If you are shooting in the 100’s, 90’s, or high 80’s… it may seem like you have a better chance of winning the lottery than you do in breaking 80.
Daniel Gilbert, author of “Stumbling on Happiness” noted that, if you put all the losers on TV for 30 seconds instead of winners… it would take 9 years and 24 hours a day to get through one drawing.
And if you are doing random practice… or following the “Tip of the Day” guru’s… your odds of breaking 80 are about the same as winning the lottery.
“The secret to getting ahead is getting started And the secret to getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks and starting on the first one.” ~ Mark Twain
Kaizen.
Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy adopted from the Japanese auto manufacturers. Essentially, Kaizen means continuous improvement through small and incremental steps.
The Power and Distance Challenge… RedZone Challenge… No More 3 Putts! Challenge… TapIn Challenge all follow the Kaizen principle.
John Wooden, one of the great sports philosophers and team builders said this:
“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens — and when it happens, it lasts.” – John Wooden
Pretty sound advice… but in today’s fast paced world… it’s a hard one to grasp and then actually put into use… unless you have a plan laid out.
So, how do you go from 100 to 80?
I know this isn’t the sexy, but the answer is this: one day at a time.
Let me explain…
When I was younger, I didn’t have a course I belonged to, I didn’t have a golf coach, and I didn’t have transportation to a golf course for the most part.
What I did have was a park and the public library.
Initially, I set an ambitious goal of breaking 80 within 6 months. I’d read my books, go to the park, work on my swing in my front yard.
But instead of making progress, I soon found myself spinning my wheels.
So I switched gears.
Eventually, I discovered a strategy that changed everything for me.
Instead of setting unreachable goals (that also overwhelmed me), I started focusing on the little things.
Things like:
- What’s the ONE THING I can do to lower my score by 2 strokes per round?
- Or, what’s the ONE THING I can do to increase my greens in regulation?
.
These small and focused goals were things I could easily perform and grasp.
This shift in mentality basically allowed me to improve one day at a time… one practice session at a time. This shift also happens to be when I started to make real, significant progress in my game.
When you improve a little every day, eventually a big gain is made. Not tomorrow, but eventually a big gain is made.
Let me give you an example…
Dave Hanson joined our coaching program about a year ago. Dave was shooting in the high 90’s.
The shift Dave made was going from random to small and focused practice sessions… each day using the checklists we post to our Facebook Mastermind group every morning at 6AM.
The result?
“A year ago, no comparison. I was shooting in the high 90’s. Today it’s the low to mid 80″s.” ~ Dave Hanson
By using our principle’s Dave now consistently shoots in the low to mid-80’s… and he has come very close to breaking 80. It’s just around the corner and I expect it literally any day.
Would you be excited if you knew a year from now you could go from the high 90’s to the mid to low 70’s? It’s possible with Kaizen.Dave is just one example… there are dozens more inside of our little group of serious golfers.
Kaizen is the secret to lower scoring.
Kaizen is the secret equipment manufacturers, ball makers, and “Tip of the Day” guru’s won’t tell you.
Kaizen is how you are going to go from where you are now to that Single Digit Handicap you want so bad.
You and I both know why you want a lower score… so you can beat the pants off your buddies and win more money on the weekend skins games… to be the “man”.
So that’s the SECRET to going from the high 90’s to below 80 in a short but focused amount of time? There’s no one improvement that will get you there. It’s the sum of all the small parts of your game. It’s the relentless, logical, and attention to tiny improvements.Kaizen.
But that’s not the whole story… there’s more to why Kaizen is so powerful… and it’s something you can employ that will take your game to unbelievable heights.
And this is where things get really exciting, because here’s the thing:
Nobody is talking about this… and it’s something that few (if any) golfers truly understand.
It’s something I’ll talk about tomorrow.
Stay tuned…
Fairways and greens,
Christian Henning, NASM-CPT, gfs
Director of Performance
Onnit Academy Certified
“Don’t Wait For Luck – Golf Aggressive”
