What You Can Learn From Greg Norman

It has been an incredible Open Championship. I went on the Tuesday Practice day and the atmosphere was great. Everybody was relaxed and the Players were all signing autographs. It is by far the best day to go. You can get close to the action and you can see a lot more than you can on a Championship day. Plus you get to see the players messing around hitting a variety of shots.

The story of the week was Greg Norman's return to form. It was great to see Greg playing some good golf. He looked relaxed all week and was enjoying his golf.

There are two important lessons to learn from Greg's performance this week.

First of all, it show you that age really doesn't matter as long as you have got a good level of fitness. At 53 Greg is still one of the fittest and strongest guys out there. Improving your fitness is the easiest way to improve your golf and will allow you to play better golf a lot longer.

You do not have to work out like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but simply increasing your strength in the legs and core muscles will make a big difference. Check out Mike Pedersen's website - Perform Better Golf for the easiest way I have found to improve your golf game.

Secondly, being able to hit a variety of shots will allow you to play your best in a variety of conditions. Greg showed great imagination in his shot making from the fairway and around the greens. Jim Flick (my favourite golf coach) talks about a good drill to work on in this month's Golf Digest where you should practice hitting 100 yard shots with every club in your bag. This will definitely help your shot making and creativity.

I know I did say there were two lessons, but I have realised that there is a third, and this is an important lesson. Greg was smiling all week and clearly having fun. So was Anthony Kim. Just listen to Kim's interview on Saturday evening. He was loving the conditions and so was Greg. The majority of players were moaning that it was tough and almost unplayable.

Even so, they still have the choice of how to think and behave. Greg and Anthony's attitude (also Padraig's) showed that this has a big effect on the outcome of your round. The conditions are the same for everyone. You might as well enjoy it. It will make it easier for you and you will play better.

Have fun on the golf course.