golf imperatives web pdf

Practice and play
How to learn
By understanding the four stages of learning you can work on the important issues to
improve. (1) Unconsciously incompetent - the first stage, beware teachers, in this state the
pupil will not listen because they are unaware they need help. Use video to show them the
compensations they make in the golf swing. (2) Consciously incompetent - now they
realise they have a problem and are at a stage where they will accept help. (3) Consciously
competent - corrections have been made but have not yet been forgotten. Take the example
of learning to drive a car. The first few times are incredibly complicated, but soon all becomes
natural. Are you still aware of the process involved to change gear? (4) Unconsciously
competent - now you have made the changes, practiced them until they are forgotten and
you can get on with the pleasure of playing golf.
The difference between practice, play and warm up are
also very important in the battle we play with the golf ball.
Make clear distinctions between these three disciplines.
Warm up is done before play and during warm up you
should avoid practice. Warm up should involve hitting a
variety of shots to test which tools you have on a given day.
Maybe the draw doesn't work today, thats ok, go with what
you have. Don't fall into the trap of last minute swing
changes just before you tee off. Rarely your shots in warm
up resemble the shots you play on the course anyway. During play, practice is also prohibited,
do your best with what you have on the day and accept the results. Practice can be done after
play or on the days or months before. Don't disregard the importance of practice after play
because here all the faults are still fresh and corrections can be made.
exercise - During warm up hit a variety of shots, draw, fade, hook, slice, high,
low to see which ones are working best today. Resist playing shots on the course
which didn't work on the warm up.
16 GOLF IMPERATIVES