Hello Everyone –
Hope everyone enjoyed the Masters Tournament last week. Typically the Masters Tournament is the “unofficial” start of the golf season. I can tell you, immediately after, calls increase, emails increase, schools pick up…. fun, fun, fun.
So, after receiving many emails last week (more than just custom club emails), I thought it would be a great time to drop an article about getting better, improving, continuing your improvement, what are your chances of getting better, and rating how fast you will improve.
I almost titled this article “&*@$#* Be Different” – but I thought that might offend some people out there… (okay, most of you probably know I really don’t care if it hits home).
So, if you don’t have a few minutes to finish this article – do not go on… PLEASE come back to it. This might be the most important golf article you read this year and an article you can come back to again and again and again (to continue to rate yourself). In other words, rate your chances of improvement now, do it again in a couple of weeks, again in a month, etc.. Hopefully, your rating will improve each time. If it doesn’t, FIX something or somethings!
Before I give you the rating/scoring – want to give a little background (I keep getting in trouble when I don’t introduce myself on our webinars… so here is the background).
First – I (Tim Graves) have been asked many times (and again later this week) to talk to groups about my ability to play and teach. Reason – I (Tim) have been told there are very few of us (PGA professionals) who have won both Teacher of the Year and Player of the Year. (I have won multiple teacher of the year awards and have won Player of the Year awards multiple times as an amateur, regular PGA division, and now senior PGA division). In other words, the old saying “Those that teach can not play, and those that play can not teach” is bull *%&# for me… This gives me a very unique perspective of someone who can teach you after just getting off a golf course (winning…) in a competition. There is a HUGE difference between learning technique/fundamentals, playing golf, and playing COMPETITIVE golf …. HUGE!!!
And by the way, Todd Graves, my brother, is obviously a great teacher and extremely competitive also. He doesn’t play as much as me, but never doubt his playing ability… I will challenge any and all to a 2 man best ball match… I’ll take Todd, you take whomever you want…. (give Tiger a call…) – let’s play (for the past 3 years, we haven’t lost.. yet…..). Yup, I don’t mess around…
Second – Please NEVER forget this. It has been shown in multiple studies, multiple times that a majority of golfers who practice get no better or show no improvement. In fact, if you want numbers, 90% of typical golfers who practice get no better. Breaking it down more, 40% of golfers who practice stay the same after practice, and 50% of golfers who practice actually make themselves worse. Only 10% of golfers who practice improve. To be honest… if you are an average/typical golfer, I would suggest NOT practicing as you are more than likely just wasting your time (unless you just like the fresh air) or you enjoy getting worse, frustrated, hurt, embarrassed, etc… You MUST figure out a way to get yourself in the 10% group (those that get better EVERY time they practice) and stay in that 10% group.
This is EXACTLY what we do at Graves Golf. That is exactly why our monthly Single Plane Academy Member’s webinar is called the 10% show, Single Plane Academy Member’s newsletter is the “Road Map to Single Plane Success” … and everything we teach, create, produce, etc.. is built to get you and guide you in that 10% group and help you stay in that 10% group (regardless of age, ability, body issues, years of golf, etc…)
Third – Want to give a couple of final thoughts, and I am sure, will give those who don’t know me a little better perspective on where I and Graves Golf are coming from…
I (and Graves Golf) are extremely aggressive when it comes to getting better (whether it’s working on my own game or helping you get better). It “pisses me off” (sorry if that offends..) when someone says they are not getting better and blames others… It is UP TO YOU!! We are here to help (and help as much as you want, but ultimately you MUST make the decision to get better).
Everything we have done at Graves Golf is to help you get better and get better FASTER.
The number one excuse we get about not using us (Graves Golf) to help an individual with his game is Moe did it himself without any help. Here are a few facts about how Moe did it himself:
1. Moe hit thousands of golf balls a day – literally until his hands bled from hitting so many golf balls.
2. Moe was 12 years old when he started to “process” the single plane swing and he said he took him until he was 17 to master it.
3. Moe practiced every day, all day, every day, all day…
4. Moe had a form of Autism (Asperger’s we believe – he was never diagnosed) that allowed him to focus for extended periods of time on mastering his skill. VERY few possess the ability to focus in this depth.
So, if you are young (young body) that can hit balls all day (until your hands bleed) (thousands of balls a day), can focus for hours at a time without interruption and loss of focus, and have at least the next five years to do all this… you don’t need us. I would assume 99.99999% of you realize that is not you… That is what we are here for…
We have taken all the information Moe provided us (Todd and I spent time studying and learning from Moe – Todd spent thousands of hours with Moe analyzing, interpreting, studying, etc..) and we put this information in a format that will allow you to improve faster and more efficiently with your issues (age, body, time, etc..). It will not take you 5 years, your hands will not bleed, you don’t have to hit balls every day, all day, etc…
Why not… we have created NUMEROUS shortcuts for you!
I told you this would be a long article… I told you I was a little (more than a little) fired up… so let’s get into the “nuts and bolts” of Rating Your Chances and Speed of Improvement.
RATING YOUR CHANCES FOR IMPROVEMENT AND HOW FAST YOU WILL IMPROVE:
This rating/scoring will show you where you currently stand (potential for and rate of improvement) and will also show you where you can enhance your improvement and rate of improvement.
There are 9 areas – each is to be scored on a scale of 0 to 5 (sometimes 4). Keep a running count and finally a total.
(You only get X # of points per question. There is not a total within each question. In other words, for question #1, you will score, 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 points. You do not add up the points within the question.)
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Single Plane Methodology:
8. Graves Golf School Information: CLICK HERE
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