I’m totally dead after the last day here in China. It was my first WGC (World Golf Championship) event and I am so happy to have experienced it. It was a top event and everything about it was super! The course was unreal and the field was great! Phil Mickelson won in the end and he played great golf all week! I finished tied 19th which I’m kinda pleased with. I didn’t feel great at the start of the week but my game improved and in the end I felt the best I’ve felt all year so I’m really excited right now. Flying out to Dubai for a week of practice now with Peter Hedblom to prepare for the Race To Dubai Finale coming up the 19-22 of November. It will be awesome! But, a week of training will also be great and I’m really looking forward to work on my shortgame. The top player’s shortgames are unreal and just seeing what they can do gives me a lot of motivation to work harder on mine. 

Since I’m flying all day tomorrow and will not have time for a gym session I will hit the gym now. I feel motivated to get in there as well after seeing Tiger walking around looking like he lives in the gym. 

Tried to answer some questions you guys sent in. Hope you understand my english:)

 

Q. One question about the gym work – you’ve said occasionally that you’ve been hurting after a session during an event. Do you just make sure next day to warm-up and get rid of stiffness? Only asking because I’d be scared to work so hard during an event because I wouldn’t want to be stiff when I need to swing. Or is that rubbish?!?!?

A. My goal with working out is to get a stronger and more flexible. If I keep a good program going for every year until I pack in tournament golf (which I hope will be a long way away) I will be fit and stay healthy and I have a good chance to improve my golf in the way I want. So, I figure I have to work out hard during evey week of the year, even tournament weeks. If I played a lot less tournements I wouldn’t work out as hard during the tournaments. But, I want to play enough tournaments to improve my golf game and have a chance in the rankings so I think this is the best way possible. I do get a little stiff but I have gotten used to playing with it. If I warm up a lot and do all the stretching and exercises before the round I feel good. I try to prevent sore muscles by doing recovery work such as hot and cold showers, no resistance work on the exercise bike and drink a lot of water. Also, the harder and the more often you work out, the better the body responds and you don’t get very sore. I think 3 hard sessions a week and some lighter sessions in between is a formula that works good for me. 

Q. Good luck in China. Just wondering what kind of mental training and preparation you do at practise and in front of a tournament

A. I don’t do much specific mental training. I do breathing exercises that I think helps out a lot. It helps me focusing better. Working out is great for the mind as well. If I feel a little down and low, I go hard in the gym and after I usually feel great after!!! I think the best mental training is putting yourself in positions where you don’t feel comfortable and then figure out a way to get comfortable in them. For example this week at WGC in China, I felt a little out of place when walking past Tiger and Phil and all the rest of the top players in the world on the range. The first day, I started bad and didn’t really enjoy being there at all but I tried my best and tried to find ways to make me understand that I need to be here and experience this to get better and feel more comfortable playing with the best for the future. You have to experience the bad feelings to understand how to overcome them and work it all out. Golf is a very mental game and you need to get a strong head. I have never been very confident and strong mentally so I have to work very hard at it all the time.  

Q. I hope you had a nice day on the course with Henrik and Søren. Maybe you can telI us a little about your normal morning schedule before a tournament round. When you get up, what kind of breakfast you eat, do you workout before the round, when you get to the course etc…

A. I usually get up 3 hours before a round. My usual breakfast is a lot of water, bacon, eggs, salmon, salad and fruit. I try to eat a lot since I don’t eat too much on the course. Then I go to the locker room and do a few flexibility exercises, a few core exercises and some stretching. My physio is out every other week on tour and he helpes me in the mornings those weeks otherwise I just do the warm-up myself. I start the golf warm-up with putting, then some shortgame and then onto the range to finish with it off with a few putts before going to the 1st tee. If I start with hitting balls on the range I feel stiff when I get to the 1st tee, that’s why I get on the range last. 

Q. Hot and cold shower? What? Is that a tip from your trainer? How does that decrease the recovery time?

A. I got the tip from a guy I worked out with in Sweden. He had a really bad back and he did it after every workout session to recover faster but also to get the blood pumping and to make his muscles a little looser. I’m not a physician but a lot of physicians says shifting from cold (always start with cold and finish with cold) to hot water in the shower makes you recover faster. 

Q. For me you have got one of the best swings on tour… I see you played with Kjeldsen today. Dont you think he swings the club great as well? Its really compact and not a lot can go wrong. They say he is one of the best at shaping the golf ball.

A. Kjeldsen swings it great! It looks so easy for him to play golf. He shapes every shot! Beautiful game. He hits it quit long to for not being a big guy. I really admire his game. I learnt a lot from playing with him the last two days. If the flag is back left, he hits a smooth little draw that moves onto the flag and the opposite for right side flags. 

Q. When you play are you looking to shape a lot of shots one way or the other? I realise we want our natural swing to just hit it straight but most of the time holes or certain flags require you to move it both ways. 

A. I always try to shape the ball a little. Just a feeling most of the time. I have always had a draw. It’s my natural shot. Most of the times, my draw turns into a too big of a draw and I need to feel a fade to hit it straight. So, I usually want to hit the ball fairly straight but with a feeling of a cut. On a good day, it goes straight. But, I would love to be able to work the ball both ways and know what shape is coming. It would be such a nice feeling. I can do it with the driver for some reason but I’m not as good doing it with my irons.