Jordan Spieth and Padraig Harrington practice at the TPC Louisiana golf course this week. Everyone should invest in and take regular golf lessons. PHOTO | AFP
To truly enjoy golf, you must be able to play at a certain level.
When is the last time you booked and attended a golf lesson? When was the last time you sought help with your golf swing?
For most amateur and I dare say for many Kenyan professional golfers, lessons are few and far between. You may argue that as an amateur golfer, who plays only for fun, lessons are unnecessary.
While that may be true for squash and table tennis, to enjoy golf, to truly enjoy this sport, you need to be able to play at a certain level. Further, to not be a total nuisance to your playing partners, a minimum standard of skill is expected; anything else and you are soon labeled a leper!
In a bid to convince you that you need lessons, irrespective of your golfing ability, let me tell you the story of a remarkable sportsman.
On Sunday April 22, 2018, the world’s greatest marathoner, Eliud Kipchoge, ran a “beautiful race” and won his third London Marathon title. And whilst Kipchoge did not break the marathon record, he was in his element, unchallenged, comfortable and most of all, humble in victory.
Speaking to the media before the London Marathon, Kipchoge said “I am still a student of running. Patrick (Sang) is my teacher and I am doing what the student is required to do,” (www.athleticsweekly.com).
To put “student” Kipchoge in context, this is a man who has been victorious in eight of the nine marathons he has participated in. He is the Olympic Champion, he has won the London Marathon three times – in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
He was victorious in Berlin in 2015 and 2017 and is widely considered the greatest marathoner of our time. Yet he is still a student, diligently taking lessons from his first and only coach, Patrick Sang.
According to Sang, “the biggest organ that drives success in athletics is the mind, not the talent. Professional basketball player Kevin Durant uttered similar words when he said, “hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”
We can name many highly talented Kenyan golfers who have simply failed to work hard, who take no lessons and who have no coach. The results of their actions speak for themselves.
What can you as a amateur or professional golfer learn from Kipchoge? The first is simple, take lessons from time to time.
I know you are not trying to break records, but to truly enjoy the game of golf, take lessons— visit your local professional, spend some time understanding your swing, improve your putting or chipping or bunker play. Take a lesson.
Secondly, in marathons, the athletes say, you cant run faster than your fitness. Golfers are the exact opposite, a man who hits his driver an average 220-yards will suddenly try and carry that same drive 280-yards across a water hazard!
I think golfers are the only sportsmen who truly believe in miracles. Athletes cannot run faster than their fitness levels and you my 50-year old friend cannot swing like a 21-year old no more. On the golf course and elsewhere.
Marathoners speak about hitting a wall during the race. The same happens in golf, we call it “collapsing”. You play 14 holes like a pro, nailing single putts, getting up and down and then, without warning you shank your second shot on the 15th hole, you 4-putt and your entire game collapses.
We have all been there. To beat the “wall” or come out of a classic “collapse” train your mind and body, prepare for those moments, train for them, anticipate them, beat them.
If you follow marathons you will hear terms such as “splits” and “pace”. The secret to winning marathons and other running events is to pace yourself.
Professional golfers who play four rounds must also learn how to pace themselves and hopefully make a plan on how each day will pan out.
This is what the marathoners do, they set a pace in training and stick to it during the race, irrespective of what others are doing. In golf, you may hear people say – “play your game”.
As a golfer you can adapt a similar strategy, playing safe on the tougher holes, accepting bogeys and getting more aggressive on the easier holes.
And just like marathoners, golfers too need to hydrate. Don’t wait to get thirsty, hydrate at every tee box, just a sip to keep you hydrated.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
