Golf Confessions

The pressure of playing professional golf does not start and stop at the golf course.  The competition has gotten so strong and deep, a successful player must work hard twelve months long.  Fifteen years ago most professionals did very little weight training and were able to take most of the winter off.  This has all changed, most players have personal trainers and dieticians they work with regularly and some trainers travel with the players. 
 
For many players the most pressure may be on the home fronts.  It can be very demanding on a relationship when you are traveling and away from home and family about half of the time.  Then when you are home you must be selfish with your time in order to get in the many hours of practice that is needed to stay with the competition.  Traveling salesmen can relate to some of these issues that may arise from being on the road.  It can be difficult after being on the road for several weeks and the first night home the wife wants to go out to eat.  The wife has been cooped up with the kids for weeks and is tired of home cooking, but the husband has seen nothing but menus and restaurants for weeks.  The last thing he wants to do is go out to eat and put up with crowds and waiting for a table.  As you can see there may be some problems if two people are not very understanding of each others needs.  When you look at how times have changed, the younger players may be able to deal with some of these issues a lot better.  In today’s society so many people are use to eating out almost every night whether they are on the road or not.  The fast food, pizzas, carry out and the modern life styles are different today than yesterday.   So it may be that a young player coming home after weeks of travel may not be opposed to going out to eat versus staying home and laying back in his favorite easy chair. 
 
A lot of players really need their time away from the competition in order to recharge their mental batteries more than their physical needs.  The mental side of the game, and the intense competition can really drain the body. When the brain starts to get fatigued the physical body cannot react to the situations in the most positive manners.  Mental mistakes are the biggest hazard most players will ever face.  None of the players are superior enough to the field each week that they can make mental mistakes and expect to win.  Every player knows that he will hit a certain number of bad shots each and every round and there is nothing he can do about this.  But all players really detest making mental mistakes, such as getting bad yardage and then pulling the wrong club.  Often times you can make up a mistake with an exceptional shot or a little luck, but you know that these mental mistakes will cost you dearly in the end.
 
See you on the next tee