I constantly find myself picking up a new tip here and there
and trying to input that into a game that is nowhere near
complete, all this does is confuse my body and mind and
leave me scratching my head when I’m on target to break
80 and end up scraping just past 90.
After following the endeavours of Dan Mcloughlin aka
the Dan Plan (read on page XX) a man who’s dedicated
his life, 10,000 hours to becoming a Pro I decided to take
my game apart, learn the fundamentals and apply those
learnings to the way I play.
Now I don’t have 10,000 hours spare, I have to earn a living,
but even if I did I probably couldn’t reach that height, my
physical (and probably mental) make up couldn’t take me
to that constant level of performance but I do believe that
I can break 80 and perform to that standard on a regular
basis and that’s where #18to8 was born.
Breaking 80
It’s very rare in the world of golf that we walk off the 18th
completely happy with our performance. Even on those
occasions when we hit our “purple patch” and shoot
our best ever score we still manage to find a fault in our
performances, and when sitting around the table in the
clubhouse we often here the phrase “I still feel like I left
something out there today, if only that putt…..”
As golfers we are constantly chasing perfection, chasing
the impossible, wishing we could repeat that perfect strike
again and again.
This is me all over, an 18 handicap golfer that believes a
better player lies inside of him. My best round is 80 so
I know that when everything falls into place I have the
potential to play to a standard much higher than I currently
do, so why I can’t I do that every time I’m on the course.
Well it comes down to a number of issues….
I have never had a proper golf lesson, I have picked up
my swing through watching numerous friends play golf,
reading thousands of “teach yourself” articles and watching
hundreds of Youtube videos, I have done all of this instead
of doing the correct thing. Learning the fundamentals of
the sport and instilling those into my game and repeating
those when I’m out on the course.
70 | YOURCADDY MAG - ISSUE 06
Every season I set my self a goal, that goal is always to
improve, take a stroke off my game each season and
gradually bring myself up to a decent level that I can
maintain. That’s now gone into overdrive, I have given
myself until April 2016 to reach the performance level
of an 8 handicapper and break 80 over an average of 3
rounds. In order to achieve this I’m taking my golfing world
apart and rebuilding it using the teaching blocks of Master
Professional, Tour winner and former Ryder Cup player
Peter Dawson, Mindfit PGA Pro Tony Westwood and
Jordan Spieth’s fitness team AMPD Fitness.
You might ask why this has to be achieved in short a short
space of time, the answer is twofold…. 1) I’m impatient! I
have said to myself time and time again that its only ever
3 holes that ruin my round, it’s time to change that! 2) I
believe the winter period is the perfect time to rebuild
your game, there’s no point in trying to impart change
during a competitive season, when you have reached your
goal it will be too late.
What is going to change?
The swing – It’s coming apart. Peter will take me back to
the basics and change some key parts of my game, he will
help me understand the way to play certain shots and at
which time to play them and most importantly, why.
The mind – Through the use of the 1-2-1 sessions and
the instructions within Tony Westwoods Mindfit for golf
I’ll learn to train my brain to become a positive player
and become mentally stronger during the times in rounds
where I have often faltered.