Finding your formula for success

While we are still focusing on the ‘before’ section of the Four Quadrants to golf mastery it is important that we look at what I call your ‘golfing philosophy’. In effect, what do you believe it will take to become a good golfer?

One of the key points that I always keep stressing to the players I work with is how vitally important it is for them to find out what works for them rather than what may or may not work for someone else. Take advice, certainly, find out information, test out different theories by all means, but keep uppermost in mind the idea that what you do with your golf game must fit you and your personality.

We all love the idea of a miracle cure, or the elusive ‘secret’, but over and over again we find out on tour that adhering to certain basic fundamentals and trusting the team of people around you is the key to long-term success. One of the players I am most proud of in terms of his achievements since we started to work together is Philip Archer.

Chances are that you may not yet have heard of Phil. He didn’t have any sort of amateur career to speak of and five years ago he was struggling playing in local Pro-Ams. A plan was put together and he has worked religiously and STUCK to that plan.

Five years later, a top-10 finish in the Volvo Masters and a top-40 spot in the European Tour Order of Merit last year are a testimony to an ‘overnight sensation’ that took five years! What Phil has achieved is a testimony to what is possible with a LONG-TERM commitment instead of our eternal thirst for the next cup of ‘quick fix magic’ that lasts at best another week.

Vijay Singh is arguably golf’s hardest worker, but what he does every day is only what he feels that he needs to do to be at his best. His make-up is such that he wants to step onto the tee knowing he has prepared as completely as he possibly can.
This knowledge makes him feel ready to play.

He loves to hit practice balls because going on the range isn’t real work to him; it’s another opportunity to explore what he can do with the golf ball. If you are going onto the range with the flawed mindset that, by hitting balls for hour after hour, day after day, you will have ‘paid your dues’, and will therefore deserve to play well, then you will be very sorely disappointed.

If Vijay is today’s workaholic, then Ben Hogan could be considered the equivalent from yesteryear. Arguably the greatest ball striker of all time, Hogan, pictured below, was on a never-ending search for golfing perfection. Endless hours on the practice ground ‘digging the answers out of the dirt’ resulted in a level of consistency that had never been seen before and hasn’t been bettered since.

Legend has it that Hogan didn’t like to play 36 holes in one day around the same course because of the likelihood of him finding his own divot marks in the afternoon round! The mechanics of Hogan’s swing have been dissected endlessly over the past 50 years.

The golf world waited with baited breath to hear ‘the Hogan secret’ which he revealed in Life magazine in the 1950s.
But Hogan must have had an incredibly powerful mental attitude to go with a sound technique. Some of the key thoughts that he later revealed stand the test of time well.

He may not have worked with a psychologist but without doubt he had a ‘trained brain’. Here are just a few of Hogan’s ‘mental fundamentals’.

Love the Challenge.
’I have loved playing the game and practising it. Each day made me feel privileged and extremely happy, and I couldn’t wait for the sun to come up the next morning so that I could get out onto the course again.’
Accept your mistakes. Hogan had a reputation as a perfectionist, but he often stressed that mistakes were human. ’No golfer can always be at the peak of his game,’ he said.

Learn from experience.
‘I always kept a diary of what I was working on in practice,’ he said. ‘How else could I be consistent?’
Have single-minded attention. Hogan was famous for his ability to stay focused in spite of what was happening around him.
‘Have a very clear intention on each shot,’ he said. ‘What do you want that golf ball to do?’

Dr Karl Morris will be conducting the ‘Master Your Mind’ golf workshop tour on behalf of Burhill Golf and Leisure with 10 workshop dates around the country.
Go to www.burhillgolfandleisure.co.uk for details or visit Karl’s website www.golf-brain.com