Wow - have been on a 3 day seminar with Mike Hebron and Susan Berdoy Meyers at the London Golf Club. Mike is a revered and respected golf coach, and Susan is rated as a top 50 coach in America. Actually I've still got one day left of the seminar but already feel like I've gained so much.
As someone relatively new to golf, it's been a very liberating and exciting experience. Liberating because coaching does not need to be complicated or technical - it's about communication and delivery, building rapport and relationships. Exciting because I'm on a journey of self discovery.
As a player, after listening to their philosophies and findings, through sharing their experiences, I feel a huge weight has been lifted. I played on Monday at Little Aston in a WPGA event and felt such discomfort throughout the whole round. After pretty much every shot, I was analysing and fixing - this led to frustration, tension, anxiety and doubt. I was trying so hard to fix: where my hands were; where my hips were through impact; where my weight was; what my posture looked like - so many things and all related to the body and not the tool!
The focus in their teaching is very much on the tool, i.e. the club. When we want to play tennis, we learn to use the racket; when we ski, we learn to use the skis. Mistakes are inevitable, but generally we do not see them as failure - we may miss the ball (tennis), or fall over (skiing), but we make adjustments as we go based on the experiences we have. We do this naturally, as human beings. We learn from doing and experiencing.
When we are babies, we learn to walk through falling over. If we fall over, are we failing? No. Are we struggling? Yes, of course we are, but is it not the struggle that helps us learn - through self discovery. As adults however, we react differently to the struggles we have. We are driven by success and told that our goal is to succeed, so much so, that we become afraid of getting it wrong, or put another way, we see it as failure, rather than exploration.
I went to the driving range tonight and all the baggage I was carrying with me on Monday dissipated and I felt so free just to swing the club and see what happened. There was no pressure to 'get it right' and I hit so many great shots with no real effort and came away with a real sense of freedom and achievement, even though I did make mistakes. It was liberating in so many ways and I hope that I can empower my students in the same way I feel empowered about my own game right now!
The amazing thing I am learning is that the lesson is not just applicable to golf, but to life in general. Let's not worry about making mistakes. Has Richard Branson ever made a mistake? Of course he has, but that has not detracted from his success; his mistakes have helped him discover the best way to do the things he does best. What is it you do best? What is it you are afraid of? What is it you want to succeed at? What's stopping you? Do not let your 'fear of failure' stop you....IT IS NOT FAILURE....ONLY MISTAKES....AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN! Start your journey of self discovery now.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
In Recovery...
Wow - what a week! Been in bed for most of it - feel like I've been knocked sideways by a bus! Hopefully I'm through the worst of it now though and should get some medicine from the Doc in next day or two to totally knock it on the head. Suffice to say I've added the following items to my diet this week - lucozade (original), pepto bismol, immodium, chicken noodle soup and dioralyte: seems I have some kind of stomach bug. Just focusing on building some energy and getting myself back to fighting fit again!! (Sorry if that was too much info!!).
I did not feel great Tuesday/Wednesday but had already booked golf for Thursday and whilst I didnt feel totally great whilst there, I did still manage to enjoy the fantastic Hindhead Golf Course, in spite of the 2 club wind and odd shower. It's Surrey's highest golf course, sitting at nearly 650 feet above sea level. Steeped in history - founded in 1904 by a group of enthusiasts, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I was in good company with many past Open Champions having walked the fairways, including Harry Vardon, James Braid and Ted Ray.
I was struggling to eat anything and my energy sapped quickly, and let's just say it was a game of two halves for me. Standing at one over par after the front 9, it all quickly fell away from me, with a few doubles swiftly followed by 3 bogeys. I went with Lora Fairclough and we had a little matchplay. Lora plays full time on the Ladies European Tour...so she's a pretty good golfer...and I managed to hold my own, until the back 9 that is. I have to say that had I been in full health, I might just have worried her a bit!!
It was evident that the greens have recently been hollow tined however were still in pretty good condition. I would certainly recommend a visit. They're undergoing some renovations and the clubhouse and facilities were fantastic - whilst not completely finished, the majority appears to have been completed. It might be a bit pricey for a green fee (£60), but I must say that it's one of those courses, that deserves at least one visit - and if nothing else, just to pay a visit to their awesome halfway hut! I am a bit partial to this type of Surrey heathland course though!! If you manage to get a game there, let me know what you think: http://www.the-hindhead-golf-club.co.uk/
Thankfully I've not had too much on this week - thanks to Christine, Tim and Dave for covering me whilst I've been off and I should be back to full health very soon!!
Thanks for reading.
Ciao for now.
I did not feel great Tuesday/Wednesday but had already booked golf for Thursday and whilst I didnt feel totally great whilst there, I did still manage to enjoy the fantastic Hindhead Golf Course, in spite of the 2 club wind and odd shower. It's Surrey's highest golf course, sitting at nearly 650 feet above sea level. Steeped in history - founded in 1904 by a group of enthusiasts, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I was in good company with many past Open Champions having walked the fairways, including Harry Vardon, James Braid and Ted Ray.
I was struggling to eat anything and my energy sapped quickly, and let's just say it was a game of two halves for me. Standing at one over par after the front 9, it all quickly fell away from me, with a few doubles swiftly followed by 3 bogeys. I went with Lora Fairclough and we had a little matchplay. Lora plays full time on the Ladies European Tour...so she's a pretty good golfer...and I managed to hold my own, until the back 9 that is. I have to say that had I been in full health, I might just have worried her a bit!!
It was evident that the greens have recently been hollow tined however were still in pretty good condition. I would certainly recommend a visit. They're undergoing some renovations and the clubhouse and facilities were fantastic - whilst not completely finished, the majority appears to have been completed. It might be a bit pricey for a green fee (£60), but I must say that it's one of those courses, that deserves at least one visit - and if nothing else, just to pay a visit to their awesome halfway hut! I am a bit partial to this type of Surrey heathland course though!! If you manage to get a game there, let me know what you think: http://www.the-hindhead-golf-club.co.uk/
Thankfully I've not had too much on this week - thanks to Christine, Tim and Dave for covering me whilst I've been off and I should be back to full health very soon!!
Thanks for reading.
Ciao for now.
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Perfect....just perfect
Well yesterday evening was better than I imagined. Such a still and warm evening...Pimms and dinner on the patio - we were out there til about 9pm. Felt like we were on the French Riviera.
So September is here now and what a blustery day for coaching. First up was the Lady Captain - we've had several sessions over the past few months and the amount of time Carol spends practising and working on her game is evident for all to see. She has spent a lot of time practising without a ball so she can focus on her swing, without getting distracted by the ball and I have to say that it's worked really well for Carol. She's gained 20-30 yards with her longer clubs, and more importantly, gained confidence in the irons she has struggled with for a while. We worked on trying to keep things more compact - by that I mean, the arms and top part of the body working together. There's a slight tendency for the arms to work on their own which makes the shot much weaker.
My second client was a total beginner who was given some lessons for her birthday. She's been to the driving range with her husband a couple of times and expressed an interest in learning. We started with putting - the smallest stroke and generally the easiest to start with and worked up to a chipping stroke. She felt a real sense of achievement with the putting drills we worked on and covered all the basic elements including aim and alignment so that she can go away and practise.
My last client of the day has recently completed a series of sessions with me and was bought a 9 hole playing lesson for an Anniversary present. It was exceptionally windy and the temptation from most people is to try and hit the ball harder to get through the wind - this tends to add more spin to the ball, which is exaggerated by the wind, so my recommendation would be to have a slightly wider stance (adding stability), softer hands and swing easy - the ball will generally fly straighter. The main thing he needs to focus on is aim and alignment, especially with putting - 'D' has a great feel for distance, however not spending the time to get the aim correct can only result in missed putts.
Vijay Singh is reknowned for the amount of time he spends practising - he not only practises his swing but he also practises his aim and alignment. This is such an important part of your game and causes so much frustration - when you hit a great shot but miss your target purely because your aim is poor.
I'm covering the shop in the morning and have another afternoon of coaching - hoping the weather's going to hold out.
Thanks for reading - hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave comments.
Ciao for now.
So September is here now and what a blustery day for coaching. First up was the Lady Captain - we've had several sessions over the past few months and the amount of time Carol spends practising and working on her game is evident for all to see. She has spent a lot of time practising without a ball so she can focus on her swing, without getting distracted by the ball and I have to say that it's worked really well for Carol. She's gained 20-30 yards with her longer clubs, and more importantly, gained confidence in the irons she has struggled with for a while. We worked on trying to keep things more compact - by that I mean, the arms and top part of the body working together. There's a slight tendency for the arms to work on their own which makes the shot much weaker.
My second client was a total beginner who was given some lessons for her birthday. She's been to the driving range with her husband a couple of times and expressed an interest in learning. We started with putting - the smallest stroke and generally the easiest to start with and worked up to a chipping stroke. She felt a real sense of achievement with the putting drills we worked on and covered all the basic elements including aim and alignment so that she can go away and practise.
My last client of the day has recently completed a series of sessions with me and was bought a 9 hole playing lesson for an Anniversary present. It was exceptionally windy and the temptation from most people is to try and hit the ball harder to get through the wind - this tends to add more spin to the ball, which is exaggerated by the wind, so my recommendation would be to have a slightly wider stance (adding stability), softer hands and swing easy - the ball will generally fly straighter. The main thing he needs to focus on is aim and alignment, especially with putting - 'D' has a great feel for distance, however not spending the time to get the aim correct can only result in missed putts.
Vijay Singh is reknowned for the amount of time he spends practising - he not only practises his swing but he also practises his aim and alignment. This is such an important part of your game and causes so much frustration - when you hit a great shot but miss your target purely because your aim is poor.
I'm covering the shop in the morning and have another afternoon of coaching - hoping the weather's going to hold out.
Thanks for reading - hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave comments.
Ciao for now.
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