I was watching the US Open replay the other night (what did you think of Matt Fitzpatrick?).
Now normally, when I watch golf on TV, I do so with the sound muted.
Why?
Because I find the talking head commentators too much. They are paid to talk and much of what they say, in my opinion, is just a bit too much.
Drivel.
Anyway, I did have the sound turned on and I did find the commentary of Brandel Chamblee interesting.
He was talking about Will Zalatoris and his putting.
It seems many in the golf industry think Will’s putting is horrendous. My opinion is you can’t play at that level if you can’t putt. And in my mind, WZ’s putting is fine.
Note: Adam Scott is in a similar position. Many say his putting is terrible, but his stats aren’t too bad if you ask me.
Anyhoo
Chamblee said something quite profound and I paraphrase here:
“Zalatoris can putt well because when he gets to the golf course he lets his inner athlete take over”
Firstly, I agree with BC on this one. I’ve heard some of his commentary over the years and I certainly don’t agree with everything he says.
But this was spot on.
Secondly, we all have an inner athlete and for around 25 years I’ve been saying we need to let our learning system shine.
You don’t need to be a PGA star to let your inner athlete come to the surface
Finally, and to me this is most important. We can approach golf from this “inner athlete” way a vast majority of the time.
Here’s what I see (and hear) all the time.
Golfer A wants to get better.
So Golfer A has lessons and starts thinking more about his game.
Golfer A struggles to incorporate changes and new techniques into his game (because only a small percentage of golfers are cut out to learn in this technical way).
Golfer A goes around in circles for weeks/months/years.
But…
At some point gets fed up with all the thinking, swing theories and technique.
This is where the magic often happens.
By leaving all the thinking alone, they activate their natural learning system (their inner athlete).
And as if by magic, a peak performance or a vastly enhanced result is achieved. And if nothing else, Golfer A will experience a more joyful game of golf.
For many, this result will be short-lived because they’ll overthink that performance or contribute it to some technical insight.
But rarely is it technical.
It’s learning.
It’s letting our system perform how we are meant to
And this is what I believe BC was referring to with WZ.
Despite a funny looking putting style, he is able to putt.
He doesn’t worry about HOW to putt, he simply putts.
And his amazing athletic ability takes over.
I could go on and on about this but it was great to hear a mainstream commentator say it.
The main point here is we can (and should) let our inner athlete play golf more of the time.
My challenge to you is to…
Step Away From All the Technique and Start Truly Playing Golf
As a guide, I believe we’d all do a lot better if we played golf 95% of the time and tweaked with our technique just 5%.
Most golfers have this the other way around.
Yes, there’s something terribly wrong about how most of us learn to play golf.
Yet there is a way to make it simpler – and it won’t just help you with putting.
In fact, you’ll also…
Hit your tee shots further and straighter into the fairway (or into play) with the least amount of effort.
Find greater accuracy with your iron play.
Unleash your true authentic golf game which just might make golf easier and way more fun.
If you’re keen to explore this Inner Athlete stuff then I know you’ll get a lot out of this.
Good Golfing,
Cameron