I was wondering if you could help us mere mortals who have never teed it up as a pro.

Now, there are no doubt many ways your teaching could help us but what I want to know is how you would describe your perfect day practising.

Can I clarify that by saying, tell us how you would prepare if you just had a week off and tell us how you would prepare in the run up to an event you wished to play really well in.

Please include what sort of training you might have included and what sort of food and drink you sought out and what you tried to avoid.

Personally I am much more into training the body than hitting a million golf balls. The ball is just in the way of the swing, and if the body is doing the right things, the ball will confirm.

There is no substitute for playing on the course, designing shots and executing them. I use the range only to test the swing. Two or three balls will tell me everything I need to know. Since my return to the game I have yet to hit a ball on a range.

If I were playing an event, and I will be playing in the Las Vegas Classic Club Open in Nov… I will arrive at the course an hour before, hit a few balls only to see what today’s shot pattern looks like, then spend most of my time getting a feel for the speed of the greens… some chips from the rough to get a feel for the grass, (not that I plan on being in the rough! lol) and of course see what the sand is like (in the event I find the sand, hope not! lol)

Make sure you are good and stretched out before you arrive at the course, I like to feel as if I could step from the car to the tee and be fine if needed, in the event I hit traffic or some other delay that causes me to run late, like my mad rush to the tee box from that car in the West Australian Open final round, Jundaloop.

I like to just eat fruit in the morning, maybe some grains, but nothing that is going to be rumbling in my stomach, avoid big bacon and egg breakfasts, that sort of thing. Keep some snacks in your bag, nuts are good to have, they have a slow energy release. Avoid sugar and caffeine that could rile you up. Don’t play with a hang over, and as Sam Snead said so eloquently, “no sex after Tuesday”.

Not every week is going to be your week, not every course is going to be perfect for you style of play, so be patient, and just keep golfing your ball. Your weeks and days will come.

On weeks off, I like to do other things, get my mind off golf, and enjoy the wonderful places I might be visiting. If I have an event the next week, I might start warming back into it the previous Sat or Sunday. If I find I am playing really terrible, I would usually like to go home and regroup in my familiar surroundings. I used to love hitting balls down a chalk line at the football fields at the university. Great to have that. A few good round on your home course always help boost your confidence.

I did my hard training when at home if I was taking off a month or two. I wasn’t uncommon for me to run 3 miles at sunrise, get to the course, hit two milk carton crates of balls, about 500 take a long lunch, then go out and play 18, then finish off the day with some chipping and putting practice. (Does that seem obsessive?)

I wonder how I did that!

Try to avoid all those tasty Irish Ales too, save them for your victory
shenanigans! Don’t play hung over!

Styles,

Sorry to be a wet rag but my golf was a 24 year programme and I relied on not doing anything different once I established my major policies. Very simple things done every day on 5 different projects. Getting to scratch, through the PGA, through conscription and surviving on the Tour, being able to coach.

I am sure having to play well on any one day would have killed my performance. Only once did having to shoot 68 for an invitation to the next event work but I was lucky something happened that broke the pattern, every other time it burned me so it became policy to play every round the same unless I was choking.

You are going to play about 50,000 rounds of golf before you die, how important can one of them be.

My policy – don’t start your downswing before you think you can hit the target 80% of the time. Different in match play.

With this game you have to wait your turn, if you try to push in you get to go to the back of the line.

Sorry again.

I was a journeyman golfer, pleased to be there – like sex.

Dart,

You speak with some wisdom there…

A lot of young tour pros would do good to take a read of that post.

With this game you have to wait your turn, if you try to push in you get to go to the back of the line.

Very interesting statement there Dart, that makes more sense than anything I have ever read regarding FLOG before… and how true is it… something I have finally learnt in the last year…..