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LEARNING FROM THE BEST PLAYER ON THE PLANET

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:31:02 GMT

It was somewhat unsurprising to wake up this morning to find that Scottie Scheffler has won his 7th PGA Tour title of the season and, including the Olympics, his EIGHTH win of the season. Not since Tiger in his prime has someone dominated the PGA Tour like Scottie has. You would be forgiven for thinking that a lot of the World’s best have exited the PGA Tour for LIV and that his competition isn’t as fierce these days, but I’m fairly convinced that he would dominate those boys as well.

So what makes him so successful? I mean, Collin Morikawa is an incredible golfer, as is Xander Schauffele, but despite their best efforts this year, they still haven’t come close to dethroning Scheffler as the best player in world golf.

1. Well, firstly he is on record for keeping it as simple as possible. He has used the same coach since the age of 12, he has built a swing that works well for him and he stays on top of his fundamentals (he still uses a moulded grip to make sure his hands are in the correct place - I know, amateurish, right?)

2. He has also been on record this season saying that he pretty much aims for the middle of every green. Take this with a pinch of salt, I presume he means that he is aiming for the “middle-side” of the hole (he hits it to 3ft too often to simply say “the middle”), but from a strategy stand point, even the best golfer since Tiger is hedging his bets against a bad shot.

3. He tries to remain present in every round. He has been interviewed multiple times this year where he has mentioned this trait. It’s easy for even the best athletes to lose their focus and let their minds wander to the future or mull over the past, but he makes a conscious effort to remain focused on each shot as it comes. How else can you shank it out of a bunker and then go on to pick up 5 shots in your next 6 holes? (Oh yeah, the best golfer on the planet still shanks it occasionally, so it’s probably best you don’t panic when it happens to you).

4. He is the best from Tee-to-green on the planet. We still hear the phrase “drive for show, putt for dough”, but even writing it makes my blood boil a little. That, along with “keep your head down” is one of the most destructive comments to make in golf. You see, Scottie’s putting is exactly average for the Tour. That’s right, AVERAGE. He finished 69th in the putting rankings for the season. So how does he win 8 times in a season? Surely the best putter would win, right? I am not suggesting that putting isn’t important, but as long as you aren’t three putting every hole and missing every 3-footer that you hit, ball striking is always going to be the biggest influencer in your score.

There is a saying that “excellence leaves clues”, so what clues are you picking up from the most dominant player in world golf? What can you take from his excellence and apply to your own game this week to start shooting lower scores?

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

LESSONS FROM THE OLYMPICS - PART 3

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:31:01 GMT

THEY NEVER QUIT

While many of the Olympians made things look incredibly easy for the entire tournament, there were multiple “blunders” that occurred as well. You may have witnessed some, perhaps putting it down to poor preparation, collapsing under pressure, or just a very costly mistake - the truth is that even the best are only human, and while they spent 4 years preparing for their moment, there are multiple reasons why a disastrous slip or miss could take place, there won’t simply be one.

Think about your golf. There will undoubtedly have been times when you have done everything right leading up to a shot, you will have felt as though you executed that shot exactly how you wanted, and then you watch as it kicks off into the bunker, trees, water, even out of bounds. Again, there are multiple factors at play that are simply out of your control, and sometimes - once you have done a post shot or post round reflection - you just have to accept it and move on.

The thing that struck me with the Olympic athletes is that they never gave up. In the gymnastics, if they fell off the horse or slipped off the bars, they refocused and continued with their routines . They knew that they were no longer going to win, but they got back up anyway…

why? Surely it would have just made sense to call it a day and go punch the wall or drink a bottle of vodka to drown their sorrows, but they carried on, giving it their best effort the whole time. That, to me, is the most impressive attribute of the best in the world, their capacity for

failing and still continuing on with full energy and focus.

That is because it is a part of their identity. A part of who they are. They make mistakes, yes, but they don’t quit. They keep going, with full effort, until the job is done.

I have long been an advocate of focusing on the process, not the outcome. That is not to say that the outcome is important - in reality, it’s the only thing that matters - but by focusing on the steps that lead to improvement, to mastery, and ultimately, to success, we can go further than we ever thought possible.

So, the next time you have a bad start, a bad hole, a bad break, or are simply having an atrocious day out there, how will you react? Will you throw in the towel and walk in? Or will you use it as an opportunity to practise your mental fortitude, work on your process and stay in the

game. Who knows, you may find that you learn way more from that than from playing at your best…

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

LESSONS FROM THE OLYMPICS - PART 2

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:31:00 GMT

THEY ALL HAVE A ROUTINE

When it comes to watching professionals in any field, be it athletes, businessmen, chefs, surgeons, dentists, pilots, engineers - you get the point - they all have a routine that they go through before they execute on their actions. If you watched the Olympics, you could see this quite clearly in every single sport. Before they started, there were a series of steps, whether that be visualisation, breathing, jumping and waggling their arms, in swimming and running it could be the order in which the limbs are placed on the starting blocks, it doesn’t really matter what it is that happens, the most important thing is that it happens exactly the same way every single time they do it.

There was a video that I remember seeing years ago that showed Tiger’s routine from 1997 and 2007 next to each other, starting when he stood behind the ball to pick his line. The club struck the ball within 0.1 of a second of each other. That’s 0.1 of a second difference, OVER 10 YEARS!!! That might sound remarkable, but it is simply a testament to the amount of reps Tiger put into that routine, both in practice and competition.

When I spend time with Tour coaches and Tour players, the biggest takeaway is always the amount of focus the top players put into every shot when training as well as playing. They follow their routine every time that they are practising so that it is completely ingrained when

they play. If we don’t build the habits and behaviours we want to have under pressure when the pressure is off, how can we expect them to survive when the pressure is on? (There’s a reason that airlines insist on telling us about the life jackets while we are firmly on the ground. Trying to teach passengers the steps while in a fast descent is unlikely to be effective).

Here is a really interesting clip of Tiger talking about the importance of routine and how he sees it affect players of all levels when they lose their routine under pressure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX-T6wKJeII&t=20s

So my question to you this week is do you have a routine? If the answer is yes, how often do you follow it? If the answer is no, how can you start to implement one?

If you need help with this then just reply to this message. This is not something to be brushed past, it really is important, as we saw from every single competitor in the Olympics and in professional golf. Let’s get to work on this now, so that you can build a rock solid routine that helps create some order in the chaotic world of playing golf.

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

LESSONS FROM THE OLYMPICS - PART 1

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:31:00 GMT

I didn’t get to watch as much of the Olympics as I would have liked, after all, it is jaw dropping to see the grace and skill with which these athletes conduct themselves in their respective sports. One could be forgiven for thinking that it is simply easy for them to do what they do, that they have always had that level of ability and that it comes to them “naturally”...but let’s face it, we all know it is a product of extreme dedication, sacrifice, discipline and hard work, but the next three weeks are a 3 lessons that I took away from the Olympics.

Lesson One: Their chosen sport matches their "Natural" makeup

What do I mean by this? Basically, they have all chosen sports that they can do based on their size, weight, body type etc. This could be considered the truest of “natural ability”. For example, you don’t see the power lifters trying to run the marathon. Swimmers have very

different physiques to the divers, and the gymnasts are nothing like the triathletes or basketball players. They have all dedicated themselves to something that they can do, based on their “natural” makeup and then built their bodies and skill sets around that. I'm sure that there is a floor gymnast who would love to be a basketball player, who, with the same level of dedication, would probably get pretty good, but the reality is that the deck is not stacked in their favour. They can train and train and get as good as they can be, but when they come up against a 6'10" monster, they are still going to struggle.

When it comes to golf, we are all built differently, have different abilities and will, therefore, have a variety of strengths and weaknesses. You may be great with a wedge in your hand, but lack distance off the tee. You may bomb it off the tee and have poor skill around the greens. This could partly be due to your natural ability, but it is also likely due to the fact that we practise what we are good at and ignore our weaknesses - brushing discomfort under the rug can make us feel better in the moment, but it is unlikely to do anything but grow worse over time as a result.

As golfers, we need to identify areas that we can excel at and play to those, focusing on the other areas that will compliment them. If you aren’t long off the tee, focus on being as straight as you can be and get good at your longer irons (you’ll need them more). If you are exceptional with your lag putting, you can be less aggressive with your approaches, knowing that playing safe will still yield par. If you’re long off the tee, developing a great wedge game will complement enormously.

So my questions to you this week are:

What are your "natural" strengths and weaknesses?

How can you play into them more?

Which skills do you need to develop to compliment your strengths?

I would love to hear your answers, so click the link below to share them.

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

THE IMPORTANCE OF CLARITY

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:30:59 GMT

As many of you will know, we are currency having some work done to our house, which, apart from draining our bank account, is making me realise how little I know about construction and the ins and outs of building stuff. I’m one of those weird people who like to know how stuff works, so it really irks me when I am so embarrassingly out of the loop.

The other day, my father-in-law (who is doing the work) was on the top of the scaffolding and shouted to me to get some “long straps” out of the garage. Of course, that should be easy. I go into the garage and rummage around, but there are no straps - long or short - to be found anywhere. I searched again, after all, he seemed pretty adamant that they were in there, but to no avail, so I locked the garage and told him he must have taken them home.

“No, they are definitely in there”, he says. At which point, the Mrs (wisely) asked “What do they look like?”, to which he says, “They are about 1.5m long and silver, shaped like an L”. What?!?! In my head a strap was made out of material, something that you wrap around something else to secure it or pull it. How on earth was I supposed to know that? It reminded me of the Fork Handles skit from the Two Ronnies.

I had this immediate realisation that we can, especially in golf, go through life not really being clear on what things mean, are, or do. We have various terminologies for the same things, we have completely ambiguous terms for things that should be simple. What I am talking about might not be what you think it is. What you hear on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram might be, at best, confusing and at worst, game-ruining if you aren’t careful.

I believe that we cannot truly maximise our improvement if we aren’t crystal clear on what we are trying to do. Sure, we may get lucky once in a blue moon, but this is not a reliable strategy.

So my challenge to you this week is to reply to this email with exactly what you are currently trying to do, and how you are doing it. What goal are you trying to achieve? If there is anything which you are unclear on, uncertain about and don’t really understand, write it down and send it across. I want you to be crystal clear on what you need to do so that you can simply get on and do it, not run around in circles looking for the wrong straps, when the right ones were in front of you all along.

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

LESSONS FROM MY FIRST ROUND IN 6 MONTHS

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:30:58 GMT

Last week, for some reason, I agreed to play two rounds of golf. Now, as many of you know, I don’t really get too much of a chance to play golf these days as trying to help you play better is a time consuming, anxiety inducing, exhausting business (don’t think of that as a bad thing, I love it way more than playing golf!).

Anyway, it all started with being invited to a charity day last Sunday followed by a round at Kedleston Park on Tuesday (which, if you haven’t played before, you should seriously consider doing so, you won’t regret it).

So, Sunday comes around and, without wanting to throw too many excuses out early, my back was a little tender from two afternoons of heavy gardening the days before (for those who read the lessons from gardening memo, it’s still not finished, which just reaffirms the lessons that were spoken about). But, being a good little golf pro, I warmed up on the range and started to hit some good shots and felt quite happy with where the ball was going. However, somewhere in between the last shot on the range and the first tee, all of my talent, skill, ability as a golfer seemed to vanish into the ether, rendering me pretty useless for most of the round.

It was a really interesting day, watching myself play golf in a sort of “out of body experience”, wondering how, with all my knowledge and understanding of the golf swing, the ball simply did not want to listen. Was it frustrating? Enormously. Was it painful - both mentally and physically - you better believe it, but it was really useful as it helped reaffirm that what I believe in as a coach is actually still true and that the principles of playing good golf are timeless.

So here are the three biggest lessons from getting back on the course after almost 6 months without playing:

1. Make sure expectations aren’t too far from reality.

I am all for having big expectations. In fact, sometimes we may actually perform better if our expectations are higher, sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, but when our reality and expectations are so far apart from each other, the gap will be so large, it will quickly be filled

with a steaming pile of disappointment, frustration and anger.

In my case, I hadn’t played golf for nearly 6 months. I don’t practise a lot and when I do, it is normally messing around trying different set ups, grips, swing feels to help you guys out. So why on earth could I expect to be anything other than not very good.

2. Always have a predictable shot pattern!

This is so, so, so important when it comes to playing good golf, and it is the reason why I wasn’t very good last Sunday - there was no predictable shot shape, and try as I might, I just couldn’t seem to find one that worked.

Golf is impossibly hard when we don’t know which way the ball is curving, so when you are practising, it is very much worth your while practising some big, exaggerated shapes (draw or fade), altering ball position to see which gives your which shape, and then hitting shots under some pressure (playing games) with those shots so that you know you have them in the bag if you need them.

I always ask you to pick a shot shape that you want to hit and this is the reason why. When the ball is curving both ways, how can we ever pick a target?

3. Be disciplined with club choice and strategy.

I had never played the course before (Gaudet Luce in Worcester). It was a lovely course, the greens were great, but, having not played it before and not knowing the correct strategy, a lot of it was guesswork (and I didn’t guess very well). In an ideal world, we would be using a

course planner at bare minimum to see the outline of the hole and where the trouble is. https://www.provisualizer.com/ is also a great resource for looking at the layout of courses before you go and play them. (If you know your distances, you can plot your way around fairly

accurately).

Because it was a charity day and because we were having a laugh in our team, there was a lot of poor choice, especially off the tee, which led to hitting approaches from the wrong, or impossible spots. If there were more discipline off the tee, I would have saved a lot of shots

that day. It’s ok to try stuff, be unintelligently aggressive and have a laugh, but expectations for good scoring should probably be lowered if that is the case (see point 2).

So there you go, three lessons from my first round in nearly 6 months. I know you’re one of the smart ones and will learn from my mistakes, but if you need help with this or have any questions about any of the points, please, as always, just reach out.

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

HAVING A PLAN FOR YOUR ROUND

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:30:56 GMT

Hopefully, many of you will have watched The Open Championship over the last few days. Sadly, I didn’t get to watch much, but it never disappoints watching the best players in the world trying to figure out how to navigate a tricky course and trickier conditions. For the ones who are competing and playing well, it can look effortless as they exhibit complete control around the course, but I promise you that is not always the case.

You see, the best players in the world (and their caddies) all have a plan that they go out with before they play. They know the pin locations, the best spot to attack that location from in the fairway and the club that will put them there. They will know the overall direction and strength of the wind for the day, the forecast that is coming and the shots they will need for each hole. If hole 3 is into the wind they will play it one way, if it is down wind, they will play it another. This is not beyond your capability either. If you play the same course regularly, you could easily spend some time mapping out the best place to be on a particular hole, the best areas to miss the fairways for certain pin locations, the best place to miss the green for those pin locations, then practising those shots when you are out on your own or with friends.

You could get a course planner if they are available at your club (or make your own if they aren’t) and make notes of the various ways you like to play the hole. If you are playing a lot of tournaments at different courses, try to get a practice round in first, or at least walk the course with your rangefinder before you play it and make notes of the spots to be and the spots to avoid. Websites like https://www.provisualizer.com/ are great for this too.

This is worth doing on a regular basis as our skills tend to change and adapt across time (hopefully on an upward trajectory), which means that our “that’s the way I’ve always played this hole” approach may no longer be our best approach and could be costing us valuable shots.

Yes, this may sound like a lot of work, but if you’re on the course with your friends, treat it as a game. Start by finding the easiest shots around the green for the regular pin locations at your club. They are usually rotated into the same areas so this shouldn’t be too difficult. Once you have the best place to chip from, work backwards and see which is the best side of the fairway/ rough to hit from to get there and then the best shot to hit off the tee to leave yourself in that area.

I know for some of you, this may sound like it’s far beyond your current ability, or too much like hard work, but if you want to improve your scores, you need to start acting in a way that will help you do that. We all know the famous Einstein quote: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”. This approach will seem like hard work to begin with, but while we are in the middle of the season, it’s a very simple way of lowering your scores without needing to change your swing or improve your ball flight and surely, for most of us, that is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

DEALING WITH DISAPPOINTMENT

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:30:55 GMT

Well, against all hope, I think we saw this one coming. It was a close one for the boys, but ultimately, the Spanish were too good and managed to inflict that all too familiar feeling of gut wrenching disappointment, right at the dying breath. And, while it’s difficult to take for so many of us, we can learn a valuable lesson from the experience.

You see, in golf (and life) we are going to experience many moments in which we face disappointment, the moment where our expectations and reality don’t quite align. This is something that, if learned to be dealt with sooner rather than later, can help us to bounce

back and actually thrive from the disappointment and come back even stronger.

We have all had rounds of golf in which we are on track for victory - whether that be course record, personal best, victory in match play, etc. - but we stumble at the final hurdle, we make that untimely bogey, double, or worse. We limp home in a daze, wondering what the hell

happened and berate ourselves for being such a failure, but is this attitude going to get us better in the long term?

The results are the results and it’s okay to be disappointed with them, but the more important thing is how we react to those results and learn from them to improve in the long term. We need to learn to focus on the things that we can control and leave the ‘uncontrollables’ alone. We can’t control the results, they have happened and are now in the past, but we can control what we do moving forwards, how we reflect, how we train and practice moving forward.

The questions you ask yourself are going to determine what happens from here. Are you going to remind yourself that you “always bottle it”, “always make a mistake when you’re doing well”, or are you going to ask if there is a particular pattern? Do you always make a mistake late on? If so, why? Are you fatigued and not taking the correct nutrition around the course? Do you have a shot that you can rely upon when you start to feel the pressure? Do you have a routine that allows you to deal with the pressure, or do you speed up, lose focus and “try to get it over with”?

There is no one answer to this, but I think we can all agree that, regardless of the result, our job is to reflect appropriately and - win or lose - find a way to improve on what we can control for the next time we are out there.

Progress is a never ending journey. It will be filled with many bumps, successes and setbacks, but we must keep pushing on. We can learn to enjoy the setbacks as much as the successes as they are the lessons that teach us the most. We may not find it fun in the moment, but long term, if viewed through the correct lens, it’s what we need most for growth.

So what is one thing you can learn from this weekend’s golf? And what can you do to improve upon that throughout the week?

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

3 LESSONS FROM GARDENING THAT WILL HELP YOUR GOLF

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:30:54 GMT

How was your weekend?

Mine was spent digging the garden, which, at the time, was a massive pain in the ass, exhausting and painful. Let’s face it, unless you’re a masochist, digging up weeds and chopping down trees is never really “fun”. This morning my back hates me, my hands and arms hate me and, truth be told, there is still a load of work to do, which is kind of depressing. But, as with a lot of experiences in life, taking a deeper look into it, there are so many relatable stories to golf. Let’s run through them…

1. If you don’t maintain a certain standard, the longer you leave it, the more effort is required to get back to where you were.

’m not going to lie, life has been busy. I’ve been doing a load of stuff lately that has been far more important to me than keeping my garden clean and tidy, however, it would also, then, be foolish of me to think that it will be an easy time getting things back to where they were. If we aren’t continually putting in time and effort to train our games, keep our skills sharp and maintain our current level of ability, we are moving backwards. Things are going to descend into chaos, and the longer we leave it, the more effort is required to pull ourselves back. What is the minimum amount of time and effort you can put into your game to make sure you are at least maintaining your level? (hint: once a month is probably not going to cut it).

2. When things are such a mess, it’s difficult to see progress from your effort.

I spent hours yesterday and barely scratched the surface (yes, as previously mentioned, it has been neglected for a while). This is the same with our golf games. We can practise and practise and feel as though we aren’t making any progress, but the progress is definitely

happening. As with the garden, it may feel as though none is being made, but it is, you just have to stick with the process and continue putting in the work. The problem we face as humans is that when we are so entrenched in something, we forget what it looked like before

we started. My partner always takes before and after pictures of the garden for this very reason. We always look back with shock - and pride - at how much we have actually accomplished. Golf is no different. Keep track of your scores in practice games. Monitor your stats. Video your swing at least once a practice. This will help you to look back objectively at your progress and not let reality get clouded by your emotions.

3.The weeds that grow the fastest are the easiest to pull out.

This may be the biggest lesson that I learned. The weeds that seemed to pop up and cover the entire universe, almost overnight, were by far the easiest to dig up. Their roots had not had a chance to grow deep and as such they were weak under the surface. Golf is the same. If we rush to try and make changes, don’t give ourselves a chance to practise and train, to put those changes under pressure, to own them before we worry about using them in competition, we will always be doomed to failure (the parable of the two men who built their houses on sand and stone is applicable here also). Give yourself a chance to internalise what you are doing. If we expect to make a change in 3 days, hitting only 100 balls, we are kidding ourselves. The work you put in will directly correlate to your long-term success, so if you aren’t doing what you need to in order to improve, you can either change your goals or change your behaviours. If I want to keep my garden in good shape moving forward, I need to add in maintenance time far more often, or I must accept that I will forever be faced with a long slog of simply getting it back to baseline.

So there you are, who knew that gardening was so similar to golf. I will say, however, if you do want to learn more about any of the ideas discussed here, or you know you need to make changes and would like help doing so, please don’t message Alan Titchmarsh - he is a great gardener, but I’m not sure he knows too much about golf coaching.

Have a great week!

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

WHAT CAN THE 3 LIONS TEACH US ABOUT GOLF?

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:30:53 GMT

Wow, another rollercoaster night last night watching the football. They left it late enough that we can all agree it was more luck over judgement. I think it’s safe to say that anyone who has had any interest in watching England play so far in this tournament has been massively disappointed with their performances overall. I’ll be the first to admit my own frustration at the style of play and seeming lack of energy on the pitch. But I want to ask two questions this week:

Should you suit your strategy to play to your strengths?
Do you know how to “win ugly”?

Now, I will admit that I am far from an expert in football. I enjoyed playing it, and sometimes (being a Wolves and England fan definitely prevents it from being always) enjoy watching it. I was, however, recently speaking with a member of the coaching staff at a big club and he suggested that we will always struggle trying to fit an attack minded team into a defensive style. It’s not that it can’t be done, but it makes life a little more difficult. We have been lucky so far in this tournament, but we cannot rely on that forever.

You see, looking through the lens of a golfer, it is crucial that we are aware of our strengths and weaknesses and strategise accordingly. Rory McIlroy is arguably the best driver of the golf ball on the planet, so it would be foolish of him to start taking irons off every tee in order to “play safe”. It would also be foolish if he came to a hole with a bunker at 280 yards out and decided to lay up short instead of going over, “just in case I hit it terribly”. This, I would suggest, is an unwise strategy.

The opposite is true for someone like the two time major winner, Zach Johnson. Zach really had no right to win at Augusta; he doesn’t hit it very far and his stock shot is a 30 yard draw. Yet he managed victory by playing to his strengths. He never went for a par 5 in two, laid up every time and wedged it close. His strength was his accuracy into greens with a wedge in his hand and he used that strength perfectly.

So what is your biggest strength? I promise, you’ve got one. You’ve also got a biggest weakness. What is that? Now, how often do you play away from your strength and into your weakness? How many shots could you save per round by being a little more disciplined with

your strategy and shot choice? If you currently hit a big draw or a big fade, play for it. If your driver is misbehaving, leave it in the bag, if you’re dreadful with long irons off the tee, hit driver and if you’re an absolute stud like Zach from 120 yards and in, make sure you leave yourself those yardages as often as possible.

Now, this is not a free permission slip to stop working on your weaknesses; you absolutely need to do that, but while you are working on them you still need to play golf and shoot good scores, which can be achieved with a little thought and intelligence (which I know you can

manage, right?)

So what does “winning ugly look like?”. Well, we are all human and golf is hard…really hard. So what happens when we don’t have our best stuff? (Which, by the way, will be most of the time). We firstly need to have a set of tools at our disposal that we can use to get the ball around the course in the fewest shots possible. This could come from a “ball back, punchy type shot”, or perhaps a ball slightly forward, aim left and fade the living daylights out of it. The choice is yours, but one thing is for certain, the best players in the world are rarely playing their best golf, they simply have more tools available to them to rely upon when they aren’t swinging great. This is something that they work on day-in-day-out and even play entire practice rounds using to help them train it better.

So, what shots do you feel comfortable hitting that you can rely upon when things aren’t going great? What are your strengths that you can use to influence strategy? If you answer these two questions and get to work on at least one of these areas, I promise you’ll be a better golfer by next week. If you don’t have a reliable shot, that is something we can work on, so don’t panic. Just contact me and we can get you on track.

So when we look at England, are they playing with their strengths? Probably not, but let’s call it what it is…if they win ugly, we’ll all be happier than if they lose beautifully, but that is a chat reserved for another day.

w w w . j a m e s w i l l i s g o l f . c o m

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE US OPEN?

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:30:52 GMT

Well, the third major of the year is now over and it didn’t disappoint. It was a great victory for Bryson, somewhat of a “tragedy” for Rory, but the greatest win was for the golf course.

The U.S. Open is always a fun watch, but certain courses are more fun than others. It’s difficult to tell the complexity of that golf course sitting in your chair, watching on 2D, but I promise you, it is a monster. We saw it from the first hole on Thursday, the best players in the world, being made to look like rank amateurs at times, purely through the trickiness and unabashed difficulty of that golf course.

But what can we learn from it?...

Well, the difficulty of the course actually lent itself to a different approach by all the players than their usual “see flag, go for flag” approach (especially with the wedges). There was more caution exercised, more strategy, and an unusual reserve when it comes to aiming at

flagsticks. Even with this being the case, many were still made to look foolish. Missing their “land spots” by only a few feet often resulted in a bogey or even a double, but this should highlight how tricky this game can be.

So what about you? Are you playing a golf course that tough week in, week out? I’m guessing not, but the chances are you don’t have the skill level of these guys either. My question to you this week is how can you implement some of their strategy into your game to start lowering your scores immediately? If you stopped aiming at every flag and started going for the middle of the green, do you think you would save some shots? (hint: if the best players in the world are missing greens from 120 yards, there's every chance we might as well).

There’s a game that I think is great for practising this - it’s called “The No Flags Game”. Simply, imagine if there were no flags on the course, where would you aim? It’s highly doubtful you’ll see the hole from 100 yards out, so I would hope that you’d be aiming at the middle of the green and taking your chances from there. My challenge to you this week is to play this game and compare your scores to your normal scores. Did you do better or worse? What about if you averaged out 10 or 20 attempts at it? Would it help your long-term scores? Only you can know, but I know what my guess is, now it’s time for you to find out.

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