The Key to getting lucky!

When Gary Player arrived in the United States in the late 1950s, he was already becoming known as a “world traveler.?His schedule was at first limited; nevertheless, he quickly made an impression on many of the home-grown pros, and soon developed a reputation among them as a "lucky" golfer. As is common when faced with someone who is more successful, many of the regular Tour players decided Player was winning because he was luckier than they. Incidentally, this epithet would also be hung around the neck of Seve Ballesteros when he burst upon the tournament golf scene.

Rumors of Player’s lucky play were circulating in the clubhouse after he had won a PGA tournament, and a less than tactful reporter asked him to comment on the matter. Throughout his career, Player has always seemed to be at his best when the odds were against him, and he summed up his feelings about luck by paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson.

“Sure I'm lucky,?he told the journalist, “and the more I practice the luckier I get.?

Make no mistake about it. The key to dramatically improving your “luck? is practice. Other pro golfers were reluctant to admit, even to themselves, that Gary Player practiced harder than they, hitting thousands more balls as he grooved and fine tuned his swing. Or that he showed up before dawn and stayed after dusk, then went to bed early, avoiding parties and hangovers. They also ignored the fact that he compensated for his small stature with a rigorous program of exercises and muscle building, long before it became fashionable to do so. Player was almost fanatical about his diet, his body and his physical conditioning, all with the objective of playing better golf. Other pros dismissed his fine performance as "lucky" because is was more comfortable than facing the cold, hard truth. He was better than most of them because he worked harder and tried harder.

One in a million?

In 1982, when Tom Watson chipped in on the 17th at Pebble Beach, then birdied the final hole to win the US Open, some called it a lucky shot -- a one-in-a-million shot. Well maybe it was and maybe it wasn’t. Bear in mind that Watson, in practice before the tournament, had dropped balls in the rough fringe and practiced chipping from that exact spot. Remember, too, that Watson had played literally thousands of shots in similar situations, even if the results were less crucial and less was as at stake.

The following year, at Sawgrass in Florida, the USGA wanted Watson to recreate the shot for a television promotion. Watson stepped to the edge of the green and threw down a ball in the heavy rough. Then he looked into the camera and smilingly spoke his line, “They say practice makes perfect.?Without further delay, Watson took his wedge and hit the ball, bingo, straight in the hole! The only problem was that the camera wasn’t running because the operator thought Watson was just warming up. It appeared they could all be in for a long afternoon of retakes but, undeterred, Watson threw down another ball and duplicated the result with his second attempt. There really must be something to this practice thing!

Practice is the path to greatness

“The clubs are fine. The rules are fine. The problem with golf is there isn’t enough daylight in a day to practice.?br>
Ben Hogan

According to the National Golf Foundation, 89% of people surveyed about their golfing habits said they would play more golf, spend more money on the game and enjoy it more, if they played better. Would it surprise you to learn that only 13% of the same survey group had taken a golf lesson in the previous 12 months. Like most people, they seek more pleasure and success, but are apparently unwilling to actually work harder in order to reap the rewards. Well, if they don’t, they won’t!

Whether you are golfing, selling, supervising, managing or leading, your ultimate level of success depends on the quality and quantity of your preparation. That includes academic preparedness, but, even more importantly, it means your knowledge of your business and your continued commitment to increasing your level of service to your customers, your company and yourself. How do you become a better salesperson? Practice. How do you become a better manager? Practice. How do you serve your customers better? Practice.

Tony Lema, a great golfer who died tragically in the crash of a private plane in 1966, liked to tell people he didn’t learn to play on a golf course. He maintained the shots that won tournaments for him were all forged on the range. He proved his point when, in 1964, he traveled to Britain to play in the Open Championship. Other commitments prevented him from arriving until two days before the tournament. The weather was appalling, with heavy rain and strong winds. Practice rounds were abbreviated and served little to prepare him for the Championship. In spite of this, Lema was able to card a 75 on the first day, in a torrential downpour, then, when the weather improved, to go on to victory. He didn’t expect to find his game on the golf course -- he brought it with him. Lema considered practice to be a lonely and often discouraging exercise, as did many other great players. All of them, however, also knew it to be the only way to acquire mastery of their art.

“About 50% of the population are sold on the idea that only horses work. The other 50% are inclined to go along with this proposition, only they never saw a horse.?

Tony Lema

(From the new book by Brian Tracy & Andrew Wood The Traits of Champions)

Andrew Wood is a sales & marketing expert & author of: Selling With Confidence, Building A Legendary Reputation, Making it Big, Legendary Leadership, and The Traits of Champions. He can be reached at PersonalQuest.com 352-527-3553 or andrewwood@personalquest.com Visit our site at www.PersonalQuest.com