As I mentioned in last month’s column, I didn’t have the best start to the year with my health, or on the course, but on the upside it was good to have three weeks off to get some solid preparation for a fortnight in Asia.
This year I joined a new golf course in Florida, called Turtle Creek. The members have been very welcoming, and the course and facilities are top-drawer.
It was also a lot of fun playing with some of the other pros and low-handicap members to keep me competitive.
In my three weeks off, I worked with my trainer Ken McDonald three times a week. During this time we worked on trying to regain some of the strength and speed I had lost due to being sick.
It was great to start feeling stronger again and seeing the stability in my swing come back. Doug Wood, who has been my coach for 12 years, also came out for 10 days to do some much-needed fine-tuning.
Most full-time golfers have a team working with them and a new member I have added to my team this year is Duncan McCarthy, who was introduced to me by Doug at the end of last season. Duncan is a sports psychologist based in the UK and works with a number of European Tour players.
We had a few conversations over FaceTime, and I liked his calmness and the information he had to offer me, so I thought I would give it a full-time try this year.
We golfers are always looking for something that can benefit us and add to our game. Duncan was coming out to the US for a trip to meet up with another player he works with and fortunately for me the timing was right as it was during my three weeks off.
It was great for us to finally meet in person and do some on-course work together. I really liked how simply he puts things; everything is process- and not outcome-orientated.
This game is based so much on the end result as that’s what everyone sees, but if you don’t have the right process and steps in place you won’t get the result you want.
– This column first appeared in the April 2022 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine. Subscribe here!
