Play Golf Every Day: 3 Ways You Can Make It Happen!

"Golf is so popular simply because it is the best game in the world at which to be bad." 

-A.A. Milne

What a great quote. Golf is the best game at which to be bad. It's true, golf is such a ridiculously hard game that it is amazing anyone plays it. Incredibly, over 61 million people have decided to not just play it, but to endure the pain and misery of 18 holes of the game...on purpose!! The game gets at something fundamental within us, we love a tough challenge! We can probably all agree that everyone is bad at golf. The tour pros are just a lot less bad than we are. One of the key teaching points at www.holen1golf.com is "Game Improvement = Your Bad Shots Are Less Bad!" This week we would like to show you 3 ways that you can be "less bad," by playing every day. These are 3 methods that I use personally, and now you can too:

Practice and Play for Free (Total Time: 15 mins - 1 Hour or more)

It is shocking to me to see the free part of the golf course sitting vacant at the course on most days. Many courses have a beautiful putting green and short game practice area, but you will often be hard pressed to find anyone there.  So do a little research, find the best practice green that is within a short car ride of you and start going 2-5x per week. 

When you get there, spend 10-15 minutes practicing your putting and chipping. You can then make up an 18 hole putting game (par 2 for each hole, 36 total) and then play an 18 hole chip and putt game (par 2 for each hole, 36 total).  Once you finish spend another 10-15 minutes of practice and then head home. Track your scores week to week and watch your game improve!

Key 1: Get "Less Bad" by spending 2-5 days working on your chipping and putting. We believe that you will be amazed by the results you see.

Practice and Play for $5-10 (Total Time: 30 mins - 1 Hour or more)

Another part of the course that often goes underused is the driving range.  Why is this? Well apparently people really do enjoy being bad at golf.  If you want to start getting less bad, all you have to do is find the nearest driving range to your home. Find one that has several nice targets that you can use to work on distance control and accuracy. 

When you get there, spend the first 10-15 minutes warming up, stretching and then loosen up with a few actual shots. Next, move into practice time where you work on areas you need to improve as well as developing your golfing strengths. Finally play a little bit. Pretend you are standing on the first tee of your favorite golf course, hit the club you would use. Did you hit the fairway? Next visualize yourself standing in the fairway trying to hit the green. Did you get it? Keep track of all the fairways that you were able to hit and all the greens you hit (golfers call this "Green In Regulation" or G.I.R). You can simulate 18 holes this way and track how many fairways you hit and how many greens you hit. If you track this you will start to see major gains, you are hitting more fairways and greens. Your improved game will then also start to show up on the actual course.

Key 2: Get "Less Bad" by spending 2-3x per week working on your pitching and full swing on the driving range. Make up a game to help you focus on hitting the fairways and greens.

Practice and Play at Home (Total Time: 15 mins - 1 Hour or more)

Once you really get hooked on practice, the world will never look the same. A mirror is no longer a mirror, instead it is a device to check your grip, stance, posture and swing. You won't be able to walk by one anymore without doing a few rehearsal swings in front of it. A ruler, yardstick or broom will never look the same to you again. You will turn them all into golf clubs and take a few practice swings.  Your front yard will no longer be just grass, but has now become the rough just off the fairway and you need to chip the ball on the green to try and save your par. 

Make use of the time you have at home to develop your swing. You can work on all of the fundamentals right in your own driveway. The key fundamentals are Grip (How you hold the club), Alignment (How you aim your body), Stance (where you stand in relation to the ball), Posture (Athletic stance, like a quarterback). Take full rehearsal swings (no ball) with each club. Get 100 swings in every day, whether you get to the course or not. If you want to start to play golf at home. Do the following: make up a chipping game with targets that you must hit with in a certain number of shots (create your own par). If your home is not available to do this, find the nearest park that you can walk to and work on your game.

Key 3: Get "Less Bad" by spending 15mins-1 hour working on your game at home or a nearby park on days you can't get to the course.

We purposely did not mention actually playing golf on the course. We know that you love golf enough, that you will find a way to play as often as possible. However, we believe that the 3 keys above will help you to enjoy those days a lot more. Be sure to get to the course early when you do play and spend time on the practice areas to increase the odds of an excellent round.

Please let us know how you are getting "LESS BAD!" Share your observations, experiences and lessons learned about the game with us in the comments, twitter, facebook, Instagram, email, or phone.

If you would like help building your own game improvement package, we would be glad to help bring confidence to your game ("LESS BAD!") through proper training and proper equipment.

#GolfIsConfidence

-Eric Holen

"Professional Game Improver"
Owner of www.holen1golf.com

Twitter @holen1golf

Instagram @holen1golf

Facebook /h1golf

Email: ericdholen@gmail.com

Get Your Confidence On Rory's Level: 3 Improvements You Can Make Today.

My heart is still pumping like crazy from that exciting finish last night at the PGA Championship. How about you? The drama on a Sunday night could not have been any better.  After the thrill of the birdies faded, and after Rory turned the lights out on the competition, you start to reflect on his sizzling summer of golf. One of the main observations as I have watched Rory over the years is his consistent improvement from one season to the next. One of the most obvious improvements is the fact that he is now completely jacked in comparison to when he first burst on to the golfing scene (see photo).  The other changes are a little less obvious, but if you listen carefully to him in his interviews and watch closely on the course you will start to pick them up as well.

Here are the 3 areas that Rory has worked on to get his confidence on another level. The cool part? You can copy these 3 starting today:

1) Improved Body Language
Rory has been playing golf since he was 2 years old. He has put in his 10,000 hours (See Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers for more info) of training to achieve mastery in his field. As long as we have had the opportunity to watch him compete, he has never appeared to lack for confidence. However, Rory tells a different story. We all remember his hooked tee shot into the cabins at Augusta and the triple bogey that led to an 80 instead of a green jacket. Rory describes his body language that day as, "I was uncomfortable. It's not like me to look at my feet when I walk. My shoulders were a little rounded. I was very insular." After that point he decided to change his focus and always keep his head up no matter what was happening. He often focuses his gaze just above the faces in the crowd. Rory says it will improve how you feel about yourself as well as improve your posture and cause you to stick your chest out. These are great positions to be in to have great body language. An added side benefit? Your opponents will not gain a psychological sense that they are getting to you.

Rory Lesson #1: Keep your head up at all times to effectively display confident body language. It will have an impact on you and those around you.

2) Improved Body Fitness
This area has been the most obvious area that Rory has made incredible improvement. In 2010 Rory hired Steve McGregor as his trainer. They immediately discovered imbalances in Rory's strength and began to develop a variety of workouts to provide a more balanced physique. There is not any special secret to their routine. He works out 3-5 days per week, although he has definitely amped it up over the last few months.  They do a variety of cardio, weights and exercises changing the routine every 6-8 weeks. The main reason Rory has really taken his workouts to a high level was explained by his trainer: "Rory's never lacked for confidence, but there's a lot of scientific evidence that links being strong and physically fit with self-confidence and psychological well-being.  Those are great things to have on the course."

Rory Lesson #2: Start working out today using a variety of methods. It will improve your athleticism and also your confidence.

3) Improved Mental Training
This area is probably the least obvious area but also is likely the most important. Rory's mental training really came to light in his interview at the Open Championship. At the conclusion of his final round he said he only had two keys the entire week, "Process and Spot."  These two trigger words were vital for Rory to keep his focus and to play his best.  His focus on process means that he would follow the same routine from the moment he woke up in the morning until the moment he went to sleep. The best athletes in the world (at least that stay the best) are known for their discipline, delayed gratification and daily routines. Another key process area would be in his pre-shot routine, the moment he grabs his golf club until he makes his stroke, is all programmed down to a fraction of a second. His focus on a spot is a key that many golfers and athletes will use to help the mind focus in on a clear target while eliminating everything else from the mind. This key is an amazing mental training principle that can help a player of any ability level to play better golf.  When the mind has a clear picture of the intended target, the body will do an incredible job of taking care of the rest. Rory thought these two words were so important that he used them to win a major. Most professionals have a mental skills trainer to help in this area, now you can too. The one that I would recommend is Joshua Medcalf of Train2BClutch. Joshua has worked with top college and high school golf programs across the country.  He is very engaging with his clients on twitter and does excellent work. Tell him that we sent you.

Rory Lesson #3: Start to develop your mental training. Start by simply having a clear "Spot" (target) and focusing your energy on the "Process" (routine).

Take these 3 tips to the golf course or try and apply them in any area you are working to improve. If they have worked for Rory, I am sure you will be happy with the improvements that you start to make as well.

Please let us know how your "process" is coming along. Share your observations, experiences and lessons learned on the course with us in the comments, twitter, facebook, Instagram, email, or phone.

If you would like help building your own game improvement package, we would be glad to help bring confidence to your game through proper training and proper equipment.

#GolfIsConfidence

-Eric Holen

"Professional Game Improver"
Owner of www.holen1golf.com

Twitter @holen1golf

Instagram @holen1golf

Facebook /h1golf

Email: ericdholen@gmail.com