Simple Works

As a young coach – in both golf and basketball – I was preoccupied with making sure my students knew how much I knew.  I filled all the available air space with jargon and instruction, convinced that each student’s improvement was directly tied to how many words I said to them.

Now, whether I’m teaching a fourth grader how to shoot a basketball or a fifty year old how to stop slicing, I frequently pare my teaching down to this: hold your follow through.  In this lesson, I’ll explain why this simple idea has so much power.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You want to improve your swing

You have too many swing thoughts

You want to learn about your swing flaws

The Many Virtues of Holding Your Follow Through

One of the primary virtues of “hold your follow through” is its simplicity.  Every player – from the seasoned, scratch golfer to the complete beginner – understands what it means.  We’ve all seen the PGA Tour logo.  Try to look like that when you’re done.  Simple.

Relatedly, this straightforward edict acts as an eraser for the litany of swing thoughts many golfers carry around.  If you’re thinking about holding your follow through, you can’t be worried about your wrist flexion at P2.5.

By erasing swing thoughts, this phrase also relieves a lot of psychological pressure.  All those swing thoughts build up a mountain of expectations: “I need to flex my wrist at the top of the swing so that I can square the face at impact.  If I don’t, I’m going to slice it and look like a hack, oh no oh no oh no.”  It’s no wonder some players get stuck over the ball.  When I ask them to hold the follow through, I’m taking on all the responsibility for the outcome.  If they hold their follow through, they did their job.  Easy.

One more benefit is that “hold your follow through” is an external cue.  Research on motor learning shows that, across sports, people make changes faster with external cues than internal cues [learn more HERE].  External cues allow the golfer to be an athlete and accomplish the goal without micromanagement.

When I ask a player to hold their follow through, a myriad of good things tend to happen.  They usually finish on balance with a proper weight shift into their lead foot and a full turn toward the target.  Typically, they finish the swing with their club over their lead shoulder.  And, often, they do a better job of “releasing” the club face and getting it square at impact.  Pretty good for a “simple” four-word lesson.

Succeed or Learn

One of my favorite things about holding the follow through is that it gives the player feedback that’s easily understood.  All of those benefits I listed a moment ago – weight shift, full turn, balance, “completed” arm swing – come with a clear indicator in the follow through.

If the student finishes the swing standing on their trail leg, we both know they didn’t shift their weight.  If their chest isn’t pointed to the target, they didn’t turn.  If the club isn’t over their shoulder, they may have made a tentative arm swing.  All of this feedback turns into a straightforward cue for the next swing.

This is in stark contrast to most internal cues which require video confirmation.  Needing video not only delays the feedback (a killer to learning), it makes the feedback harder/impossible to get when the student is on their own.  For more on why I hate filming golf swings, click HERE.

A Cue for Your Entire Game

Finally, while the idea of holding your follow through definitely has the most dramatic impact on the full swing, it’s an idea that you can use in every part of your game.  Personally, I find it most helpful in the short game.  I tend to get “stabby” with my chips and pitches, not shifting forward and completing the swing.  Holding that unpleasant, incomplete follow through is a harsh prompt to do better.

On the green, we’re not making dramatic turns or weight shifts, but there are still lessons to learn.  If you’re trying to make a flowing, smooth stroke, you’ll want to see that follow through get the putter head well past the address position rather than stopping at impact.  We can also watch the club face and feel the pressure in our feet for clues about why our putts are starting offline.

“Hold your follow through” isn’t going to make you sound like a PhD of Golf Swing Jargon, but it might be the fastest route to better results.

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A Paradox

This past spring, I remarked to Matt Meeker that I was nearly perfect on shots that I “called.”  If, after a wayward drive, I said I was going to cut the ball around the tree and onto the green, you could take it to the bank.

After I said this, I started thinking, “If I’m so good at hard shots, why am I missing so many easy ones?”  The answer makes up today’s lesson.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You want to improve your ball striking and your scores

Why Hard Shots Are Easier

I’ve come up with a list of five reasons why hard shots are easier than easy shots.  If you can consistently apply these five ideas to your “regular” shots, your ball striking will improve.  These same concepts can be applied to improve your short game, too.

Reason #1: Commitment

When you’re in the deep woods and there’s only one path to the green, your choice is clear.  You know that the ball needs to fly at a specific trajectory, go through the gap in the trees, fade ten yards, and land on the green.  You step into the shot with total commitment because you know there’s only one way to succeed.

In contrast, you have nearly infinite choices on your average par 3 tee shot.  You could cut it, draw it, flight it high or low.  You can hit more club or less.  This often leads to taking the club back while thinking, “Is this the right club?”  That indecision can be fatal.

Takeaway: Committing to your shot is critical, whether you have one choice or endless possibilities.  Before you step into each shot, say to yourself enthusiastically that this is the right plan.  Full commitment to a mediocre plan is better than half-hearted commitment to a great one.

Reason #2: Focus

That shot out of the trees is tough.  It knows that it’s tough, you know it’s tough, and it knows that you know that it’s tough.  The tree shot demands your full attention.

The stock 8I from a perfect lie knows that it’s the shot you hit thirty times during every range session.  You can probably hit this shot decently with your mind on other things…so you often do.

Takeaway: Give every shot your undivided attention.  We don’t want to psych ourselves out by focusing on the difficulty of any given swing, but we need to respect each shot enough to give it our best effort.

Reason #3: Stakes

When you call your shot, you’re putting pressure on yourself.  You know that if you call for the big cut and miss, you’re going to hear about it.  Even if you’re playing alone – or you have friends who don’t razz you – you feel the pressure of taking on a big, risky shot, and that adds to your focus.

Takeaway: If you’re keeping a real, honest scorecard, you need to recognize that every swing has stakes.  Every shot is a chance to set up a birdie, save a stroke, or give away hard-earned progress.  While we’re not trying to paralyze ourselves with pressure, we need to care enough to concentrate.

Reason #4: Fun

Every time that I call a shot, I have a smile on my face.  I know that I’m taking on an added level of difficulty and risk by choice.  And, because everyone knows I’m choosing a low percentage shot, I feel free.  If I miss it, I’ll go hit it again.  No big deal.

Is this the opposite of #3?  Yes.  Golf is a funny game.  Humans are funny creatures.

Takeaway: Know yourself.  If you need high stakes and pressure to perform, ignore this and focus on grinding out every shot.  However, some players need to be loose.  Most need to find a middle ground.  If you find yourself wearing down your molars with stress, focus on the fun and smile.

Reason #5: Imagination

It’s virtually impossible to hit one of these wild recovery shots without seeing it in your mind’s eye first, and that is a massive difference maker.  Before I take the club back, I’ve seen the ball launch low, curve right, and land on the green.  All I have to do is make it happen again.

When I’m hitting that stock 8I, I rarely take the time to visualize.  The rationale is that I’ve seen this film before, let’s just hit the shot.  But that lack of imagination can lead to a lack of commitment and focus.  Being unfocused can lead to laying the sod over the ball.

Takeaway: Make visualization a part of your pre-shot routine.  This does not need to take long, just a second or two with your eyes closed to imagine the club striking the ball and creating the exact trajectory, shot shape, and result that you want.

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Thinking About Misses

After my recent adventure with the shanks [read about that HERE] and subsequent cure [details HERE], I had a bad case of the pulls.  I’m talking about shots that start left of target and sometimes wander even further left.  As I worked my way out of this morass, I started thinking about the problem of self-sabotage in golf and how our swing issues can become self-fulfilling prophecies.  And, as usual, I turned that thinking into a lesson that I hope you find helpful.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You have a consistent miss that you try to strategize around

You have a miss that you’re afraid of on the course

A Case Study

I’ll start by using my problems as an example so that it’s clear what I’m talking about.  I was hitting pull shots.  And while pulls often feel great and go forever, playing every third shot from long and left of the green is not fun.

The obvious solution is to compensate for the pull with aim.  Instead of aiming at the center of the green, aim at the right edge and pull it into the middle.  Easy, right?  On paper, yes.  In reality, no.  Rather than pulling the ball into the middle of the green, I was hitting bigger pulls that still ended up off the green.  In the battle between my feet (alignment, aiming to the right) and my brain (intent, still looking at “real” target), it was a first round knockout in favor of the grey matter.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

There were two major problems with what I was doing.  First, I wasn’t fully committed to any target.  My body was pointing one way and my brain was pointing another.  Second, I was conceding the miss.  I was making the pull a reality before I’d even taken the club back.  In fact, I needed to make the miss happen or I’d hit the ball somewhere I didn’t really want it to go.

The problem of self-fulfilling prophecies is most common with those who slice their tee shots.  While aiming to the left side of the fairway is fine, some players are so afraid of the slice that they aim their drive into the woods on the left.  With that alignment and their brain in the middle of the fairway, they’re likely to hit a weak tee shot that still finds trouble on the right.

These problems can occur in all facets of the game.  Consider a pitch shot that needs to carry ten yards.  If you’re terrified of blading it, you might rehearse a swing that will only travel five yards.  Now you need to blade it to get the ball to the green!

The Solution

We identified two problems, so we need a two-part solution.  Dealing with the second issue first, we need to decide what shot we’re going to hit.  No matter what shot you choose, there will be a certain level of dispersion that we must accept, but you need to make an active choice.  I want to hit a straight ball with my irons, so I need to commit to that, heart and soul.

With your shot shape in mind, you need to commit to your target.  If you’re playing a small cut, commit to that target that’s five yards right of the flag.  Look at that spot, see the ball going there, tell yourself that is your target.

No Magic Cures

As I said, there will be a level of dispersion even if you commit fully to your shot shape and target.  That’s golf.  But making an active decision about your shot shape and target will prevent your from causing those misses before the swing happens.

Positive thinking alone will not make you into a scratch golfer, but sabotaging your game with negative thinking is definitely a path to higher scores and less fun.

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Open Your Eyes, Lower Your Scores

When faced with a pitch or chip shot, most golfers go blind.  More accurately, they go half blind.  What aren’t they seeing?  The world of opportunity that lies beyond the flag!  In this lesson, I hope to open your eyes to the unseen green and help you lower your score.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You frequently miss the green with short game shots

You leave too many shots short of the green

What Most Golfers See

Standing over a short shot, the average golfer sees all the space between their ball and the flag…and nothing else.  We can tell because, if their ball rolls past the cup, they react as if this was a totally unforeseeable possibility, like it’s about to fall off the edge of the Earth.

What Golfers Should See

The average golfer is allegedly a 14 handicap.  This is obviously too low because many, if not most, golfers don’t keep a (honest) handicap.  My point is that the average golfer should be very happy with a bogey.  Thus, if you don’t hit the green in regulation, the only real sin is not making your next shot a putt.  

This is where the invisible green comes in.  If you’re looking at the flag as your target, and you’re afraid of going past the flag, you’ve got a recipe for a chunk that stays at your feet or a bladed wedge that actually does fall off into the abyss.  Open up your vision and evaluate how much room there is past the flag.  If you’re short sided, you might decide that you want to fly the ball to the cup and let it roll a bit.  Remember, the only mistake is not getting on the green!

For the Better Players

If you’re a single digit handicap, perhaps your standards are a bit higher.  That doesn’t mean this concept doesn’t have value for you as well.  While you might not be happy with the ball landing anywhere on the green, you can still benefit from realizing that six feet past the cup is just as good as six feet short.

Also, don’t get so focused on the hole that you ignore the contours of the green.  If you have a skillful wedge game, you should be thinking about whether being long of the flag actually leaves a better putt than being short.

See Your Approaches Differently, Too!

This concept can also be applied to your approach shots.  Greens in regulation is the stat most closely correlated with score, so hitting greens is the key to cutting strokes.  If you’re only seeing the green that’s between you and the flag, you’re missing a big part of the picture.  Widen your focus to include the entire green and choose a target that gives you the best chance of walking toward the flag with your putter in your hand.

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The Eyes Aren’t Enough

“Keep your eye on the ball” is some of the most oft-repeated advice in golf.  Go to any driving range and you’ll hear parents telling it to children, wives telling it to husbands, friends telling it to each other.

But what if the eyes aren’t the issue?

I’m writing this very short lesson based on an experience I had at the range recently, and I hope you find it helpful.

This Lesson Is For You If

You find yourself distracted over the ball

You want to start striking and putting the ball better immediately

A Quick Experiment

Rather than spilling a lot of ink trying to explain my point, let me give you a simple demonstration you can do right now.  Read the whole paragraph, then give it a try.

Look at something stationary in your immediate vicinity.  It could be a photo on your desk, your computer mouse, etc.  Don’t move your head or your eyes.  Now, without moving, think about all the things you have to accomplish throughout the rest of your day.

Don’t Look, See

What happened?  Even though your eyes never moved – they were always “on” the object – you stopped seeing it because your mind was somewhere else.  This is what happens to many golfers over the ball.  Their head is down but their mind is thinking swing mechanics, grocery lists, work to-dos, or phone calls to return.

If your focus is not on the ball, it doesn’t really matter where you aim your head and eyes.  When I realized this, I started making a concerted effort to put my eyes and my brain on the golf ball.  I silently said, “Golf ball” to myself as I looked down at the ball before the swing.  My results improved immediately.

Like anything in golf, this isn’t a lesson to be learned once.  Maintaining focus is something that every golfer struggles with, and some days will be better than others.  But if you can make a conscious effort to put your eyes and your mind on the ball, you’ll give yourself the best chance to hit great shots.

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“This Tip Doesn’t Work!”

Tell me if this sounds familiar.

You pick up a new swing tip somewhere.  You go to the range, and you try to implement it.  Nothing happens.  You try it some more.  Nothing happens.  You get frustrated and discard said tip because “it doesn’t work.”

If you’ve never experienced this, you’re clearly on the wrong site because you’ve never golfed before.  In this lesson, I’m going to tell you why that happens and how you can stop it from happening ever again.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You want to learn ways to fix your swing on your own

You’re trying to make a big change to your golf swing

You’ve tried tweaking your swing but aren’t seeing results

You Aren’t Trying to Do It Wrong…

Let’s start with this basic realization: no one is trying to swing the club badly.  There is no one on a golf course anywhere who addresses the ball and says, “I’m going to move my head wildly, change posture three or four times, bend every joint I have, and then bury the club in the dirt three inches behind the ball.”  We are all doing our best to do the right things and make great contact.

This is important to recognize because tips often seem to assume we’re trying to do things wrong.  When someone says, “Keep your head still” (which may or may not be good advice), they don’t realize that you’re not trying to move your head.  This is why, when you try to “keep your head still,” nothing happens.  You were already trying to keep your head still!

…So Try to Do It “Wrong”

We can solve this problem by trying to overdo the correction.  Let’s stick with the example of “keep your head still” and assume that the problem is that the golfer is moving their head dramatically away from the target during the back swing.  Instead of trying to stay still – which you’re already doing – try to move your head forward during the back swing.  This gives you something to do that’s different than what you’re already doing.

This idea can be applied to almost any change you want to make.  If you’re trying to rotate the club open more during your takeaway, try to get the club face pointed at the sky when it gets to hip height.  If you’re trying to maintain flex in your right knee in the back swing, think about squatting deeper than you were at address.

Whatever change you want to make, aim well past it, and you’ll have a better chance of getting there.

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Due Respect to The Hawk…

Everyone has seen the famous ball position illustration in Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons, but is that truly the final word?  In this lesson, I’ll discuss this underappreciated element of address, and how you can use it to create shots and improve your skills.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You want to shape your shots

You want to control your trajectory

You want to improve your ball striking skill

Improve Your Skills

I’ve written frequently about how most golfers fail to challenge themselves in practice.  Hopefully you’ve read some of those lessons and have adopted practices like switching clubs after every shot.

Today, I’m suggesting that you add another element of challenge: different ball positions.  If you’re conscientious about your practice, you probably use some device to establish your standard ball position.  Hitting shots from there is great, but imagine how your skill will increase if you teach yourself to hit shots with the ball closer to you or farther away, more forward or more back in your stance.  You’ll no longer fear those tricky lies, because you’ll know you can handle all manner of set ups.

As you improve your skills, you can move from a grid like the one shown earlier to the one shown above.  Hitting shots from this wide grid is liberating: there are no expectations!  Who would ever hit a ball that’s in line with their right foot and barely within reach?  But if you do hit a good shot, or even get a decent knock on it, you feel like a world class ball striker.

Shape Your Shots

Most golfers think of ball position in terms of right and wrong: there is one correct ball position for each club, and everything else is bad.

I will suggest to you that there are many possible “correct” ball positions – it just depends on what you want the ball to do.  The key to using different ball positions to create shots is experimentation.

The standard advice says that moving the ball back will produce a lower shot that tends toward a draw.  Conversely, a more forward ball position will produce a higher shot that tends to fade.  I would encourage you to find out for yourself.

If you’re an excellent ball striker, you may find a dramatic difference between the three ball positions shown above.  However, for the player who is less consistent, you may not see a predictable difference from those small changes.  You may need to try something more extreme, as shown below.  It’s also possible that, for you, everything I just said is backwards.  Again, experimentation is the key.

I’d encourage you to try this with your short game, too.  With your short shorts, I don’t expect that you’re going to curve the ball significantly, but the change in trajectory will be important.  If you develop the ability to hit both low runners and high shots with stopping power, your scores will improve dramatically.

Another advantage to experimenting with ball position is that you’ll learn about your swing.  You may find that, despite what you read in magazines, a back ball position doesn’t work for your chipping stroke.  It’s possible that you’ll unlock dramatic improvements just by trying the “wrong” things.

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Difficult Questions

Are you getting better?  How do you know?

These seem like simple questions, however in the world of golf, they’re anything but.  And the difficulty in answering these questions is why so many golfers are endlessly chasing that “miracle tip” that will “change their game forever.”

In this lesson, I’m going to discuss what getting better at golf really looks like, how to measure it, and the key to long term improvement.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You’re practicing but not sure you’re improving

You’re not sure if your swing changes are helping

What Improvement Isn’t

Improving at golf is not “taking the left side out of play.”  Every golfer hits the occasional hook or slice, top or fat.

Improving at golf doesn’t mean you’ll never shoot over 80 or 90 or 100 again.  Look at the best players in the world: one day they shoot 63, the next day they might shoot 75.

Improving at golf doesn’t mean you’ll never miss another 3 foot putt or that you will get up and down from every bunker.

What Improvement Is

Improving at golf is making your best shots a little better, making your worst shots a little more acceptable, and hitting slightly more of the former and fewer of the latter.

Golf has a wide variance.  As I mentioned above, the best players in the world see their scores go up and down from day to day.  They hit world class shots followed by stinkers.  As recreational players, our variance is even higher, and we need to accept that we’re never going to eliminate poor shots or high scores.

How to Measure Improvement

To know if you’re improving you need data, and a lot of it.  The easiest way to collect the data you need is with a shot tracker like Shot Scope.

The reason that I prefer a GPS-based shot tracker over pencil and paper is that it allows for more granular data.  You can write down “Missed Fairway” on your scorecard, but a GPS system can tell you exactly how far offline the shot was.  The “Missed Fairway” alone may keep you from seeing significant improvement.  If you miss five fairways by a total of fifteen yards, that’s great driving.  If you miss five fairways by a total of 100 yards, that’s a lot of lost golf balls.

Finally, you need patience.  Especially as you get better, improvement comes slowly and is hard to see.  A swing change may improve your driving by 10%, but if you’re shooting in the 70s, that’s not going to translate to radically lower scores.  It may not even translate to huge distance gains or a jump in fairways hit.  However, if you track your data for a month or a season, you may see that you’re taking fewer penalties, hitting fewer shots OB, hitting more GIRs, and that will let you know you’re on the right track.

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B.B. King Teaches Golf

In a past life, I was a guitar player, and I read guitar magazines voraciously.  I recently recalled an article that talked about “BB’s Box,” referring to the great B.B. King and the small amount of notes he used to craft his legendary solos.

This is one of the best examples of using constraints to boost creativity.  B.B. had 144 notes at his disposal but limited himself to a handful so that he could focus on playing them to the best of his ability.  This is a lesson that both intermediate and advanced golfers can apply to great effect on the course.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You’re getting bored in practice or on the course

You want to expand your shot making abilities

You want to improve your strategy and course management

For the Intermediate Player

For purposes of this lesson, you’re an intermediate player if you’re no longer worried about putting the club face on the ball, and you have a certain set of shots you rely on.  You’re not doing much to modify shot shape or trajectory, and your short game leans on a couple shots.  If this description fits you, you can use the idea of constraints to expand your horizons.

Shot Shape

If you typically hit a straight shot with your irons, you can implement the constraint of, “Hit a draw on every shot.”  You can derive two benefits from this.  First, you’ll improve your ability to hit a draw, making you a more versatile player.  Second, you’ll see the strengths and weaknesses of this ball flight.  This will teach you when to use it in the future.

Trajectory

Try playing with the constraint of “Only hit low/high shots.”  Again, you’ll improve your ability to modify trajectory, and you’ll see the benefits of different ball flights.

Club Selection

My favorite constraint is limiting the number of clubs you carry.  This forces maximum creativity because you need to make your clubs go longer or shorter than normal.  Will you choke up?  Swing harder or softer?  Modify trajectory or shot shape?

Short Game

Constraints can be used in the short game too.  Limit yourself to only using one club (SW, PW, etc) within 50 yards of the green.  Make it a real challenge and use only your putter or a mid-iron.  Decide that you’re only going to hit flop shots or only bump-and-runs.

More than in the full swing, constraints in the short game will open your eyes to new possibilities.  Most players – especially at this level – get locked into one club or shot type.  A high end short game depends on versatility and creativity.  You’ll get those attributes through constraints.

For the Advanced Player

If you’re a good player, when you walk up to a golf shot, the number of choices you have is almost limitless.  You can hit any one of fourteen clubs.  You can hit it high or low.  You can play a draw or fade of any size.  You can make a full or partial swing.

For you, constraints will serve a few purposes.  First, you will be relieved of much of the decision making burden.  Golf is a mental sport, and anything you can do to save mental energy is a plus.  When you only have a handful of clubs to choose from or one trajectory to play, golf will be easier.  You may score better with fewer options.

Additionally, as with the intermediate player, constraints will teach you about the strengths and weaknesses of different shot types.  You may be a good player, but perhaps your fade is not as reliable as you thought.  Playing an entire round of left-to-right shots will show you exactly how good it is.  You may surprise yourself and discover that a lower-than-normal ball flight leads to superior accuracy.

Finally, your creativity will be enhanced.  You will play shots that you normally wouldn’t, and you’ll have to figure out how to make them work.  If you’re playing firm greens with only low trajectory shots, where do you need to land the ball to get a GIR?  Not only will you get more creative, you may break some of your biases about what shots work in certain situations.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a 15 handicap or a +2, playing with fewer options is a great way to refresh your view of the game and boost your skill.  Anyone can paint a sunset with 128 crayons; you need skill to do it with 8.

Do you have any ideas for constraints not mentioned here?  Share them in the comments section!

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The Magic Word

One word can explain why some people are successful at golf, finances, weight loss, and virtually any other endeavor you can think of.  And it’s ironic that golfers overlook it, because it’s one of golf’s favorite words.  In this lesson, I’ll tell you what that word is and how to use it to improve your game.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You want to improve any aspect of your game

Consistency

Consistency is the magic word.

Imagine two people, Tom and Jerry.  Tom takes a walk before work and again in the evening.  He eats in moderation, occasionally having some alcohol or dessert.  Jerry is sedentary except on Tuesdays, when he works out in the gym for two hours.  He shovels down plates of food, except on Thursday, when he eats nothing but broccoli and chicken breasts.

Who’s going to be healthier: Tom and his consistent small efforts or Jerry and his feast-or-famine approach?  Obviously, the answer is Tom.

Think about someone who spends too much money.  If, on Monday, they brown bag their lunch, skip the trip to the mall, stay off of Amazon, but go back to their old habits on Tuesday, will their debt evaporate?  Of course not.  Good financial health is a matter of doing the right things, even in very small doses, every single day.

I could create scenarios in any other facet of life, but I trust that you’ve gotten the point.  Every day that you do something positive, you make progress.  Every day that you do nothing, you get further from your goals.

Find Ways to Practice

I hear the push back already.  “I can’t get to the range everyday.”  “I’m busy.”  I get that.  We’re all busy, and unless you have Tiger’s backyard, practicing is inconvenient.  Don’t focus on what you can’t do, figure out what you can do.

One of the best things I did in the past year was to make a club I can swing in my living room.  I bought an old demo 7I, cut it to a length that I could swing in my house, and threw a grip on it.  Now I can work on my swing while I watch my kids or talk to my wife.

Another easy thing to do is putt.  You can putt on your carpet, buy a putting mat, or use a putting trainer.  It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, so long as you’re doing something.

Chart Your Efforts

Jerry Seinfeld has a “productivity hack” that I think everyone should adopt.  He has a calendar, and when he’s done his writing, he marks the day with a big red X.  He’s said that once the streak grew to a couple weeks, he felt the pressure to keep it going, and it motivated him to write, no matter what.

You can use this same idea to make sure that you get a little golf in everyday.  Whether it’s a full range session, some slow motion swings, or just five putts on the carpet, every day that you work on your game puts you one day closer to being the golfer you want to be.

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