Natural Talent or Hard Work?

A or B...Black or white...yes or no? . All questions requiring an answer that is absolute. Can a golfer rely solely on natural talent or will hard graft and effort be enough?

Every once in a while, a golfer comes along to me who has never had a lesson, but can hit any shot required and make it look easy in the process. We all know someone like this, who can turn their hand to any sporting task set in front of them. An innate and effortless ability to use hand eye coordination, strength, and mobility to reduce a seemingly difficult endeavor to something of beauty.

And then we have the worker, who toils along, doing endless drills and repetitions, grinding through hours of practice to better their game. They will be the last person on the range in the evening, and maybe the first person there the next morning.

I know golfers on both sides of the equation, and I am aware that I fall into the category of having been a worker on my game, not natural talent. But as a coach, if I am asked the question, who would I rather have, the natural talent or the worker, I find myself feeling more that this a grey area, and it's not so one or the other, that in fact, I would love to have a student with a blend of natural talent and the ability to work hard on their game.

And this is the beauty of golf, that their are so many subtleties to it,

that we don't always have to work in absolutes. Take another sport, for example gymnastics. You can either do a handstand, or you can't. In tennis, you can either return a 100mph serve, or you can't. But golf, much like life, allows you to course correct as you go. An errant drive can be corrected with a great recovery shot, and a wayward iron can be saved with a delicate pitch.

In golf, it's not always yes or no, but maybe, just maybe. And so the worker and the naturally talented golfer can have the same levels of achievement, but have reached these through very different journeys. Hold these two contrasting ideas alongside each other, or find a way to combine them, and you have the makings of a champion.