A Special Report On Tom Watson
By: Bob Skura on 07/22/09 10:24 AMSome people see Tom Watson’s performance in the 2009 British Open as a once in a lifetime event that isn’t likely to happen again any time soon. However, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Other prominent chunks of ice gleaming in the sunlight are 53-year-old Greg Norman’s near win at the British Open last year and 48-year-old Kenny Perry’s playoff loss at the 2009 Masters. Welling up from below is a body of knowledge that will someday push golf performance far past the level we now believe possible.
In 1954 Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. Until then, conventional wisdom suggested that the human body didn’t have the physical capacity to go that fast. But the four-minute mile was broken 15 more times in the following three years and 964 times by 2004. Once the floodgates opened the human race never looked back.
The same thing is going to happen in golf. In 2004 George Stokes, a 62 year old amateur, shot 59 at Heritage Palms in Indio CA. He’s not the first amateur to shoot his age or better, so we have to wonder what the professionals might accomplish. If Tom Watson shoots another 65 during a major a few years from now he just might capture the Claret Jug that eluded him this year. If he doesn’t then possibly Vijay Singh or Fred Couples will. Maybe we’ll have to wait until Tiger turns grey but within the next 10 to 20 years someone over the age of 50 will win a major.
Why will it happen? It’ll happen because leading-edge performers are always looking for ways to improve and the evidence is in. New research into the workings of the brain shows that if properly cared for our brains have the ability to remain flexible and agile well into old age. And, of course, mental skill is a major component of high-level golf. A variety of special exercises to enhance visual, spacial, linguistic, memory, mathematical, motor, and problem solving skills will do for the brain what balanced physical exercise will do for an aging body. In time exercising the brain will become as much a part of an ardent golfer’s routine as hitting balls on the range and that will lead to performances we now consider impossible. This approach will not only benefit older golfers, it will supercharge athletes who take mental exercise seriously at the start of their careers.
But why wait for a famous name like Tom Watson to blaze the trail for you? Get yourself into a program right now. Simply use the words ‘Brain Games’ to conduct a Google search and you’ll find an abundance of fun material that has the potential to change the way you live and enjoy life, let alone golf. For more information on the subject of exercising the brain and the references for this article the author, Bob Skura, may be contacted at doc@howgreatgolfersthink.com
