Practice Golf the Ted Lasso Way?

Ted Lasso says it’s about Practice, and I think he might be right.

“We’re talking about practice man. It’s about Practice”.  (credit: Ted Lasso)

Ted Lasso is Apple TV’s hit series about Richmond AFC’s rollercoaster ride under the stewardship of Ted Lasso, the fictional coach played by Jason Sudeikis.  What does this have to do with golf you may ask yourself.  Well, there is an iconic scene where Ted berates Richmond AFC’s franchise player Jamie Tartt, played by Phil Dunster, who can’t do training (or practice for our American audience) due to an injury.  Ted in this scene talks about the importance of practice and I think he has a point.

Golf Tips?

Having read various golf magazines since I was about 10, every issue of every magazine has a tip to make your game better.  Today, YouTube also has literally thousands of channels and videos with the best tips, the one tip you MUST follow, the 10 best tips, the worst tips and the list goes on and on.  Occasionally golf playing partners also like to give a tip or two, which may be the worst kind.  There is so much advice out there but does any of it actually make a difference?

My experience of tips is not positive.  Whenever I read something or watch something I head to the tee feeling quietly confident that this latest tip is going to make my drive go another 30 yards, the shot will be shaped beautifully and I can have a smug grin on my face saying I saw this tip on YouTube.  In reality, a massive slice into the trees and I’m thinking what went wrong, and then of course it dawns on me, I have an excuse!  “I was hitting the ball really well until I read that tip by Mr Golf”.  This may sound familiar to you.

About two years ago I consciously decided to ditch tips.  I still read golf magazines but skip the tips and now on YouTube I only watch golf for enjoyment, not to try and learn something new. The result is my game has been improving, and I put this down partly to not following tips but mainly down to practice.

Golf Lessons

Before I talk about my practice, I never had a proper golf lesson in 35 years of playing golf although from 20-45 years old I only played occasionally, maybe once or twice a year.  Then when I joined my local club during the pandemic I decided to take some lessons from Sarah the Head Coaching Pro at my local club. And to be clear this wasn’t tips.  Sarah gave me an understanding of my game and ultimately the physics behind golf and the cause and effect of what I was doing.  During these lessons I may have hit a few better shots and still some duffers but what I walked away with was something to work on, knowing where I could impact my game.  However, to make a difference, I clearly needed practice.

So with a rough understanding of how golf works, I started to practice and work on consistency.  I looked at my set up first, particularly for driving and iron shots.  I try to address the ball with consistent placement and make sure everything is where it feels like my practice muscle memory is telling me it should be. Once I am in the recognised place with my stance I will start thinking about my swing.   My swing practice has given me an understanding of what different lengths of backswing and power will do to the shot I am about to play. I am now confident with 7/10 shots I can predict the result and that is considerably higher than a couple of years ago.  To be honest I still have issues playing shots where my feet are not level with the ball, but I do understand what I have done wrong when those shots go awry.   I guess they just need more practice which is difficult to recreate at the nets or on the range.

The impact of all of this is my handicap index has come down from 18 to 14 over the last year, and that is down to practice man!

Sarah Smith, who patiently helped me,  can be found here https://www.smithperformancegolf.com/