Career transitions in golf 📈
Mikkelgolf Newsletter #9
Last week, we boiled down some advice from tour players regarding their transitions to professional golf. You can find that post HERE.
I find the “transitions” in golf fascinating and see them as very important. Qualifying for your college golf team or earning professional status on a tour early on often set the precedence for what follows.
Recently, I had a phone conversation with a fantastic golf coach. This coach was telling me in broad strokes how he mentors a particular player who recently turned pro. Something he said resonated deeply with me and helped me define what I believe is vital for players going through “career transitions”.
In describing their work together the coach said: “We are working slowly.”
“We are working slowly.”
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“There’s so much going on for this player at the moment, and there are already enough new aspects in golf and in life for them to adjust to. This is the worst possible time to rush or introduce brand new concepts,” he explained.
Something clicked for me. “Working slowly” was the wording I needed to explain how I believe one should train during a career transition. I’ve been very aware of these windows in player’s careers. As a college coach you get a handful of new Freshmen on campus every year. You try to be a calming influence and instill confidence in the player while at the same time nudging them in the right direction. As a coach, you do this in order to keep the player from abandoning what got them on campus (their best skills), while at the same time gradually improving their understanding of the game and the way they train.
I’ve lived twelve years of my life in Texas, and a saying I’d hear a lot that touches on the same concept is “Dance with the girl who brought you.” In terms of career transitions, the saying means to play your game that got you to where you are. If you are a Freshman on a Power 5 roster - you do some things very well in the game of golf. If you were void of golf skill you wouldn’t be on the team. If the girl who brought you (to that team) is a set of Callaway clubs and a significant draw - don’t dance with (switch to) PXGs and start playing a cut.
I’ve seen this happen too many times with freshmen in college and have heard the horror stories from professional golf. Players who have fought a lifetime to get their PGA or LPGA Tour cards who finally get through Q-School. The sponsors come knocking and all of a sudden they show up on Tour with a completely new bag. Or Freshmen in college get obsessed with hitting the ball further, higher, better because the older guys on the team strike it that way. They start taking lessons for the first time ever - they ask for advice from anybody who will spare a few minutes for them, etc. All of a sudden they have lost their golf-DNA and are searching for the magic pill. Their eagerness to learn and get better is inherently a really good thing - but the quest becomes frantic and they end up abandoning what has made them good thus far.
“Dance with the girl who brought you.”
The only limiting thing about that saying is the development part. The improvement is still important during a career transition. “Working slowly” solved that issue for me. In a career transition, your task is to trust your abilities, while working slowly to improve your skills and understanding. Time is on your side.
I hope you’re able to have this perspective during your next career transition. I’ll leave you with this sandwiched saying:
“Dance with the girl who brought you and work slowly.”
See you next week :)
Mikkel Bjerch-Andresen
Golf Coach and Analyst
Oslo, Norway