How important are the “little” things? The answer provided by Sir Nick Faldo, Hall of Fame golfer, 6 time major champion winner and arguably one of the greatest ball strikers on the planet.
“”When you see the best players in the world play the game well it seems like golf is easy, this could be further from the truth, downright bananas if you ask me. It took me years to perfect my set up to the ball and I worked on it daily, I felt like the journey to be my best was a constant push of doing all the little things well so that I didn’t have to tinker with those things while playing in tournaments. I made a practice plan to keep me focused and engaged with being better daily, making sure that my coach and caddy were helping monitor my practice with quality feedback. I did not to think about the results of tournaments but focus solely on the things I knew that would make me better over time, not short term fixes, things that would help tip the scale in my favor to compete and win on a consistent basis.”” Sounds like this guy may know a thing or two about being good at his trade?
My advice to young players (and older ones too), while you are young do the little things right from the start, find a coach that will keep you focused on those things until you have mastered them, this is not easy, it takes effort to manage the little things. It can be an emotional roller coaster of improvement and disappointments of competition. Do not give in to the temptation of the quick and easy way out, it usually is the quick and easy way into bad habits that are slow and hard to break later on! Be patient, first step, know what it is you are wanting to accomplish, step two, make sure you have a well thought out plan, step three, follow your plan with a coach for feedback to keep you on track, step four, repeat the process.
In conclusion, “little” things add up to big things, put in the necessary work and you too will see the benefits!