The biggest hurdle.
Don had a recurring problem.
At the start of each season, he had only a few weeks to turn teenagers into successful golfers.
These guys were attending class, doing homework, thinking about girls, getting their driver’s licenses, applying for college, and working part-time.
What was the biggest hurdle that Don’s players tripped over year after year? It’s the same hurdle that you and I stumble over in our journey to success:
Our attitude about practice.
“It’s not a driving range.”
When Don took his team to the range, most players defaulted to a similar routine: driver, driver, driver, with an occasional 3-wood or 7-iron.
So Don redefined their language. He said, “It’s not a driving range. It’s a practice range.”
Every week, he repeated that definition like a mantra: “It’s not a driving range. It’s a practice range.”
He put them on a deliberate program he called “The 60-Minute Miracle.” Here’s how they used those 60 minutes:
Warm up your body by stretching.
Warm up your swing by hitting a few shots from wedge to driver.
Now make a fairway. Define a left and right edge and hit shots into your fairway.
Now create a green. Define a target and hit shots to your green.
When you can see the bottom of your bucket, shift focus to the specific shots that need extra work.
They got results, but still his players resisted practice time. “Coach,” they complained, “can’t we play 18 holes instead? Isn’t playing golf the best practice?”
In response, Don repeated his next mantra:
“Play isn’t practice. Practice is practice.”
Then a new student named Tiger Woods joined the team. He was tall, skinny, awkward—and holy Ben Hogan, this kid loved to practice.
The new math for success.
Don says, “Tiger would hit woods and long irons off the tee. He’d drop a bucket around the greens and chip. He’d putt long ones that break every which way then work down to gimmes.”
The other guys ignored Tiger’s passion for practice. But they couldn’t ignore how Tiger played. He chipped closer, putt better, and won more.
Don says, “One day, instead of finding the guys waiting to tee off, I found them on the practice range.”
Maybe, they thought, the kid with the funny name was on to something.
That year, the high school team learned a new math for success: first comes commitment to the work, then love of the work, then results from the work.
The educator Marva Collins said, “Success doesn’t come to you. You go to it.”
According to Don, most adult golfers have a teenage attitude about practice.
Give the 60-Minute Miracle a try. It offers a deliberate plan for your overall game and you can customize from there. That plan, along with the inspiration of a kid who loved practice, helped Don turn teenagers into champions. It can do the same for us.
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep imagining what’s possible.