As with all things performance related, striving for the next level is critical in the development process. If you don’t believe that you can do better, you are stuck where you are; or even worse, your competency disintegrates over time. Striving to do better and believing it is possible, really are the cornerstones of the total development system. Without these key ingredients you as a player, and me as a coach, have nowhere to go.
For example, I was having a very enjoyable dinner the other night with a group of golfers from my old stomping ground in Northamptonshire. I was being asked some interesting questions like, “Do you think you can coach/improve everyone?” or “Have you ever lost your patience with a client?” But the most interesting discussion of the evening came from this starting point “Who would be your ideal lesson?”
Now bearing in mind the five gentlemen around the table probably had a combined age of over 290 years, their handicaps varying between 6 and 18, and a wealth of business experience behind them. After a small hesitation, my answer was simply this, “somebody serious about improving.”
The word ‘serious’ has a number of connotations, in this situation I would categorise the word as meaning; somebody who will apply themselves to diligent, non-rushed practice. It’s also very helpful if the individual has the perspective from past experience, not to expect the results to be immediate. There is always the bedding in period which has to take place where the new positions become habit and the old movements are replaced.
Coincidentally, the very next day one of my regular clients arrived for some practice and we chatted after his session. The main problem he had was to keep himself disciplined during his practice. He felt that it was too easy to rattle through a basket in twenty minutes, which bears no relation to the environment of a shot played on the course.
So here is a challenge to you if you are going to practice your game; have a clear understanding of what you want to work on - there needs to be a goal or desired outcome from the session. Warm up slowly starting with the wedges and then move down the numbers. If you are struggling with a particular club, go back to your nine iron and stay there until the problem subsides. Give yourself a minute per ball, so if you have fifty in the basket you have fifty minutes for your session and, finally, be very specific with your targets and move them around. Consider this for a second; you rarely hit to one target on the golf course so why do the same whilst practising?
You want your practice shots to be as real and as close to the shots that you play on the course. Jack Nicklaus once said “I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp in-focus picture of it in my head.” Every practice shot matters because that’s what drives trust and concentration on the course.
When you are on the course you can reflect on the shots hit in practice, trust your movement and let it happen. So by changing the target regularly, putting pressure on every shot and having a clear outcome for each practice session, you will find you change the way you play.
It is so important that you play the way you practice and practice the way you play. It doesn’t matter if you are fifteen or ninety, every shot counts. The good news for you is that this will save you money because you’re not just ‘shelling’ balls.
The final parting piece of guidance, remember your short game. For every minute you dedicate to your long game there should be at least the same amount dedicated to your short game.
Here’s the thing, if you follow all of the above advice you are engaging in what I would call diligent and non-rushed practice and that makes you a serious golfer in my book.