How to KILL it this year in golf and life!
New Year’s resolutions are old hat these days and nobody really keeps to them anyway!
It’s 2019 and the priority this year should be to improve your golf and now is the perfect time of year to set some goals for the upcoming season. If you are unsure of how to set goals in golf I have put together a couple of quick pointers to help you out below.
I Hope it helps…
Why is Goal Setting Important?
- 1. Without direction it’s difficult to know where you’re going let alone where your golf ball is going…….
- 2. Goal setting means that you push yourself to your limits to achieve them.
I’m going to get all wise here for a minute by quoting a Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu, ‘A Journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step’. This statement is so true in golf and also in life…….. How do we set our golf goals?
- 1. It’s always best to identify your long term goal (where do you want to be with your game by the end of 2019).
- 2. Then break your long term goals into smaller ones that will help you get to the long term (start as small as the first 3 months)
Setting the goal of knocking 10 shots off your handicap in 2019 sounds like a big ask. But taking 1 shot every month off your handicap or 2.5 shots per quarter, doesn’t sound as hard does it?
- 3. Write them down on and put them on the fridge or somewhere you will see regularly and that will help keep you motivated.
Goals have to be S.M.A.R.T
Specific
Be as specific as you can be about what you want to achieve e.g.
- “I am an 8 handicap” (by end of 2019)
- “I am going to win a Board Comp” (by end of 2019)
- “My putting average is 29”, which is better than “lower my putts per round”.
- “My fairways hit is 70%”, (3 month short-term), which is better than “hit more fairways”.
Measurable With both your long and short-term goals, you should be able to measure where you are in relation to it.
Attainable
Is your goal realistic considering your current ability and other priorities and time commitments.
Relevant
Is this something you really want to do? Is it going to help you get to where you ultimately want to be? You need to be choosing a goal that is going to have the most impact on you achieving your long-term goal and spending 70% of your time working on that for a fixed period of time.
Timely
There needs to be a sense of urgency, or your actions to make the goal a reality will undoubtedly be delayed. Take ACTION, never wait until tomorrow if you can do it today
Create an action list
Once you’ve decided on your goal and the time it’s going take to do it, you’ll need to create an action list of around 5 things you’re going to do during your practice to achieve your short-term goal. I can help you do this.
Have accountability
Tell a few people close to you about your goals. This could be a parent, a friend or your coach. The idea here is that it will help you to have accountability to more people than just yourself. If you know that others are tracking your progress, it’ll spur you on. If you would like some help in setting your goals for 2019 I would love to help you and put a plan in place to help you achieve them.
Contact us for more information or to book a session.
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