What does every golfer on the planet want? To prevent bogies!! Yes, of course we all want to birdie every hole, but let’s face it, most golfers are not single digit players and if they could play better than “Bogey Golf” they would be ecstatic.
There is a lot that plays into making your game better. Putting, chipping, working on the range, fitness training, mental game training, and much, much more. Recently we released the book The Golfer’s Guide to a Bogey Proof Workout, which became an instant best seller on Amazon for golf books.
In this book I describe some of the most important factors that you should take into account when starting a golf fitness program. But, as with any book, there can always be more info added and it can spark many new conversations.
One of those conversations that I have recently been having with quite a few people is about some of the other variables that can make a huge impact on not only your golf game, but your lifestyle in general. Which has led to a whole new focus of 18STRONG which is not just helping golfers create better golf workouts, but an overall lifestyle that will support a their game, their goals, and ultimately their quality of life.
In this episode, I give you a glimpse into the main topics of the book as well as some of those key “Bogey Proof Lifestyle” elements!
Creating Your Bogey Proof Lifestyle
1.) Have a Plan of Attack
- Create goals that give you direction in your training, practice, diet, etc.
- Consistency: Consistency is more important than intensity in the long run
- Progress: If you don’t challenge yourself, you won’t grow or get better
- Accountability: Either you have to get good at being accountable or find someone that will be
2.) Create a Balanced Program
Refer back to Episode #65 “How to Choose the Right Exercises for your Program”
To many of us do the things we like to do in the gym vs what we really should be doing. It’s important to pick a selection of exercises that will balance out your weaknesses and not make the gap between your dominant side/strengths even more drastic.
- Push vs Pull
- Upper vs Lower
- Left vs Right
- Strength vs Flexibility
- etc
3.) Nutrition is Imperative
“You can’t out train a bad diet”
Refer back to Episode #72 “10 Nutrition Guidelines to Live by on ON and OFF the Course”
The bottom line is that your nutritional habits affect everything: How you feel, how you perform, whether you reach your goals, How bad do you want it?
Competing Commitments: When there is a battle in your head over 2 things that you really want. You have to make that decision each time the temptation arises. Eg. Telling yourself you want to loose 20lbs., but that chocolate long john donut looks really good right now. You are competing with your commitment to your goal and your desire for the donut.
4.) The Quality of Execution
Quality is much more important than quantity.
We have to pay attention to the posture, tempo, muscle contraction, or movement that we are working on.
Don’t just do the exercise to get it done. Do it with the thought of executing it well. Thus the reason that I am not a huge fan of high intensity bootcamp style workouts. Form is often sacrificed for time and more reps.
5.) Challenge Yourself
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.
Progress has to be forced with a new stimulus.
In other words, we have to challenge ourselves to grow, in any situation. You don’t get better, stronger, faster, leaner, etc without pushing the limits of what you’ve already done before.
6.) Be Smarter with your Cardio
Bottom line, I do very little cardio and my clients do very little cardio. If I/they do, it is shorter bouts of high intensity intervals.
Here are 3 podcasts mentioned in the show:
- Mark Smith on The 18STRONG Podcast (#004)
- Neal Hausch on The 18STRONG Podcast (#061)
- “Cardio is for Suckers” The Coach Glass Podcast
7.) The Power of a Coach/Mentor
Think Mr. Miyagi and Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid. You want someone that has your end goal in mind. You don’t need someone standing by your side counting reps, you need someone to “teach you how to fish” as they say.
This could be an in person coach, an online lesson, or even a trusted resource like myself and 18STRONG. Take control and ownership of what you want to do and find someone that can help you get there. (The Golfer’s Guide to a Bogey Proof Workout is a great place to start! )
Bonus “Lifestyle” suggestions not mentioned in the book:
8.) Move More, Move Better
Society is working against us. Think about the postures we are in for extended periods of time on a daily basis. Kids sitting 8 hours at school, sitting in the car for a 4 hour drive to a sales call, watching TV, etc.
And then there are the smart phones that we can’t get away from.
I actually see us devolving back to caveman status when it comes to posture.
Don’t be a victim. Take action and start moving more, standing more, and fight this epidemic. Here are just a few suggestions:
- Get a stand up desk: check out the Varidesk
- Set a timer through out the day to stand up/walk around
- Go for walks midday
- Put a foam roller in your office
- get yourself on a daily movement schedule of some simple stretches or postural drills
9.) Smarter Sleep
Read the book Sleep Smarter by our friend Shawn Stevenson. I can’t tell you how much this book opened my eyes.
You can hear him on 2 episodes of our show
Episode #21 Sleep is the Secret Sauce
Episode #87 Your Smarter Sleep Game Plan
Our sleep affects so many aspects of our life, and we’ve been neglecting it for years!
10.) Create Better Habits
In my opinion, most of this stuff boils down to creating better habits. Have a written program, prep your meals, schedule out your practice sessions, etc.
Much of this is mental game stuff. It is less about will power and more about simply ingraining these habits so you don’t have to muster up the will power.
11.) Have More Fun
Plain and simple, enjoy the journey more. This doesn’t have to be hard, it doesn’t have to suck. WHe you start looking at how fortunate you are to have the opportunity to play this great game, be out in unbelievable nature settings on a regular basis, you have to realize that things are good.
Yes the training can be difficult, the nutrition part can be very tough, but celebrate the fact that you’re getting better through the challenge, rather than just concentrating on the immediate moment of crappiness. That’s how you become “Bogey Proof!”