Read the full story here:
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Well, it's very important. The problem with it is golf is such a bizarre game that you
00:05can prepare terribly, not prepare at all, and go and play great. And you can do everything
00:10right and go and play poorly. So you have to look at it at the big picture and longer
00:15term. So preparation is huge. And if you can create a lot of consistencies and know what
00:20your game is all about and how to prepare for yourself and get things matched up, then
00:24over the long course, hopefully it pays dividends and you start to learn and dial it in, get
00:31it done quicker, be able to prepare better, know what you need to do to get ready each
00:35day so you can get tournament ready in the shortest amount of time so you can manage
00:39energy levels and fatigue. So it's huge. And there's a lot of areas in golf to cover. Just
00:45within putting, there's a ton of different stuff. Pace, tempo, green reading, short game
00:52kind of similar, long game, you've got wedging, you've got eyeing play, dialing in, distancing,
00:56shot shaping, driver, a bit of speed work, a fairway finder, a safety shot, something
01:01where you really need to get it in play, your stop shot. So there's a lot going on within
01:06the game. You've got your training as well, your psychological stuff, energy level. So
01:11preparation's huge. To have a bit of a plan, understand what you need to do, and kind of
01:16put that all together, like I said, as quick as possible, streamlined as possible, so you
01:20can really be energised come Sunday afternoon when you really need it.
01:25I think it's got a lot more scientific. When I first came on tour, it was a lot more blasé,
01:32kind of going to hit a few chips, hit a few putts, go and play on the course. And there
01:37was guys that were structured and had more of an idea. But I think in general, it was
01:42very lax. And I think over the years, it's become so much more dialed in, in every area.
01:49We've got data to back everything up, how to perform the best. We know how to practise,
01:55how to work on skill, what is critical, looking at your stats. The stats are more accurate
02:01than they've ever been. The answers and the data help you build a plan to be able to prepare
02:06as efficiently as possible. So it's much more professional now. And you can see that what's
02:11happened with the young guys coming out from college, and they come out on tour, and they've
02:15already got things to a large degree figured out, swing-wise, training. And they've been
02:21doing these plans and learning to prepare in college. And they come and they turn pro,
02:26and it's just an extension of that. Whereas I think back to when I was in college 20 years
02:30ago, and there was a lot to learn. I had a lot to learn whilst I was out here. So I think
02:35it's much more dialed in, much more professional now.
02:39I have a routine that is a daily routine, a weekly routine, and then a routine that
02:44I would have at home to prepare. But the thing is with golf, I guess other sports too,
02:48but golf especially, it has to be very flexible because things change. You know, like pro
02:52amp, for example, whether you're playing in the prom or not. Early morning tee-off to
02:56afternoon tee-off, within travel as well. So there's a lot of things. So you kind of
03:01create a blueprint. And I think that's one of the challenges. You know, when you play
03:05well, you kind of go, okay, that's what I did well then. And if you play well over a
03:08period of time, you kind of start to learn what works for you. But you have to be really
03:12flexible in that. And you can't just, oh, I didn't warm up like that, or I didn't prepare
03:16like that. So, you know, I'm not ready to play. You have to be flexible and adaptive.
03:22And that's one of the things I think the best players do so well. They're able to adapt
03:26and be very relaxed. They have a blueprint, they prepare really well, but you have to
03:30be pretty relaxed about the whole thing too.
03:33So I started at nine o'clock in the gym, half an hour warmup, done 25 minutes short game.
03:42Warming up now, so my practice now is going to be broken up into some swing warmup, a
03:47little technical space of 20 minutes, some shot shaping, skill work, a bit of speed with
03:53my driver, and then go and putt for half an hour, do some tempo work and some calibration
03:59more than anything on the mirror and short line. Get a quick lunch and then go and play
04:02nine and try and put it all together. Switched things up a little bit this year to try and
04:07become more efficient and divide my time up better between technical work and performance
04:13and skill based stuff. And I feel like that's been pretty positive the first two weeks.
04:18So I like what it's doing at the moment. It's given me a little bit more gains in the performance
04:22area and skill out on the course. So there's so many areas to cover and tick that you really
04:28need to try and get a plan where you're not that every single shot is covered, but you
04:32know, there's some things that you know that are going to be some questions that are going
04:35to be asked out on different courses. You need to make sure you're prepared for those.