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The dark side of too much change

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In 2010, I wrote a book called “You are a Contender!” that highlighted a key characteristic of high performers called high achievement drive. Achievement drive is essentially your ability to set your own personal standard of excellence and not be constrained by the expectations of others.

Athletes with a high achievement drive set their own standard, and this is how they can separate themselves from the pack. They have little concern for how others are doing, and a singular focus on their own abilities. Obvious examples are Tiger Woods winning the 1997 Masters by 12 shots, The Open Championship in 2000 by 8 shots and the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 shots. Recent examples are the runaway major championship victories by Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

But can this pursuit of achievement be taken too far? Can achievement drive actually damage your game after a certain point?

Golf’s law of diminishing returns

Having experience consulting to world-class athletes, I often see achievement drive taken too far and misdirected. Some athletes believe that making big changes will always create big results. Change is healthy and change is good, but I can tell you it can be overdone. It can sometimes lead to an obsessive search for perfection that can inevitably lead to performance decline and frustration.Results-vs-Effort-e1337318296352
You are likely familiar with the economic principle of the law of diminishing returns. It basically states that the tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a particular project or goal will decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been achieved. Very simply, if you reach a certain level in something, there comes a point where the quest to perfect it no longer creates important returns for the time invested.

The law of diminishing returns applies in everything, including golf. At some point, as we are currently seeing with Tiger Woods, the investment in trying to constantly improve swing technique and ball-striking does not generate better results.

You know and I know that it isn’t reasonable to expect to hit perfect golf shots. After all, we are surrounded by imperfection, and it is a fact that nothing in golf or life is perfect. The human body isn’t perfect, and neither are golf equipment or golf courses. So to expect to reach a level of perfection in striking a golf ball is an unreasonable goal.

I think you would agree if you saw Tiger Woods in 2000 that a golf ball has rarely been struck with the precision and power that he demonstrated at that time. And through 2005, Tiger won most of the events he entered. He owned the game.

Is it reasonable to think that a ball could be struck, or the game could be played, that much better than Tiger did it in 2000?

The greatest hitter of a golf ball may have been Ben Hogan, who worked and worked to perfect a swing that would not hook the ball. Hogan did this through necessity; a lack of control in his early days as a young pro led to disappointing results. But even Hogan admitted that he only hit 5 to 6 shots in every round round that were exactly what he wanted. The rest were expected misses.

Less science, more art

Golf is a subtle mix of art and science. In the pro ranks, we see extremes of both. At one end of the spectrum there are “technical” players who focus mostly on their mechanics. At the other end of the spectrum there are “feel” players who play primarily by instinct. In the period of time from 2000-2005, Tiger Woods may have been the perfect blend of art and science. His fundamentally sound, fluid golf swing created great speed and precision, and his mechanics were blended with an instinctive genius and courage to create and invent shots around the greens that others might not have attempted. And, to top it all off, Tiger was also arguably the Tour’s best putter!

Some golfers forget, however, that once the basic, fundamental science has been achieved, the development of the art becomes the key. Creativity, feel, imagination, decision-making, life balance and other little details continually help a golfer develop into something better and more consistent. Jack Nicklaus seemed to understand this. Like Woods, he also had prodigious talent, but he knew his limitations. He continued to refined his game, had great life balance and became the most consistent golfer in history.

Tiger-Butch

A golf ball can only be struck so well. When science becomes the obsessive focus, the art part of the equation suffers. In continually trying to be more technical and more perfect with the swing motion, the genius within players can be diluted and other areas of the game, that have been reliable strengths can suffer.

Achievement drive is important, but proceed with caution

Achievement drive is important in golf and everything else in life, as is the ability to set a personal standard of excellence. Pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone to take on new challenges is key, but you must also remember the law of diminishing returns. Because perfection is not attainable or possible, at some point in your development the pursuit of art should be more of a priority over the unattainable, seductive goal of perfect science.

While swing coaches, short game experts and putting gurus are all important to develop your capabilities and are key to building your skills, don’t forget to pay attention to instinct, the object of the game, simplicity and other less scientific factors as important factors to continue your development as a player. Exercise caution when you think about changing what already works.

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John Haime is the President of New Edge Performance. He's a Human Performance Coach who prepares performers to be the their best by helping them tap into the elusive 10 percent of their abilities that will get them to the top. This is something that anyone with a goal craves, and John Haime knows how to get performers there. John closes the gap for performers in sports and business by taking them from where they currently are to where they want to go.  The best in the world trust John. They choose him because he doesn’t just talk about the world of high performance – he has lived it and lives in it everyday. He is a former Tournament Professional Golfer with professional wins. He has a best-selling book, “You are a Contender,” which is widely read by world-class athletes, coaches and business performers.  He has worked around the globe for some of the world’s leading companies. Athlete clients include performers who regularly rank in the Top-50 in their respective sports. John has the rare ability to work as seamlessly in the world of professional sports as he does in the world of corporate performance. His primary ambition writing for GolfWRX is to help you become the golfer you'd like to be. See www.johnhaime.com for more. Email: [email protected]

17 Comments

17 Comments

  1. Scott Thomson

    Sep 6, 2015 at 8:16 am

    In other words, “Golf is not a game of perfect”. Took me years as a young player to understand this phrase and now I spend every day explaining it to others. Excellent read John.

  2. martin

    Sep 3, 2015 at 8:20 pm

    All heroes will die in eventually. There is no miracles out there to stop the declining process. It is just the way the life, as we know it, works… But Go Tiger! You will beat Sneads record, but Jacks record will stay unbeaten… “This is The End, my only friend The End”…

  3. Mat

    Sep 3, 2015 at 9:27 am

    An argument could be made that the graph should actually be an upside-down U.

  4. JH

    Sep 3, 2015 at 9:11 am

    I was left a bit confused as to the message of the article. At first I took it as too much change is bad and you shouldn’t do it, as the title suggests. Then it goes into Tiger and how he has performed, followed by the law of diminished results, followed by something else. I’m sure they are all inner related, but I don’t understand the message. Is it to accept my own ability and when I see a peak in performance no matter what the score sheet suggest I should take that as the best and at that point will never play better? I think I kind of took the message that way, which leads me to think this is a dangerous article for the average golfer. The average golfer will probably read this and think oh that explains why I shoot in the 100s all the time. I guess I’ll accept that and realize I can never get better because of the law.

    If I’m off base let me know.

    • John Haime

      Sep 3, 2015 at 1:09 pm

      Hey JH,
      Thanks for the comment – completely understand your thoughts.

      For everyone, the situation is different. For Tiger, reaching the pinnacle in 2000 – after years of developing his skillset – the law of diminishing returns applies to the swing motion. As you know, you can only hit the ball so well – does it really matter if you are in the middle of the fairway or almost in the middle of the fairway? In his case, completely changing the science instead of refining with the art – will only produce marginal returns – maybe.

      For the “average” player, based on their effort levels, talent, time put in etc. – will determine their point of diminishing returns. If an average player can keep the ball in play and generally hit the ball solidly – will the time constantly changing the swing motion generate return in their scores? Or, will effort to manage their game better, understand emotional trigger points, additional work on short game/putting and a better perspective on the game help them lower scores? I think each individual has their own point of diminishing returns based on a variety of factors.

      I am a big believer in change to improve and move forward. But, when achievement drive runs amok and change is done for the sake of change – and ego runs the show – this is when change becomes unhealthy. And, remember, that “other” change continues by improving the little subtle “art” parts of the game that can improve scoring.

      Hope this makes sense.

  5. Aren

    Sep 3, 2015 at 2:05 am

    Good article and in my respectful opinion on the money.

  6. marcel

    Sep 2, 2015 at 11:54 pm

    nice article and great comparison. however there is major difference between individual sports person and anonymous economic sphere. Tiger is going thru what every sports man will go thru – Decline in physical elasticity and recovery. More prone to injuries and longer time to recover. Tiger is no longer looking for perfection but rather to find what can he do best at the age and body he has. Tiger is still a stellar player by every measure… but there are these kids that play better.

    We are going to see decline in 30+ major winners and winners in general. I believe there was lots of performance juice in the game before… and now you can see that young bodies keep being consistent and old guys one good week in 2-3 months.

    • John Haime

      Sep 3, 2015 at 1:19 pm

      Hey Marcel – thanks very much for your thoughts and comment.

      IMO diminishing returns applies in everything. There is always a relationship between effort and results in performance. At some point, athletes determine when additional effort does not produce additional results.

  7. other paul

    Sep 2, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    Tigers initial changes with Haney were to try and take pressure off his knees. Then they just kept going. I am in the process of a huge over haul and can’t wait to have my new swing finalized.

  8. Christestrogen

    Sep 2, 2015 at 2:20 pm

    Didn’t he win like 79 tournaments? Hard to argue with his formula.

    • John Haime

      Sep 2, 2015 at 4:13 pm

      Good point Christestrogen – agreed.

      But, I think you’ll agree that the law of diminishing returns applies here as the swing motion has become less effective after 15 years of major changes. We all know Tiger is a genius and could have won (and did win) with a variety of swings, but imagine the long-term performance with the swing that had all 4 majors in 2000 with the addition of an incremental mastery in the “art” part of the game and emotional stability off of the course?

      Hopefully the article will make readers think about change – and the potential risks in performance.

      • Christestrogen

        Sep 3, 2015 at 2:10 pm

        Personally I think he was at his height at the 2006 open championship…hoy lake…
        Faldo was paired with him and said it was the greatest ball striking he had ever witnessed…and think of the people Faldo has seen hit irons…Seve, Jack(well late 1970s jack), Watson, Trevino, Norman and the list goes on….
        Faldos son was on his bag and nick asked tiger if his son could have the driver since tiger only hit it once over the first two days.
        Also Haney said that performance was the greatest example in history of the nine shot clinic…
        -great article but I find it incredibly difficult to argue with his results

    • Pugster22

      Sep 2, 2015 at 5:17 pm

      I agree it is hard to argue his winning formula. However, he changed the equation over the last four or five years and I think that is what the author is trying to express. At least that is my takeaway from the article.

  9. Frank McChrystal

    Sep 2, 2015 at 12:51 pm

    Never underestimate the life balance. This game tests your heart and soul. If your personal life is in limbo, everything seems monumental under the pressure of a round. If your heart and soul are somewhat wounded, you have no chance of performing at your highest level. So quit wasting time. Get rid of the “gray” area in your life and then try this “game” again.

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Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

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You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

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