Dr Ed Coughlan: If you really want to improve your game, then practise like a kid

Behind the apparently effortless grace of a Roger Federer forehand or the controlled ferocity of a Rory McIlroy drive is a history of practise, writes Dr Ed Coughlan. 

This practise is often ignored to allow us to revel in their apparently natural gifts, which gives us a free pass to excuse the reasons why we didn’t make it as a professional athlete. The truth is a lot less forgiving.

Practice is arguably something everyone has experienced. In fact, the benefits of practise are familiar to anyone who can ride a bike or tie their shoelaces. The importance of those tasks to a child drive them through periods of failure and frustration to a point where they can eventually do them with little or no thought.