27 Oct 2016

Belief And The Competitive Player

By Mark Harman USGTF Master Golf Teaching Professional

When I first picked up a golf club at the age of 12 in 1974, I immediately dreamed of playing on the Tour and making a living as a professional golfer. I always enjoyed competition, whether it be Little League baseball, golf, or playing in a pickup football or basketball game.

That first year I played, I was shooting around 50 for nine holes by the end of summer, so I made double bogey my “par.” I remember playing in “tournaments”as I tooled my way around the course, my imagination running wild as I tried to better my personal par of 54. When I got into high school, I went out for the golf team but wasn’t good enough to crack either the varsity or junior varsity (JV) lineup as a freshman. I kept at it, and as a sophomore I was able to make it as a regular on the JV team.

My junior and senior years I played #1 on the varsity (although it wasn’t that tough to do, as no one else besides me could average better than 88 for 18 holes). I played golf at NAIA-level Franklin College in Indiana, where I was the two-time MVP averaging about 80.(Today, shooting 80 at Franklin might not even qualify for the team.)

However, since I wasn’t good enough to turn pro after college, I found a job as a bill collector/computer programmer for a division of Chase Manhattan. After most workdays from April through October, I would hit the course and play and practice as much as I could. My life consisted mainly of work and golf and little else.

Eventually I worked my way down to a 1 handicap, and through a connection with Geoff Bryant, I moved to Tallahassee, Florida, and started teaching at The Florida Golf School. Although I was teaching, I still harbored dreams of playing with the best players in the world. Except…there were a few problems with that.

The most pressing problem was that I only hit the ball about 240 off the tee on my best shots and I hit 7-iron from 150. Even in the early 1990s, this was short for a professional player. The second obstacle was I had no money to play mini-tour events full-time.

Finally, and most importantly, when I teed it up in competition, I got so nervous and anxiety-ridden that, more often than not, I played horribly. I can remember starting a 36-hole mini-tour event bogey, double bogey, and having a six-inch putt for a quadruple bogey on the third hole. I picked up my ball at that point, knowing I had no chance to break 50 for nine holes, apologized to the guys in my group, and said I was quitting as I didn’t want to be a distraction for them. They said no, keep playing for fun…and wouldn’t you know it, with the pressure off, I shot a 33 on the back nine.

About this time in my life, I got to know Gregg Steinberg, who became and still is a very good friend of mine. Gregg, as you may know, is the longtime USGTF sports psychology consultant. He gave me some tools that helped refine my mental skills and was a great help in my improvement.

By 1995, I had some money saved up, and Gregg urged me to give the mini-tours another try. I told him I didn’t think my game was good enough. He told me something I’ll never forget: “You might get good enough if you start playing.”

And he was right. I played maybe a dozen events in 1995 and cashed in my last eight events, and in 1996 I cashed in almost every one. What was the difference?

In one word, belief. I came to believe that I was going to play well each and every time I teed it up in competition. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be in the money for those events. I eventually wound up winning four times on the Emerald Coast Golf Tour,defeating the likes of present and former Tour players like Boo Weekley, Ben Bates, and Iain Steel along the way.

In the end, I didn’t make the big tour because of two factors:1) I never was able to gather the consistent financial support that was needed in order to play full-time without working, and 2) I just hit the ball too short. I think I played about as well as I could have playing part-time. Learning to shoot lower scores with my lack of distance required playing full-time.

Think about the Ryder Cup. Why have the Europeans dominated for the past three decades? Why do the Americans always seem to play poorly? Various commentators have said that the European players have a closer bond with each other, or that they are more used to match play, or that they have a greater desire than the U.S. players. Based on my own experiences and observations, along with comments made by the U.S. players themselves, I believe none of these reasons are valid.

What I think happens is that the European players expect to win, while the U.S. players hope to win. That’s a huge difference,and it means everything. When I competed and hoped to do well, I almost never did. When I expected to play well, I almost always did.

If you’re coaching competitive players, they need to have a genuine belief that they are going to succeed. If you hear them make statements like,“I’m just going out there to have fun,” then you know they are in trouble. Sure, having fun is important to both a recreational and competitive player, but without the belief that they are going to play well, they won’t. They just won’t.

Listen to what your competitive players tell you. Know when they have belief and when they don’t. The USGTF has a number of wonderful resources to help you develop your competitive players’ belief systems, among them Gregg’s book Mental Rules for Teaching Golf and the online course through the International Golf Psychology Association, found at <a href=”http://www.MasteringGolfPsychology.com”>www.MasteringGolfPsychology.com</a>.

Someone once said, “I’ll take the man with 50 percent talent and 100 percent heart over the man with 100 percent talent and 50 percent heart any day.”

So would I.
Read more 0
How Head Injuries Cause Parents To…Turn To Golf
24 Oct 2016

How Head Injuries Cause Parents To…Turn To Golf

By: Ben Bryant, WGCA contributing writer On June 15, 2013, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Alex Cobb delivered a fastball to the waiting Kansas City batter, Eric Hosmer. Hosmer made solid contact with his bat, sending the ball straight back toward the mound. Cobb, who was at the end of his throwing motion, falling off the mound and in a vulnerable, defenseless position, could not dodge out of the way of the incoming 103 mph (166 km/h) line drive. The ball hit Cobb squarely in the head just above his right ear. For the crowd and the audience watching on television, the worst part was the sound – a hollow thump that reverberated throughout Tropicana Field. Trainers rushed to Cobb, who was lying face down on the turf, to render assistance. Although Cobb never lost consciousness, he was eventually placed on a stretcher, carted off the field, and taken to the nearest emergency room. The true dangers of concussions and head in-juries are finally beginning to be understood by the medical community and parents. As a high school golf coach, I have to undergo concussion protocol training every year and have a plan of action in place in case of head injuries. Over the last few years, I have had several players who have come from other sports whose parents have become more and more concerned about the physicality and head injury risk in sports like baseball or football. As the parent of a four-year-old on the cusp of athletic greatness myself, I have struggled with the need to balance sports participation and safety for my own son. This is becoming a common situation for parents all across the United States and the rest of the world. As a result, the sport of golf – as a mainstream, safe alternative to the other major sports – stands poised to attract a large, new generation of young players. Alex Cobb was lucky. In the end, he suffered only minor injuries, including a small cut and a concussion. He missed two months, returning in August for the Rays. His injury, and others like his, raises the question that has been asked several times over the last several years: should pitchers wear head protection? Strangely enough, despite there being several companies that manufacture head protection specifically for pitchers, Major League Baseball has not adopted new rules requiring pitchers to wear it. Even Cobb said that he does not want to wear extra protection. The reasoning behind their refusal is that these helmets make the player look funny. In fact, so far only one pitcher, Alex Torres of the Atlanta Braves, has decided to wear the extra protection,and he is routinely derided by fans and even other players for the way it makes him look. This is the current state of baseball and many other sports. While there are changes being made in the children’s levels, the professional leagues seem reluctant to embrace safety out of fear of watering down their game or changing fundamental appearances. American football, of course, is having the greatest struggle with these new revelations. New rules have been imposed with the intention to reduce head injuries, but the fact of the matter is that the professionals who play these sports are dragging their feet when it comes to embracing those changes. Ed Reed, the future Hall of Fame safety for the Baltimore Ravens, was recently asked about the dangers of head injuries in football. When asked whether he would want to be tested for CTE – a condition caused by repeated concussions and head injuries– Reed replied that he would rather not be tested because he did not want to know the damage the game was doing to him.  Historically in the United States, baseball and football have made up the bulk of sports that parents choose to involve their children in. Despite changes being made to children’s sports leagues– new tackling methods in football, helmets for defensive players in baseball, banning headers in soccer, etc. – parents face a difficult decision when involving their child in a sport where the professional role models have not embraced the new safety culture. Cobb continues to pitch without a helmet, and anyone who has watched an NFL game recently knows that head injuries are still a major problem in football. The difficulty faced by other sports creates opportunities for the sport of golf. In 2010, the Wall Street Journal and other media organizations wrote about the problem of the lack of young players in the world of golf. But so much has changed since then with the rise of great young players like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. As the dangers endemic to other sports become more well-known, golf is positioned to become the go-to sport as parents search for safer alter-natives to football, baseball,hockey, and other high-impact physical games. As teaching professionals,we need to use this opportunity as a recruiting tool to get golf clubs into the hands of younger players, although many of the traditional barriers to golf still exist. Equipment is still expensive, and the traditional 18-hole golf course might not be the most exciting thing to a 10-year-old. But golf’s relative safety versus other traditional sports has given it a new leg up in this era of head injuries in sports.        
Read more 0
Teach Playing The Game
11 Oct 2016

Teach Playing The Game

By: Thomas T Wartelle WGCA contributing writer When I was younger, I was fortunate to spend some time with Lionel Hebert, winner of the 1957 PGA Championship. That year was the last time this major championship was played as match play. His brother, Jay Hebert, later won the 1960 PGA Championship when it was stroke play. Both played on the Ryder Cup team and were close friends of Ben Hogan, Jimmy Demaret, Jack Burke, and the other greats of that era. I was eager to listen to his stories and readily absorbed Mr. Lionel’s wisdom of golf. He was not a traditional-type teacher, as he was first and foremost a player. He often spoke in parables about the game and had a unique way of conveying his homespun messages. I will never forget one afternoon when Mr. Lionel and I were walking together near the driving range the day before a tournament. He looked me directly in the eyes with the most serious look and said, “You see all those fools working on their swing the day before a competition? You know, if you ain’t brought it with you, you are not going to find it out there!”  Truer words were never spoken. You see, Mr. Lionel knew that playing the game, especially tournament golf, is about getting the ball into the hole. When we think about tough major championships like the Open or U.S. Open, we think about perseverance and the ability get the ball in the hole under the most extreme pressure. Mr. Lionel knew this; Mr. Hogan knew this; champions know this and find a way to win. Good golfers find a way to get the ball into the hole. As golf instructors, we can learn from this lesson. Instructors would do well to teach less on the driving range and more on the golf course. Teach the game.  I have seen so many cases over the years where a golfer spends hours and hours on the driving range pounding balls. They are not even working on their short game, yet endlessly picking apart their swing. Several times when I was working overseas, I saw golfers, including kids, who had never been on the golf course because of their instructors insisting that they learn to swing it a certain way. What a terrible way to learn the game of golf.  I actually prefer to do the opposite with my students. I like to get them on the golf course as soon as possible and have fun while learning to golf your ball on the course. Golf is meant to be played on the golf course. When golf course play is not an option, simulate playing the game as closely as possible on the practice area. Get your students playing and watch your students’ skill level and enjoyment soar. It will make for more return customers!
Read more 0
10 Oct 2016

GROWING THE GAME

There has been a lot of recent discussion about the game of golf losing golfers.  There have been many theories about why this seems to be happening.  In my opinion, this is a natural ebb and flow that has been exaggerated and misunderstood.  Let’s explore some of these issues. The National Golf Foundation (NGF) numbers are showing a net loss of golfers in America compared to a decade ago.  However, what is hidden in this statistic is that the NGF numbers were greatly inflated by counting “very” occasional golfers who play only a few outings a year.  In the past, these golfers were lumped into the avid golfer category.  This grossly inflates the numbers.  For example, if you ask random people if they have played golf, many will say yes, albeit this could be a driving range experience or hacking it around once with college buddies. Another often-heard argument is that the game needs Tour players to make it popular.  The game is bigger than any one golfer.  Great and dominant professional golfers come along every so often, and golfing lore has had many of them:  Old Tom Morris, Young Tom Morris,  Harry Vardon, The Great Triumphant, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and on and on.  There are too many to list.  Some created more interest than others, but none were bigger than the game.  The game of golf has and will continue to march on regardless of who is at the top of the PGA Tour leaderboard.  To build the Tour or a golf industry around one great player is folly.  All glory is fleeting.  The sun rises and a new day comes, or in this case, a new golfer takes his place. There were too many high-end golf courses built when the inflated golfer numbers where at their prime a few years ago.  Anyone who is in the golf industry knows that golf courses are very expensive to operate.  When the economy was truly roaring, many investors thought that a new high-end golf course development was a sure shot at a good return.  What they didn’t calculate were the heavy expenses of construction and maintaining a golf facility.  The days of mediocre, small-town “goat ranches” are a thing of the past.  With the construction of the newer courses, the agronomic course conditions rapidly improved.  The public got a penchant for good, fast greens and grass in the fairways.  High expectations for top course conditions became the norm.  This comes at a cost: higher dues and green fees, and higher input costs to maintain the new expectations.  Older courses with mediocre agronomic conditions fell by the wayside as they couldn’t keep up with “the new TPC course” down the road.  However, the newer-constructed courses have also struggled to balance high maintenance expectations and profitability. The transformation of our society has also played a role in the golf industry.   Today, everyone is on the go.  We live in a much more instantaneous society than a few decades back.  In the old days, a typical golfing dad would spend all day on Saturday at the local country club playing golf and cards with the his colleagues.  In most golf clubs today, those days are gone.  Dad is more likely spending the day at soccer games and other family engagements.  Many golf facilities failed to keep up with changing family patterns.  Instead of making their facility more family friendly, many clubs fell by the wayside of nostalgia.  They failed to be innovative in their marketing.  Many facilities neglected to promote golf to ladies and kids.  In my opinion, golf should also be marketed as a fun, athletic and healthy family activity.  The health industry is one of the fastest, most consistently growing industry in the USA.  Why not tap into this resource? The cost of participation and material is quite expensive compared to other sports and activities.  Some of this blame can be placed on the industry’s greed such as the never-ending quest to put out new golf equipment.   Greens fees are often too high for beginners or people with less disposable income.  We need more user-friendly golf facilities for entry-level players.  The game has to be more accessible and family friendly.  I like the idea of 6- and 9-hole golf courses that are inviting to all golfers. All in all, I think the game is still strong and in a good place.  Can it be stronger or better?  Of course, but the key is not to place the future of the game in world-class Tour players or high-tech equipment advances.  This only results in superficial and inflated numbers of players, not avid lifetime golfers.  The real key in growing the game is to make golf more accessible and family friendly.  This can be achieved by simple instruction and creative ideas incorporating the wants and needs of today’s families.  Golf instructors, share your passion, for you are the true gatekeepers of the future of the game!
Read more 0