What makes professional golfers so good

The women's record for New York Marathon is , which is per mile! Try going out there and running just 1 mile at that pace! Let's take the comparison a bit deeper. Look at the best runner in your local area. The best runners in your current town are elite who will race in the Boston or New York Marathon. They earn some money for winning local or regional races and have some sponsorship to help them compete, pay for race fees, gear, travel expenses, etc. However, it may not be their full-time gig.

If they run a sub marathon , their pace is per mile for They are akin to your top golf professionals! The difference between professional golfers and golf professionals is a vs. That is a second-per-mile difference between a sub marathon and a marathon time. The brain is a powerful ally, but it can also become a terrible enemy. If you can fake it, especially to yourself, you can make it. If you believe that, it might actually come true. The obvious follow-up question: How do you fool your brain into believing something that you know to be false?

Nobody succeeds in golf without a pathological competitive drive, and no player sustains his initial success if he becomes complacent.

Doug Ferguson, the AP golf writer, once told me a series of stories that perfectly illustrated this concept. The three leaders—Weir, Garrigus, and Campbell—all had two things in common. First, they believed they were above the fight—that their status, and their prior accomplishments, ensured their victory over some no-name pretender.

Second, they all lost. He knew that the minute he rested on his name and reputation, the fire would go out and some hungry upstart would catch him. You can go too far with this kind of thing. Almost every young, established golfer I spoke with told me about a time earlier in their careers when they had spent long hours on the range, desperate to break through, working themselves to the bone and watching their games deteriorate.

He is always the center of attention, and that is a skewed way to live a human life. There are people surrounding them at all times that can bolster their career, but those same people can be a serious hindrance if the golfer fails to crack the whip. The agent keeps him on schedule, the journalist publicizes his efforts on the course, the wife or girlfriend makes sure his home life is comfortable, sponsors ensure he has the best clothes and equipment, and at the bottom of the pyramid, fans with money make the whole scene viable.

For that reason, any player who wants to maintain his focus has to operate with an intelligent kind of selfishness, and insist on having things his way all the time. They will also have the mental resilience to cast aside any bad shots and other adversity because they will concentrate on the will to win by playing the best golf possible.

Natural talent is also seen from performers who are in great physical condition. These players will not be tired after 18 holes. Golf secret number three is not really a secret as you will have been told it consistently as you learn to play the game. You must practice consistently and hit a lot of golf balls, regularly, with someone training you to play better golf and including a variety of different shots to practice the different possibilities throughout your golfing career.

Your golf professional will tell you about secret number three, but many golfers ignore this great advice and forget it quite quickly. The benefit to a professional who is training you how to play is to encourage you to take as many lessons as possible to improve your performance, but starting early and having natural talent will certainly help increase the quality of your practice and play.

Well, they are. In fact, out of the 27 or so million amateur golfers in the U. Smoltz, who was probably used to going out and shooting anywhere from 70 to 75 on his home course, went out and shot 84, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice is another very notable amateur golfer around a 1 handicap.