Last Christmas I got something really cool under the tree...
A practice putting mat!
It's about 8 feet long, slightly uphill, with a cup at the top.
THIS enables me to practice my putting in the depths of Winter when it's too dark, cold, and rainy to wander out to the links.
I love it.
Now, every day, whenever I need a break from putting pen to paper (metaphorically I mean), I spend a few minutes working on my putting stroke.
My goal is to craft a stroke that relies less on "feel" and is much more systematic and mechanical.
In essence, I want to putt like a machine.
I want to create the same stroke, time after time.
Even though it may sound ridiculous, it is to no small degree an attainable (and worthy) goal.
Thus, every day, I whittle away the rough edges of my stroke... which involves variables like:
- Grip - how I hold the putter - precisely
- Stance - how I place my feet - precisely
- Ball position - where I place the ball in relationship to my feet - precisely
- Head - keeping it rock solid throughout the stroke - precisely
- Arms - where I position them relative to my torso - precisely
And then there's the actual stroke itself, which focuses on rocking the shoulders rather than bending the wrists.
As you can see, the "Machine" has a lot of different moving parts that must be "precisely tuned" to work properly in unison.
It's going to take time and effort to hone everything to a consistent, repeatable process.
The goal is to get somewhere close to PGA standards of success for a 7-foot putt - which, even on the highest quality surfaces, professionals only manage to sink about 50% of putts of that distance.
All this does relate to the process of writing.
Similarly, there's a number of different elements that must work in tandem properly to produce solid copy as quickly as possible... the 3 key ones being Mindset, Tools, and System.
- You must believe you can write faster.
- You must have tools at ready to help you write faster.
- You must approach the writing project (and it is a project, no matter whether you're writing a single email or an entire campaign) to write faster.
With all three in place, then you can start to hammer away at the rough edges, turning your mind into a powerful, effective copywriting machine.
THAT's how championships (and campaigns) are won, one stroke at a time.
FORE!
Write Faster, Write Better, Right Now
-Jack Turk
"World's Fastest Copywriter"