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The Reality as to why the Pros are Pros, and we are not.

By: Dr. Barry Lotz

An absolutely fascinating adventure is to attend a professional golf tournament such as a Major, a PGA, a Senior PGA or a LPGA event. To watch and follow around the likes of Gary Player, Ernie Els, Greg Norman and Fred Couples. I did so recently at the Masters. It is as though you have ventured into a rarified stratosphere, the setting aside, that is so many levels above the divot strewn plateau of mediocrity populated by "the rest of us" and that much closer to perfection.

However, in reality, acquiring the skills of today's professional golfers is probably out of reach of most individuals today save and except those kids and younger teenagers. After all, based on the following information, one can see clearly the differences between the Pro, the Amateur and the Hacker:

All professional golfers have talent, nurtured along the way by their family, usually, in fact, by a golf-professional parent (which includes any golf-related job, including greens keeper). Arnold Palmer and Raymond Floyd grew up on a golf course, Davis Love III's father was a famous teaching pro, Tiger Woods' father retired from the military so he could devote time to raising a golf wunderkind.

Touring pros like these are the best of the best, but you will find the same thing with all professionals and with top amateurs. They started young. They have some athletic talent. They were nurtured or encouraged by their families. And they played a lot of golf when young. A lot of golf.

Start the game in middle age and you can't become an expert golfer. The following table gives a broad idea of the differences between 'them' and 'us'. The later you start the game, the less chance you have of becoming a low handicapper. Similarly, the fewer balls you've hit in your lifetime, the higher your handicap. It is probable that all the top pros hit 365,000 balls by age 20. That's only 100 balls a day every day for 10 years (using all irons and woods). I would bet that every golfer who has ever won on the PGA tour hit 365,000 balls by the time he was 20.

The difference between Pros/Top Golfers, Good Amateurs, and Hackers:

Top Golfers, Pros	Good Amateurs	Hackers
Started playing as kid	Started playing as kid, tenn, or as young adult; rarely start after 30 or in early teens	Started playing as adults
Has had a coach, mentor, or other dominant teacher	Usually has taken some private lessons	Usually has taken none or a few private lessons often Sporadically. Group lessons Common
Has natural athletic ability; very good in other sports	May have natural athletic ability; good in ability; other sports	May have no natural may play no other sport well
Has hit 10's of thousands of balls, spent thousands of hours in practice	Has hit thousands of balls, spent hundreds of hours in practice	Has hit perhaps hundreds of balls, spent a few dozen (or less) hours in practice
Plays 18 holes often; belongs to a golf club	Plays 18 holes regularly; usually belongs to a golf club	Plays less than 20 times a year ("weekend golfer"); if belongs to a golf club, mainly for social reasons.

To be a scratch golfer (one who plays at par) you must hit over 365,000 balls by the time you are 30. That's 50 balls a day for 20 years. To have a single digit handicap you must hit over 182,500 balls by age 30. That's 25 balls a day for 20 years.

Perhaps these numbers are over or under-estimated, depending on the golfer's own innate ability and talent, but you get the idea. How many balls have you hit in your lifetime? If you are a hacker, probably no more than 10,000. Do you practice a lot? Then maybe you've hit 20, perhaps even 30 thousand golf balls in your lifetime. That may sound like a large number, but if you've been playing 10 years, 30,000 golf balls only comes out to 58 balls a week, not enough to play 18 holes a week, or to groove any good swing during practice (and chances are most hackers have hit far fewer). Considering the numbers that top golfers have hit to get where they are, why should you be any better than you are? Golf's a hard game, and you haven't dented the surface. Where do you come off thinking you could (or should) be better than you are?

Understand that the top golfers were not "taught" to play golf the way you are most likely trying to learn. It is safe to say that no top golfer ever learned the game from books or videos. They played first, learned how to hit the ball by observation and imitation and repetition. When, by virtue of lots of ball striking and playing -- and some talent -- they became top golfers, their methods were analyzed so others could perhaps learn from them.

But note the fundamental difference between them and us: Top golfers learned first and analyzed afterwards. Paradoxically, all books and magazines and videos aimed at weekend golfers take the opposite tack: they want you to study the movements first, hoping you will then learn afterwards. Of course, this process is antithetical to the way all top golfers learned to play the game. But what else can modern instruction offer today's struggling adults? Instructors can't very well say: "Mr. Jones, quit your day job, move to a golf course, hit 500 balls a day, copy what the good golfers around you do, play 5 times a week, then come back to me and we'll discuss your game." So instead, instructors (in all media) tell you or show you what top golfers do to hit the ball well in most situations, and assume that you will learn from this information.

So there's the secret. Start very young. Play a lot. Have a supportive family. It's like the old cruelty joke: To get rich choose your parents wisely.

In addition to the aforementioned there are also a dozen differences that need to be included when comparing a Pro to all others:

1. Attitude:
They arrive at a tournament knowing they are the best at what they do and can do on a golf course. They bring the attitude that says "Nothing can defeat me, I am the best at what I do". All negatives are simply removed by this statement.

2. Focus and concentration.
They do not see hazards on any hole. Between the golfer and the caddy, all distances and options have been figured out. The golfer begins the pre-shot routine, picks a target, zeroes in on the target and fires away. Once he stands over his shot, he is ready to go with no doubts and no hesitation.

3. Talented:
They are simply more talented and blessed with a God – given gap between them and us, which we simply have to accept and respect. The majority is born with "it" though some have worked at obtaining their skills on a commitment basis most people can't even envision. This is the gap that makes the Tour so special.

4. Masters at the art of recovery:
The "best" don't get flustered; they get even. Countless examples of this recovery aspect are exhibited usually in the final round, usually after two bogeys and then responding with two birdies. Examples of these golfers are Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam and Notah Begay and Colin Montgomery.

5. They know how to practice:
Possibly the exception to this rule is. Their approach to the practice tee and putting area is identical to actual on course playing – they are totally focused. They come with a plan, they tweak and adjust, fine-tuning and never leaving until they are satisfied. We mortals term this the "grind". This is serious business and treated accordingly by each pro.

6. Excellent Shape:
Those that may say that golfers are not athletes are uninformed and seriously incorrect. Watching a pro playing four round under pressure, walking up and down courses, one realizes that they must be in shape. Even the heavyset pros like Stadler, Sutton, O'Meara and Montgomery. They all have legs that are akin to tree trunks yet their muscles are as supple as willows. Walking a Château Whistler or Montraux Golf and Country Club without running out of breath reinforces their fitness and conditioning.

7. Solid Foundation and Techniques:
The ability to have ongoing teaching by golf teachers, whether at college, high school or independently, has in itself separated many a golfer. The intense training regimens employed in the formative years and the ability to, for the lack of a better word, pay for the services of a golf teacher is the primary differences that separate the "men from the boys".

8. Putting and Short Game Prowess:
The single most important difference that separates the pros is their short game and specifically their putting. While the majority of us do not take adequate time to read and understand the idiosyncrasies of each green, the pro will take that much extra time to gauge the grain, slope and speed. Their routine is indestructible for every putt. Their wedge distances are within inches and their practice time in and out of the bunkers far exceed the amateurs.

9. Their "80% isn't our 80%:
They produce incredible clubhead speed BUT the difference is in the TIMING. Through the hit zone, all players are virtually in the in the same position – hands forward, head back and legs driving. They do not over swing even with a driver in hand. Even the fast tempo guys like Stadler and Trevino hold a little something back.

10. Balance:
Here is an important difference. A pro, even off a sidehill lie or out of the rough, maintains their foundation, so much so that they could hold their follow through for days on end.

11. Zen Masters:
Relax and concentrate. A paradox maybe, but their aura of quiet, relaxed intensity is mesmerizing, almost self-hypnotic. Commonly called being "in-the-zone" and ties in with focus and concentration, for if they start thinking about their swing or stroke, they're dead in the water, so they don't. Its an ingrained luxury born of thousand of hours of practice.

12. Distance Accuracy:
This is the final ingredient to shooting sub-par golf. Sub-par golf, that area of golf where most of us will never experience. Their knowing how far every club, particularly the mid and short irons, will travel, is the most crucial aspect of shooting low scores. Rarely will a pro overshoot the pin unless he is counting on a big backspin bite. Their wedges in particular are several clubs in one and watching a pro throttle it back and forth, is indicative of their control of distances.