 I have been fortunate enough to have the
opportunity to be involved with helping to
train some of the top players in the world.
When training a golfer to achieve their peak
performance, one concept that we continually
keep in mind is one that I call “building a
competitive callous”. One of the goals of
mental training is for the golfer to be
challenged in his or her training on a daily
basis such that they feel continual “positive
pressure”. This helps minimize the
differential between the practice and
competitive environments. Many golfers,
amateur and professional alike, train with a
level of intensity and purposefulness that is
much less rigorous than the actual
competitive environment. When we design a
schedule for peak performance, we want the
golfer’s practice protocols to be fixed,
intentional, and very specific.
As an
example, when practicing chipping just prior
to an event, we will usually suggest the
player change targets after every chip.
Additionally, we want the player to set a
goal of getting a certain number of chips
within a certain radius of their target
before moving on to the next drill.
This “forces” the player to take more time on
each shot, be more deliberate and thorough in
preparation, and evaluate with a tangible
number of successes to count.
Another
example is when practicing putting. With the
exception of those times when a player is
working specifically on a technical aspect of
their putting, we like the player to prepare
for each practice putt the same way s/he
might prepare for a putt in competition.
That involves the full pre-putt routine,
which always includes reading the green.
The
concept of “positive practice” is as follows…
why would you expect 100% results in your
practice if you don’t put forth 100%
preparation to make the putt? This is in
stark contrast with the many players that are
seen practicing putting who simply drop down
five or ten balls, striking one after another
in the general direction of a hole in machine
gun-like fashion. This type of practice is
immeasurably inefficient and bears little
resemblance to the procedures followed in
tournament play.
The bottom line here
is,
quality practice develops the callous that
mentally toughens the golfer to endure the
rigors of competition. Make sure your
practice plan challenges you to stay focused,
remain on task, and maximize productivity! |
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