I was speaking with an old coach of mine a number of years ago, reflecting back on one of the first lessons we had done together. It took place during the winter in a golf dome in Ontario, Canada and I was just starting to get into golf. At the time, I had never played a golf tournament but had joined this coaching program designed to help junior golfers reach their goals of playing in college. I was a long way from realizing that goal. As my coach stood behind me at this first lesson, I hit shot after shot of low, thin cuts that only rose to about head-high and missed my target by 30 or 40 yards each time. “We’ve already lost him”, my coach recalled thinking. I laughed and so did he because this conversation was happening about 4 years after that first lesson and shortly after I had just signed with Simon Fraser University (SFU) to play college golf. 

As I look back on my junior golf career, I rarely felt like I was as good as my competitors but knew that I was able to get better faster than they could, and I would often find myself beating those very same people the next year only to find better competition and continue that cycle over again. What I didn’t realize was that my ability to improve quickly was in large part due to my focus on things beyond just swinging my club. Unlike many other coaching programs, we didn’t just focus on swinging the club. We had access to an online stats tracking program where I could assess how effective my game was and how I could adapt my on-course strategy to optimize my scoring. We had opportunities to learn from experts in mental performance to manage our thoughts on the course and we were encouraged to remain physical by playing other sports and working out consistently.

When I started at SFU, focusing on things beyond just swinging the club became intentional and obvious. I was introduced to the concept of the 4 components of performance, Physical, Technical, Tactical and Mental and was required to train in activities that focused on each of them. 

The Physical component of performance includes activities related to my physical body such as working out, sleep, nutrition and flexibility to name a few. Tiger Woods is largely credited with popularizing the importance of the physical component of performance when he came on the professional golf scene and helped turn golfers into athletes. 

The Technical component of performance is the one people most commonly think of when they consider training for golf. Activities such as range practice, or putting drills are classified as technical training. Like most people, it is likely that you have allocated the majority of your golf training time towards activities related to this component of performance. The majority of the ‘tips to lower your scores’ you will find on TV or online will be related to the technical component of performance. 

The Tactical component of performance includes things related to strategy and analysis both on the course and off the course. The skills required to factor in a large number of variables such as wind, rain, temperature, ground firmness on the course for each shot is a tactical skill. Similarly, the work to assess your ability and understand your strengths and weaknesses to inform your strategy often takes place in the form of statistics tracking after the round also falls under the tactical component of performance.

Finally, the Mental component of performance is often the most misunderstood and one the fewest people know how to work on even though it is often cited as the critical difference maker by those at the most elite levels. Check out our recent post about the 2024 US Open and how Dechambeau’s mindset allowed him to rise to the occasion and take down Rory McIlroy. Activities connected to the mental component include developing skills to use on the course such as visualization, attention shifting or post-shot routines. This component also includes taking time for reflection to identify your own patterns and tendencies. 

With the knowledge I gained throughout my time at SFU, I understood that my ability to improve quickly as a junior golfer was in large part due to the focus I had on ALL 4 components of performance instead of just 1 or 2 components like many of my competitors were doing.

Fast forward to today, and I have co-founded a company, One Iota Golf, that takes a holistic approach to training, focusing on ALL 4 components, our core philosophy. The logo actually highlights this with each of the 4 colours representing one of the components of performance as pictured below. We believe that focusing on all 4 components of performance will not only help you reach your goals but is a requirement to reaching your full potential.