Hit The Range

July 23, 2019

Congratulations to Shane Lowry for winning the Open Championship on his home soil. All of Ireland is beaming with pride for Lowry, who fought off lousy weather in the final day and held onto his significant lead. Winning a Major is an incredible individual achievement, and seeing Lowry’s face bursting with pride walking up the eighteenth hole waving to the fans was a result of all his efforts. Hard work, diligence, competitive fiber, talent, mental toughness, and most of all, a willingness to be honest about all areas of his golf game was written all over his bearded face.

Professional golfers are just like coaches/leaders and anyone reading this email. They bring fourteen clubs with them to every event and how they use those clubs determines if they can earn a living. They continually practice every single club; never ignoring a club, or not working on their lesser clubs. Professional golfers know their weakness and hit the range for hours to work on their strengths and weaknesses. All fourteen clubs get constant attention—some get more than others. After a bad round, good round, average round they all head to the range to hit more balls. For them to survive, they MUST improve every club.

You have at least 14 clubs in your coaching bag. Do you work them every day? Do you practice ways to improve? Do you ignore the bad clubs and only work on the good ones? And most importantly, do you know what areas need improvement? Today write down all the tools you possess as a coach/leader and then give your self an honest assessment. It might be more than fourteen; it might be less. Just be honest and understand the goal is to get better each day and to work on the imperfections, not to become perfect in one day. Then like the professional golfer, hit the range and work on those areas that need improvement through reading and learning.

It’s funny; coaches will always find time for a physical workout, which is tremendous for their bodies; yet, claim they don’t have time to read. Your mind, as well as your body, need the same attention, the same treatment. Today begin expanding your intelligence much like starting a training plan, commence slow and build—enhancing intellect is as important as the physical conditioning. If people ask what are you reading—tell them you are trying to improve mentally. (Before long everyone around you will be reading)

Each season on the first day of any practice, coaches stand in front of their team and demand improvement. Coaches want more—even if it’s just one percent more. Well, the same growth must come from the coaching side. Work your craft, know your talents, identify your weaknesses, and then hit the range and make small improvements each day.

Before long, you will have a great walk up eighteen just like Shane Lowry.

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