Food for thought...
You may have noticed there’s a big football tournament on at the moment, in which the England team has been pretty successful so far. In the first game our arch striker, Harry Kane managed to nick a few goals to beat Tunisia and in the second against lowly Panama, we went to town and enjoyed one of the best days that I can remember while supporting England. What happened in the third game is what I want to talk about because it’s relevant to golf. The manager of England, Gareth Southgate, made eight changes and effectively put out a reserve side against Belgium. When I heard about this before the game, my head dropped, and it did that because of something I learned two decades ago from my Head Professional when I was training: What he taught me (and bear in mind he played eleven years on tour) was that if you are out with your friends, or on your own practising, and you leave yourself a three or four foot putt, you should either take it seriously and give the putt your full attention as if you were in competition, or you should pick it up. You should never just walk up and flick your putter at it like it didn’t matter. The reason is simple and 100% correct: if you hole the putt when you just flick at it you learn nothing, but if you miss it you will be slightly embarrassed, or annoyed maybe, but you will also try to throw it away because you didn’t try. The trouble is whether you like it or not it has an affect and it’s not a good one. It’s called negative feedback. However, if you gave it your all then all outcomes give you positive feedback. If you make it you have confidence in your routine and your ability to handle the short ones. If you miss then you can’t blame a lack of effort so you can examine what you could change to make it better - both are positive even if one comes from a negative result. So does this remind us in any way of what happened before and during our game with Belgium? We basically approached the game like the four footer that doesn’t matter - we flicked at it. What did we get out of the game? Nothing but negative feedback. Now, I can hear a few of you saying that it’s a little more complicated than that when you are talking about a football tournament where players can get injured or tired and also that in one way the result ‘may’ have been a positive one as we now have a great run into the semi final. I am writing this prior to our game tonight against Colombia, which I pray we win really well, so I don’t know whether any of this will prove correct but I don’t particularly like either argument. It doesn’t matter anyway - I firmly believe we should have gone out to win with our best team, period. If we’re going to win the World Cup we’ll face Brazil at some stage and injuries and fatigue are why you take lots of replacements. That doesn’t mean you should play them all in a game that ‘doesn’t matter’. What kind of message have we sent those players now anyway? Ok, forget football for a moment - let’s get back to golf. I have played with lots of amateurs over the years, some low handicaps, some high. Almost to a man they have broken this theory, not just in practise, but also when I have been out with them in medals and other competitions. Lots of you are approaching shots flippantly and without due care and attention every week, and it costs you shots. Not just at that time but also in the lack of positive feedback that you give yourself that you can improve from. Let’s be clear - a three foot putt is very missable, so we should always try our best with them, but if you can include two footers in your danger area then the same can be said for them. You can, of course, take this rule into other areas of the game but the short putt is the most obvious one. So, from now on I want you all to remember the rule - give it 100% or pick it up. In competition, always 100%. Mark it, line it up, try your best. It’s ok to miss because you’ll learn something. If you’re mystified then seek help from your pro. Never just flick at the ball and run the risk of giving yourself negative feedback. Let’s hope that tonight the England team aren’t victims of this rule.
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