“Don’t play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty.” – Harry Vardon
By Ian Hardie
I know a lot of golfers
And even non-golfers on occasion
Marvel at the seemingly effortless skill that top golf professionals
Display on the golf course while playing in televised golf tournaments
Not only do the golfers marvel at the skills and discuss them at length with other golfers
For some reason they expect to be able to exhibit similar skills
The next time they head out onto the golf course
Only to discover that they don’t actually have the same skills
And that they are missing one vital thing that top golf professionals have
Well ok, maybe it’s a couple of things
But luckily there is a way to get a little bit more of the one I’m discussing here
And it can be obtained in as little as five minutes a day
The image at the top of this post roughly demonstrates
The difference between a tour golf pro and the average golfer
I call it Frequency
The tour golf pro is effectively either playing, practicing or working on their golf in some other way
Every day of the week for most of each year
Most golfers however are only able to fit in a game every week
Maybe two if they are lucky
And that’s pretty much it for most golfers
Which means that every time they step onto the tee
They are trying to ‘find form’
I suppose you could say they are trying ‘to find their way’
The tour pro has probably had that form for a few years
Due to the frequency that they play golf
They know they are going to operate at their full ability most games
It’s one of the main reasons that they score as well as they do
Want more proof?
Think about other parts of your life
A great example I had recently was having to drive a manual (stick shift) car for a few days
As opposed to the automatic gearbox I usually drive
I could do it but there were two differences
Firstly, I wasn’t as smooth as I would be if I drove one all the time
Secondly, I had to spend a fair amount of time and mental energy
Making sure I was doing it, rather than just driving
As anything you don’t do all the time
Will always mean it takes some time to get back into the flow right?
Maybe you snow ski over winter
How are those first few runs of the season?
Compared to how your last few runs of the season?
The difference in both the examples above is frequency
The good news is that for golf
Frequency can be gained by doing something as simple as having a few putts each day
Whether on a golf green or your carpet at home
Or possibly you have some grass either in your backyard or nearby
How about five minutes a day chipping?
Can’t do either of those?
How about five minutes a day of swinging a weighted club or some similar device?
Or even a broom like this guy is here
Doing that is a simple way to create resistance which helps to build strength and speed – if you were wondering
But more importantly it can also help to build the frequency you need
So that when you tee it up
You’re ready to play instead of finding your way
No opportunity to do any of those things?
There’s a growing body of evidence that is suggesting that sitting or lying still for five minutes a day
Relaxing and then mentally rehearsing great golf shots
Can be just as effective as actually doing them!
I’m going to be looking into that concept more closely in some upcoming posts
But until then
Do something for a few minutes every day
Even if it’s just a few practice swings with a club
Do that for the next few months
And you will be amazed at how much easier you will find the start of your golf game
As just like the tour golf pro
You will be ready to play
Instead of finding your way
Play well
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