Practice less and play better golf. Really?
Mat Goggin is #1 on the Nationwide Tour. To achieve this he has been practicing less. In fact, he has eliminated practicing after his tournament rounds of golf. That’s right. After his last putt on 18, he is done for the day. Golf is the only professional sport where the athlete practices after the performance. Hmmm.
Can you practice less and still improve? Yes, but only when you practice better. It is the quality of your experiences that turns you into a peak performer.
What is experience? It is a collection of four distinct parts of a performance. I call this one unit of experience. They are:
1. Pre-performance time: This the amount of time from a few seconds to days before a specific golf event. It is here that visions, goals, strategies, tactics and time management are prepared or not prepared. What you think and do before your round impacts your performance during the round. Period.
2. Performance time: This is the amount of time from the start and finish of any round. Here you can adjust or not adjust to changing conditions, circumstances or situations.
3. Post-performance time: This is the seconds, minutes or hours after a round where analysis and evaluation does or does not take place. If we play great we don’t evaluate, we just bask in our glory. If we play terrible, we become victims and judges. Both scenarios lack the possibility of learning and swiftly improving.
4. Re-tool time: This is the amount of time before the next round where you re-tool or do not re-tool your thinking based on your prior performance. Implementing what you learned before the next tee shot is paramount. Many of us carry the negative past into our next round. “I never play this course well.” This can be disastrous from the start.
These four periods of time contribute to your positive or negative golf experience. Simply, they are the time to prepare, adjust, evaluate and re-tool your game. You possess the exact amount of time as the competition. How you manage these four segments determines the quality of your golfing experience. If you do not prepare, adjust, evaluate and learn properly, it may take you twice as long or more to accomplish your best golf. Inconsistent thinking during these four time segments will also produce inconsistent results. The quality of time, therefore, is the master ingredient of lowering your handicap or winning your club championship.
This is how an inspired novice can gain ground on the grizzled, seasoned veteran. This is how you can swiftly re-invent your handicap? This how the young overtake the old. And this is how the veteran can withstand the surging onslaught of the inexperienced.
Which part of your golf experience is the weakest link? Do you prepare your best? Do you adjust with a champion’s decisiveness? Do you analyze and evaluate with objectivity, free from emotional judgment? Do you learn swiftly in order to prepare better the next time? What is the quality of the units of experience in your practices and on-course performances?
Be forewarned to eliminate the possibility that your “I’m more experienced” mindset loses out to a champion performer that gets it. Take heed before the rookie or less talented overtake you. Pay attention to your worn-out ways of thinking. Learn and re-tool from your on-course miscalculations. It’s time to think like a champion.
Nine professional golfers won their first tournament with me. All reduced their quantity of time spent in chasing their dream of victory. They practiced less and produced more on the course. They beat the competition with this “less quantity but higher quality” mentality.
I know you probably don’t have time to practice more. I know you’re tired of spending more money on new equipment and gadgets that haven’t lowered your handicap. I know that you’ve become confused because of all the available information on your golf swing. Adding quality thoughts to preparing, adjusting and evaluating your practice sessions, lesson taking and play is the only way to quickly produce your best and most consistent golf shots.
Changing how you mentally approach your game will dramatically produce your best golf in less time. Period!
Take charge of your golf future now!
My Golf in the Zone CD (2-hrs) has the time quality tools needed to take your game to the next level. Download it now at www.jimfanningolf.com.
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