We Chose Our Words Carefully

When we say we help students "Master the Game" we mean just that. Mastering the Game means you shoot lower scores and enjoy the game more. But it takes time. It's not instant pudding or instant messaging. Taking a golf lesson on Wednesday does not always lead to lower scores on Saturday. Why?

The Four Steps to Mastery

Remember Truth #3 - You Can't Skip Steps? There are four distinct steps to mastering a new skill: understanding cause and effect, supervised practice, transfer training and, finally, play. Taking a new skill through all of those steps takes time - and plenty of it. There are no short cuts.

Truth #4 - You Must Stick to Something Long Enough to Master It

Arnold Palmer once said his dad taught him the greatest lesson he ever learned in golf, to "stick to something long enough to master it." The simple truth is that motor skills are learned through repetition. You didn't learn to walk or drive or ride a bike in a one hour lesson. Likewise, in golf, to master a new movement Rick Jensen points out that "you must train your body to repeat and execute new skills under a range of ever changing conditions." And that takes time.
 
Often golfers believe they should be able to take the knowledge they obtain from a tip or a lesson and take it to the course right away. Wrong! You must walk that skill up the four steps. And you must avoid the pitfall of abandoning the new skill when it doesn't work out right away. When you don't improve immediately, it probably just means you have to give it more time. Stick-to-ititiveness is a trait of champions.
 
To paraphrase Homer Kelley, author of The Golfing Machine, learn to do correct movements even if you miss-hit the shot ... until you no longer miss-hit the shot. There is no successful alternative.

Master the Game

The season is almost here. Contact us to meet with your coach and choose a skill on which you need to make permanent progress this season to lower your scores. From there, we'll develop a plan to help you walk that skill up the four steps and we'll help you stick with it long enough to master it.