Se Ri Pak's Tour Diary

As originally written by Se Ri Pak for Joong Ang Ilbo. Translation by LoveGiants

Diary Entry #31: Practicing after Practicing is my Daily Routine

There would be nothing better than if I could win every tournament, but I can't, and therefore, I need to overcome excessive fondness for victory. When I was in Korea and I didn't win a tournament, I played it again in my dreams and finally I would "win" the tournament. But now, I try to do my best in all tournaments, lest I should regret it later.

In Orlando, Florida, I have set up my base camp. As soon as a tournament is over, I fly to Orlando and relax. In Korea, the time during a tournament was the only time for "RELAXING" permitted for me. But now, I relax enough after a tournament, just doing warming up.

Concentrating on practicing is as important as participating in tournaments. When I lose myself in practicing, forgetting everything, I become confident, gain courage, and at the same time, find I do not cling to victories to some extent.

When I came to the US, my daily routine was only a series of practices. Except for meal and sleep times, I wrestled with golf clubs all day long. But I was so accustomed to hard training, I never thought of shirking it.

I start my day at six AM. I am accustomed to getting up early, so I always get up at dawn, however tired. I warm up briefly, have breakfast and leave for Lake Nona Country Club at eight. My training starts exactly at 8:30.

In the morning, I do some weight training with my physical trainer. After weight training, I walk or jog for 40 - 50 minutes. After finishing that, I leave for the driving range and begin to swing. I have a driving range meant only for me. There, I hit over 600 balls. I have only one hour for lunch, so I have lunch with my fellow players at the club after finishing morning training.

At around six, my daily training is over. Then I am utterly exhausted. I have free time after six, but I do supplementary practice at home, usually putting. At first, I studied English as hard as putting.

Reading fan letters is one of the important things I do during my free time. I get over 100 letters a day, so if I put off reading them for a couple of days, they pile up enormously. So, I read them diligently with my manager. Sometimes he exaggerate the pain: "Those letters will press me down to death."

Diary Entry #32: Impressed by Leadbetter's Scientific Teaching

After the British Women's Open, I took a rest for 3 days at home in Orlando. I embraced Happy (my dog) and talked to her a lot, for I had missed her the past ten days.

Looking back upon the last couple of months, I feel that I have been in the center of a heavy storm. Victories and depression, the cheers of galleries, numberless camera flashes, mikes...
Now I'm standing on Lake Nona, forgetting them all. Whatever happens outside, I feel comfortable practicing here, and I return to what I was when I first came here.

Nowadays, I usually take lessons from Leadbetter on Friday and Saturday. His way of teaching is always the same. He determines the progress of the lesson on the basis of the results of the previous week's training. And he does not forget to make out a schedule for the week.

His teaching is very scientific and exhaustive. When I came here in January, 1997, what he did first was to videotape my swing from all directions. At first, he videotaped me everyday. And he checked the tape with a swing analyzing machine (?) swing by swing. By doing this, he could determine how the balance of my body
moved in the course of my back swings, impact, finish.

Leadbetter corrected my swing. He said, "The reason your swing is short of accuracy is that you move your body right and left too much while making shots." And he focused his lessons on that point. Now I make shots more accurately, and I owe it to his scientific analyses and teaching. I wish I had learned to play golf in this way from the start.

Now I relax my muscles at address; that's the biggest change in my swing. Thanks to that change, the whole swing became much more smooth. Anyone would feel that way who has seen my swing. Leadbetter seems to be very pleased with my swing, which has both the power of a man and the flexibility of a woman.

I came to trust Leadbetter all the more because of his attitude about golf. He thinks that in golf, the attitude, mentality and personality are more important than the skills. He always emphasizes that without improving one's mind, one cannot play golf well. And without respect between the teacher and the student, one cannot get anything from the lesson. However great the lesson may be, it would only be a waste of time.

In teaching, Leadbetter is also professional. He has as many fans as I. I am judged by my results in tournaments, and Leadbetter, by the players he has taught. Leadbetter and I are dreaming of being the top in the world at our respective professions; Leadbetter through teaching me, and I through learning from him.