Excellence is a Habit

Jeff Fisher
Director of Instruction
Fisher Bryan Golf Academy at Longbow Golf Club
Mesa, AZ
jfisher@obsports.com

More Information

A large portion of the students at our academy are junior golfers whose goal is to reach the next level of play. For some, that is their high school team or college golf. Others even aspire to play professionally one day. One thing that we remind them all of the time, that I think is a great lesson for all junior golfers, is that excellence is a habit.

We do not measure excellence in results, but rather in effort. Our students do not need to be the best in everything they do, but they certainly need to try to be. This includes not only their golfing endeavors but as students, as members of the community, as members of their family and in anything else they take on. We ask this of them because if you take short cuts in one thing or accept mediocrity in one thing, it will be too easy to do so in all things.

A high level of effort is not a switch that you can turn on only when you get to the golf course. It needs to be more of a way of life, a habit. True champions know this. They arrive at practice first and leave last. They work the hardest while they are there. They do not make excuses or accept roadblocks, but rather they find ways to excel.

Quite often our juniors will ask us what separates them from the juniors they see achieving at the highest level. Players like Beau Hossler who is the 2012 AJGA Heather Farr champion and just made a terrific run at the U.S. Open. And almost always my answer to them is work ethic. Finding a way to succeed rather than a reason not to.

Working with so many junior golfers is a privilege that we cherish and a responsibility that we take seriously. Our goals for them are simple, that they graduate from our program as better players and better people. Hopefully the lessons we teach them in golf will serve them well in life, as well.

Jeff Fisher is the Director of Instruction at the OB Sports Golf Academy at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona. Jeff can be reached at 480.414.9330 or jfisher@obsports.com.