Rick Shiels has crossed paths with some of the game’s best since he began making videos on YouTube.
Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, and Ian Poulter have all taken part in his “10 under par” series, which has become a fan favourite over the years.
Over time, Shiels has picked up on a trait that many top players seem to share. He mentioned in a recent video that there’s one thing about tour pros that he genuinely envies.
Rick Shiels wishes he loved practising as much as tour pros
Everyone knows that becoming a professional golfer takes endless hours of practice, but it doesn’t come naturally to everyone.
Shiels has openly said he doesn’t enjoy practising, and he thinks that’s what sets him apart from the very best players.
“I’ve definitely been playing a lot more and practicing a lot more. What I’d love to do is I’d love to love practicing. I don’t love practice,” he said.“I wish I did because, ultimately, it’s how you get better, isn’t it? You know, when you see people you just absolutely love practicing, it kind of makes me quite jealous.
“When you see these great players, it’s scary. Sometimes, when I’ve chatted to these great players who practice, they get lost in it.“It’s like they literally need someone to pull them away, and go, ‘We’ve got something else to do here now. We’ve got an interview or something. We’ve got a tee time to get to. It shows levels.
“But you see it in football. That was the big story of David Beckham when he was at [Manchester] United. [He would] go back after training. Ronaldo [would go back] after training. It doesn’t just happen does it?”
Every top player deserves credit for reaching that level, but those who don’t enjoy practising might deserve even more recognition.
Rick Shiels urges amateur golfers to put more time into putting
Rick Shiels has pointed to his putter as his favourite club in the bag, and the one he most enjoys practising with.
“I love my putter. I love putting,” Shiels said. “Putting last literally became my… You know I was talking before about practising. I love putting. I love the thoughts and the science behind it, and the imagination. I just love it.”
He also recognises why many amateur players are hesitant to spend time on the greens. But he believes that a few hours focused on putting could easily take several strokes off an amateur’s round.
READ MORE: Tiger Woods’ ex-coach shares advice for amateurs trying to break 100
“It is, but I kind of get why people don’t practice it because when you first start playing golf, you lose balls with your driver and you shank it into the water or whatever, so as a golfer who’s first starting, that’s what you want to fix,” he explained.“You don’t lose balls on the putting green when you putt. But if you added up how many putts an amateur golfer has, it’s comfortably in the forties, probably getting close to 45. You can knock five or six shots off putting so easily.”
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