried to be very specific on my target, you know, say it out loud, tell my caddy exactly. You know what I'm aiming at, what shot I'm trying to hit, and just kind of, when I felt nervous, just really talk it out and be very specific of what I'm aiming at, what shot I'm trying to hit, and just kind of when I felt nervous, just really talk it out and be very specific of what I'm trying to do in the golf shot, instead of standing over and being like, oh, do I want to try to hit a cut? Do I want to try to hit the draw? Do I?
Speaker 2:You know like sometimes I've literally gotten into shots before and I'm like on the top of my back saying I'm like I wonder what shot I'm going to hit. This, you know like, so I last week I felt like it helped. So definitely just kind of redirecting when I'm feeling nervous, or even just the whole time just being very specific on what I'm trying to do. And then, especially when you pull it off, it's like, oh, dang, like I did it Right. So it just gives you that little bit extra confidence. It's like, oh, okay, I still got it, so let's go yeah, definitely, yeah, that's a good idea.
Speaker 2:You know be really specific yeah, you know golf, like something works one week, it won't work the next week, you can have like an arsenal of a few things. In case you know the one, like I've done that in tournaments before. Actually, I won in canada years ago and I got the same beet salad like seven nights in a row. Like I played good and then I got it again every night I had to get it, um. And then there's other times where it's like, oh, I had this drink tonight, I gotta have the same drink the next night. You do that two or three days in a row and then it finally like burns off and you're like dang it. I. I went one too many days trying to do the same thing right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean we, we all are a little like a kind of a degree away from being kind of crazy playing this game. But that's okay, because if we think it works, even if it's just a distraction, we're just going to go with it Exactly.
Speaker 2:We're just going to go with it ball marker every day and silly little things. But um, you know, you and golfers, that's, that's what we do.
Speaker 1:Exactly. So what are you doing to take care of yourself physically? What? What's? Uh, what's your physical routine look like these days?
Speaker 2:Trying to work out a little bit more of this off season, just trying to pick up a few more miles per hour that I had lost. You know, just getting older, having kids, um, just trying to swing hard again and gain a few yards in distance, but just like two days a week, and then try to do some stretching in between. That Stretching is so big, especially for amateur golfers. You know, if you, if you can't get into the position that you're trying to get into or that you're maybe your coach wants you to get into, because you're not flexible enough or your body just doesn't bend the way you need like, then you can't do it. So definitely loosening up you know the lower back, the hamstrings, you know all those areas is definitely helpful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a big part of it. Yeah, you need to be able to move. Yeah you need to be able to move.
Speaker 2:You go take a lesson and your coach is like oh, you need to do this, this, but if your body doesn't allow you to do that, then it's not going to work. A lot of bands, too, like, um, those red, yellow bands, you know those. Those are always super easy and super fun. Those things are awesome and light.
Speaker 1:You can take them anywhere. Yeah, those things are awesome. You know, my my trainer has me do like a quick little five to six minute warm-up with those bands, especially, especially if I don't time to hit a few balls. Just got to go from the car to the first tee. We do it a lot right and and they work crazy. It's like magic.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good. So. So I know a few of you all out there. Brittany and you all are really really really good, good, good players, and I was having this conversation with Lisa about this the other day and I'm thinking to myself these are the best women players in the world on the LPGA Tour. They're all technical masters. I look at all of you as master Jedis. You guys are all master Jedis. I look at all of you as master Jedis. You guys are all master Jedis. And yet kind of frustratingly for me is how come women's golf isn't being promoted the way men's golf is? I don't get that. Like what is that?
Speaker 2:It's like the million dollar question and it's hard to bad mouth because it is getting better. Our majors have really stepped up and we're playing for a lot more money. But then the flip side, you know, compare it. Try to compare it to the men, which I know men are different. I know we're not trying to be equal, we're not trying to do this whole like being equal thing. We're just trying to bridge the gap a little bit. Sure, you know, see what Scotty Scheffler made. And then you looked at what the girl made in China. It's very depressing. I think it was like three, 23 and 25,000. And didn't Scotty get like four mil or something like it's it's not even like again, we're not trying to be equal.
Speaker 2:You know they had tiger, they have. You know people want to watch them in more. That's great, whatever. But I'm just trying to bridge that gap a little bit more. I've always said, you know, when I turned pro in 05, I just I want to leave the game better than when I started and I definitely feel confident that I have.
Speaker 1:But you know, I still want to work hard to try to leave it even better if I'm, if I'm leaving the game soon. So that's what I, that's what I try to do. Yeah, and I think that too, along with that, brittany, is that I think a lot of men would benefit. I commented on this earlier. I think a lot of men would benefit from watching you all, because it's more realistic. As far as swing speed, oh for sure, as far as what you can do, I mean, I'm only swinging at it at 105. That's, that's tangible, to watch all of you, and I think more men should do the same thing.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You know, I, I, I hear that a lot when men play in our programs. They're like, wow, you know, I love watching your swings. It's more relatable, um, whether it's the swing, the full swing or even the wedge game. Obviously men's hands are a little quicker so you guys can spin the ball a little bit more. But like when they see us do it, they're like, wow, you know, it's, it's really the same product. We just don't have 120, 125 mile an hour swing speeds. You know we don't hit it 350 yards. You know we hit it 250, 260, you know 270, um, but we, we can hit all the same shots. So it's definitely, I think, more relatable for an amateur golfer, a man, to watch us. Then who can can swing like Bryson DeChambeau or Dustin Johnson? I mean, they're swinging so hard, it's fun to watch, but you know it's it's not realistic for most amateur golfers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's a good point. It's not realistic for most amateur golfers unless they have the time and they have the resources to to work on their games like those guys do, which we just don't. So you know, watching all of you is really a good education, especially with the swing speed and with the wedge play.
Speaker 2:Oh for sure I know. Lex the other day said she's swings around one five. So I mean, that's pretty dang fast for a female. I'm probably one oh one. One oh two. I got it to it to 103 the other day, though, so maybe I'm going to get faster, but I'm always trying to chase down Lexi. But yeah, I think it's. I think a lot of men probably swing around that same you know, swing speed. It's just easier to relate to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely so. What? What's kind of the average length out there these days for for LPGA Tour events? What are you guys playing at about? 65, 66, 67?
Speaker 2:Probably 65. The majors obviously stretch it longer, but the average week is probably 65. That's pretty solid, Pretty good. Yeah, I have probably two par fives that are reachable. The other ones probably lay up some decent. You know a couple par threes that are decent and some that are shorter. So it's, it's a good mix, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's pretty good. I mean, that's about what men play, maybe a little less like the average. The average player yeah, yeah, that's what I'm going to be playing. I'm. I've got one more year for senior am golf. I'm going to be 50. Yeah, I got one more year, so that's what we're going to be playing.
Speaker 2:I'm looking forward to that. There you go. I'm kind of over playing 7 000 yard golf courses. Kids out drive me by like 60. I went up to bay hill the other day and did a just a monday pro-am and I kept looking back like man.
Speaker 1:Those t-boxes are really long yeah, that place is long too, yeah that rough.
Speaker 2:I had a nine iron out of the rough and I think it went about 50 yards so so.
Speaker 1:So, britney, what? What do you see? You know how do you see the lpga tour moving forward? Um, with everything that's going on in golf? Um, you know how. How do you see, do you see it moving more toward um a thing, or is it still going to be relative power artistry, things like that? Because on the men's side it's gosh darn. I mean, if you don't hit it 300 yards, it's almost like you can't even be competitive. Is that same phenomenon happening on the LPGA Tour, or not so much?
Speaker 2:Not that I have realized or maybe paid attention to. I think it's more just kind of the artistry of you know driving it straight and then you know keeping it in play, not making too many mistakes. And I mean the girls' short games. I mean they get it up and down everywhere. Their putters are fantastic. I think it's more a short game skill on our tour still than I mean it's definitely since Anika, you know, started her workout. You know Tiger started working out, like there's definitely see Charlie Hall, lexi Thompson they're in the gym sometimes twice a day, every day. Wow, I mean, lydia Co posts a bunch of workout stuff and she's pretty tiny, so it's definitely in your, you know, workout. You know everyone's working out, but it's still not, you know, we're not overpowering golf courses, or, um, I think the average is still what like two 50, two 60, maybe off the tee, which is which is all you really need. So, um, yeah, it's definitely not as strong as the men, but definitely at most everybody works out these days.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and it's just good anyway. I mean, it's just good for your body, it's good for your mental health, it's just good for everything. And the ball, the ball.
Speaker 2:I'm glad we haven't had that in a while, but that doesn't mean it's still not happening, I guess.
Speaker 1:Right the ball. How did that go over?
Speaker 2:well out there as the usga came to us maybe like six months before it was announced, and I remember talking to a lady specifically and she said you know it's, it's not coming to your tour. We always have t-boxes we can go back to. We're not stretching the golf courses out by any means, um, so she said it wasn't going to be a problem. So I really like brushed it off and then when it got announced I was like, oh, I'm not even going to read it because it doesn't affect me. And then somebody said, oh, no, it is. And I was like what? So then I had to obviously go read about it.
Speaker 2:And then I called the USGA and basically they said they didn't want two different golf balls for pros. They didn't want the girls playing a different. So, um, I think it's all crazy. Like I said, I played bay hill the other day. That rough was like six inches long, like you weren't advancing the ball, that they weren't going to be able to make birdie if they didn't drive it straight. So, um, I think there's more ways to go about it. I think you can grow the rough like that. You can speed up the greens, make the fairways more narrow. I mean you see a little bar threes, like the players or these guys are still hitting it in the water and it's like a wedge. So, yeah, maybe put more pins on the false fronts. I there. I feel like there's so many other ways than you know making us mess with a new golf ball but yeah, yeah, it's happening, it's happening.
Speaker 1:Bye then, hopefully, right, I don't know. You know, I think the USGA sort of anticipates that there's going to be counters. The equipment manufacturer is going to come up with something. You know, all of you who play the game at the highest level are going to come up with something. You know, maybe I don't know, I don't know. But hey, look, it is what it is. I have my opinions on it. I tried my best to stay away from controversial stuff, but you know, I myself too am a competitor and I'm going to be. I'm going to be like 55, 56, 57. When this happens, yeah, I don't need to lose any more distance. Great, it's like the senior Rams and the women get just smacked in this thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's crazy. I mean, I could also be on the senior tour here in a couple of years, so maybe I will still be playing. But yeah, I think it's. I don't think it's necessary, but you know, the USGA is going to do whatever they want to do. And here we are.
Speaker 1:I'm trying I like trying to keep my mouth shut on this one, and I still have respect for the USGA. I have some dear friends that are on the executive committee and shout out to those guys, but I think also too I agree with you, brett they should have done other creative things, put shot making back into the game. I think that you know, if you really want to mess with the ball, make it spin more. Make it spin more without losing distance. But you can make it spin more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's crazy that. Yeah, I mean again too. Like I love Mike one, I thought what he did for us was truly incredible and still friends to this day. So no to them, but just I don't. I totally agree that. Why are we taking this Like you're not going to go make a new baseball or a new football? That doesn't fly as far.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, that's a tough one. I mean, can you, can you imagine if, like major league baseball, if they allowed composite bats in Major League Baseball, those guys would be hitting like thousand foot home runs? You'd have to make the stadiums like so big that it would just you wouldn't be able to play the game.
Speaker 2:We don't have enough real estate for that, maybe they should go to wiffle balls. It'd be like baseball going to a wiffle ball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, yeah, I mean, I guess football hasn't really changed, soccer hasn't changed, tennis hasn't changed. The athletes have gotten better.
Speaker 2:Right, they're stronger, bigger, faster yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't know why it isn't our game. Why is it our game? Don't we play the toughest game in the world? I think we do.
Speaker 2:I was just sitting there like why can't you just go in your home?
Speaker 1:Just go in your home, baby. So what's this year look like for you? How many tournaments do you have planned?
Speaker 2:Probably going to be a little limited. I mean, I normally play around 20, low 20s. It'll probably be high teens, I would think, Pretty full. I'm skipping the first California event, so my next tournament I'll leave March 25th for Arizona and then I'll go to Vegas, which will be super fun, and then like a week off and then go to Chevron and then go to California. So it's kind of like two, three on week off, two, three on week off, which is pretty solid.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the whole fam's going to come to Arizona. They'll come to Chevron in Texas, which will be cool. So, yeah, it'll be great.
Speaker 1:Well, Brittany, I can't thank you enough for coming on. I want you to come on again.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, yeah, I want you to come on again, hopefully later in the year. But you know, once again, everyone the girls are, they're so good's just crazy to me, they're so good. So you know, lisa and I joke about this a lot lisa cornwell is a good mutual friend of britney's and ours, britney's and mine excuse me, um, I would love one of these days for you, and maybe sarah, sarah kemp, to come to my club and just throw a beat down on some of the guys out there. I would just love. I would just love to see it.
Speaker 2:We'll go ahead on the range like left handed to make it look like we don't know what we're doing. Right, I've never been able to like get somebody to bet me, even when I try, so that's hilarious.
Speaker 1:That's hilarious. But you know, once again I want to encourage all the guys that listen to this podcast to watch the girls out there and see what they can learn, see what they're doing to generate the power that they are generating, because you all have to be pretty technically proficient to generate the power that you do. You really do. I mean, we have a little bit of a natural unfair advantage with where we can get away with some stuff. Where you all can't get away with it, you have to be proficient. So, guys, watch them out there. They're really good, they're really really good and most likely they would whoop your ass around the golf course. So we thank Brittany for coming on. Thank you, my dear.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you so much for having me. This was super fun and hopefully I'll win soon and then I'll be back.
Speaker 1:Yes.