The Ten Commandments to Better Golf

By Dean Claggett Director of Golf

How do professional golfers prepare for a tournament and is there any similarity to how casual golfers should prepare for a weekend tee time? The answer is very little, but you knew that. Most pros have a team, a swing coach, a trainer, a psychologist, a nutritionist, business manager and accountants. It’s hard work to be that good and it’s big business.

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We all want to improve our game

The pros spend hours and hours on the smallest of details, mental, physical and financial. How they handle the pressures of the game (and life) can make or break them. Just follow the careers of Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson. One is struggling mightily. The other has bounced back from adversity and has challenged for the lead in recent majors.
Casual golfers don’t have the time or resources of the stars, but your club professional can help you. Here are a few observations. You might react with the worlds “no kidding”, but keep reading and it’ll all make sense.

• Your swing on the practise range can be quite different from your swing on the golf course and for a variety of reasons
• It’s shot or outcome pressure that you feel standing over the ball on the fairway or green, pressure you don’t feel while practising
• Pressure or stress can create multiple changes in your mind and body
• Casual golfers often practise what they do well because it’s more fun

Your club professional can work with you to understand the strengths and weaknesses in the mechanics of your swing and the choices you make in a round. From this data, a practise plan can be developed to improve the small things whether it’s bunker play, chipping, lag putting or hitting the driver. We do these things over and over on the range in order to develop consistency and trust in a repeatable motion.

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Part two on the path to improvement

The mental game is the difference between a birdie and a bogey. The simple explanation of the power of the mind can be understood in the following scenarios.

• Think of a time on the course when you had your favourite club in your hands or the perfect yardage. Your thoughts are positive. You can imagine success. In fact you can see the ball in flight and landing on the green next to the flag. You trust your swing and your choices. The shot outcome is exactly what you imagined. These are the stories we share with friends over a cold one.
• Now think of a time when you had a fairly long shot, over water, from a downhill lie with a distance that is outside your comfort zone. Can you feel the stress? Can you feel the uncertainty developing in your mind? Did you playing partner just say to you, “don’t hit the water”? 
• How about this one? You line up a three foot putt for birdie. You go through your pre-putt routine, stand over the ball and your mind begins to doubt. You stroke the ball too hard, miss it left and the ball roles three feet past the hole. Now you have a par putt, miss again and tap in for bogey.
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• The mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

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Dr. Bob Rotella

I read his articles all the time. He has worked with some of the top golfers in the world to help them with the mental game. These are his.

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Ten Commandments to Better Golf

1. Play to play great. Don’t play to not play poorly
2. Love the challenge of the day whatever it may be
3. Get out of results and into the process
4. Know that nothing will bother or upset you on the golf course and you will be in a great state of mind for every shot
5. Playing with a feeling that outcome doesn’t matter is almost always preferable to caring too much
6. Believe in yourself so you can play freely
7. See where you want the ball to go before every shot
8. Be decisive, committed and clear
9. Be your own best friend
10. Love your wedge, putter and driver

​We can be your team by helping you gather the information and establish a practise routine to develop the golfer you’d like to be.