We have all heard that practice makes perfect, sometimes followed by perfect practice makes perfect.
Is this simply a cliche, or is there some truth behind it?
I always refer back to common sense.
The more you do something, the better you get.
Use your common sense, of course; it would help if you always started with fundamentals.
However, I would argue that even if you didn’t start with the fundamentals, you would back your way into them with a lot of wasted practice time.
As an elite athlete in multiple sports, the one thing that I can say with certainty is that I was successful because I put in endless practice time.
Each sport requires different types of training and practice.
In the past 20 years, the practice has evolved to include weight training and nutrition.
For the best athletes in the world, no stone is left unturned.
Starting at an early age, children as young as three start learning fundamentals, and by age five, they receive specialized training.
Golf is different, and some people say it is the most challenging sport to learn.
As I finished competing in many sports, I searched for something to fill that competitive void.
That’s when I turned to golf.
I used to believe the same thing. I practiced long and hard, hitting as many as a thousand balls a day. Although I became a scratch golfer, it took almost twenty years to do so.
Like all sports, you learn and master the techniques within the sport. You then apply these techniques in competition.
The more you play and practice, the better you and your team get,
it’s the natural progression.
Not for golf; it is different than any sport I have ever competed in.
Every time you tee it up, golf changes. On another golf course, wind, rain, and even the sun can be a factor on any given shot.
All legitimate excuses, but I am referring to the swing technique within the sport, impossible to master.
As a champion athlete in several different sports, I developed a process for training.
This training process included essential to advanced fundamentals. Nutrition and fitness were always an integral part of this training process.
I refer to this process as 777.
My process included seven hours of training each day. I trained seven days per week, and I reached my full potential within seven years.
This process worked throughout my athletic career.
Then I took up golf. I used the same 777 training process. Of course, I became a better golfer than most.
My level of success in golf did not match the amount of practice, passion, and determination I put into this sport.
Because of the level of success, I reached in every other sport, I knew If I were to reach that level in golf, I needed to change something within the fundamentals of the swing.
When I set out to do this, I knew there were no guarantees I would be successful.
I was, however, able to draw on past experiences.
Being a skateboard champion in the seventies came with its own set of challenges.
As a freestyle skateboarder, your limitations were whatever you put on yourself.
I learned that if you could think about it, you could do it.
I applied that idea to the golf swing, and Lever Golf was born.
Again I used the 777 training process.
Without a doubt, developing a golf swing was the most challenging endeavor I ever faced in my athletic career.
It was also the most rewarding thing I ever did.
Everyone who has believed in the Lever Golf swing is experiencing a level of excitement and success that matches the amount of time dedicated to practice.
“For every bucket of balls you hit, you get a bucket of balls better.”
Remember: If you are not doing Lever Golf, you will get beat by someone who is.