For the past two weeks we have had a former British commando who received an MBE for rewriting the training plan for new recruits to the commando regiment who worked with us.
When I say “we” I am referring to the golf college that Fiona and I founded for aspiring performance players who want to get a golf education while improving their performance.
Everything he delivered was entirely focused on having a world class attitude and work ethic where you excel every time. Excellence is defined as getting the most out of what you have at the moment. It sounds very simple, but you have to relentlessly strive for excellence to become the epitome of excellence yourself. Something our students will openly admit when they say they want to be a Ryder Cup player or a major champion.
Anyway, separating the habits that they have already ingrained from the habits of a world-class performer is a very difficult task. After all, habits are very difficult to break. Or more precisely, new habits, new excellent habits, take a lot of work and discipline to become permanent.
Mark Bennett can cross all sports and businesses because of the simplicity of his system in which he breaks everything down; tactically, technically, physically and mentally. All four of these areas must be worked on and carried out with excellence in order for everyone to progress to the next level. It seems dazzlingly simple, but if you look at the picture in this article you can see the level of detail our students produced in just one morning.
It must be understood that without the mental behavior of the individual, which drives technical, tactical and physical development, nothing can be done. Because without a good work ethic, little can be achieved. How many readers out there started with some challenging New Year’s Resolutions and are now within two months of another set of New Year’s Resolutions being introduced, to possibly replace those that were not kept this year.
Once you’ve mastered aspiring young players’ goals and dreams, incredible things can happen, especially when they’re housed in an environment that is free from distractions and perfectly suited to develop as individuals and players.
Keep in mind that if the students (yes, students between 18 and 21 years old) had a choice of when to start the morning classes, they chose 7:30 a.m. (morning) so they could get more golf practice. In addition to this early morning commitment, they have agreed that they need at least 9 hours of sleep and that the hour immediately before bed should be “screen-free” with their head on the pillow. These guys go to bed earlier than they usually do and get up much earlier than they ever did for class. And they asked for it.
If there are aspiring golfers reading this article, consider how good you are all at the top categories: behavior, technique, tactics, and physique. When I was training in the Algarve, everyone I trained had a desire to improve, otherwise they would not have been in front of me at the class, but very few wanted to work on their fitness and technique at the same time and although they might want, they found them always a reason not to. These are the old habits that do not want to let go and give in to the new ones.
I hope this article has helped give a little perspective to your golf game and if you would like a lesson in our new academy in the splendid Tróia Golf Resort I would be happy to help.