Golf Game Goal Setting When You Are Unable To Attend the Best Golf School
Goal setting in golf seems to get tougher and tougher as I get older…. Why? Most likely because, as I once heard Dave Pelz say…. “Life gets in the way of golf.” Finding time to make it to the best golf school and then put the education into practice doesn’t seem like the most feasible thing at the moment. Golf is still very important to me, and man oh man I still want to play good golf! But, I’d be lying if I said it has the same significance to me today as it did 20 years ago….
I still think goal setting and attending the best golf school is important, I just go about things differently today. Let me share my ideas on ‘goal setting for the part time player.’
Got a couple big events planned for the year? Let’s assume so and that your ‘goal’ is to play well in these events. The key to performance, in my opinion, is the action steps you take leading up to the events. If you’re like me- busy with life and all it offers you can’t train consistently all year long or make it out to the best golf school on a regular basis…. What you hopefully can do, is set up action steps for training leading up to your events. I like to set up a training schedule 4-6 weeks out, if possible. If not, I’ll set it up for 2-3 weeks…. The key is that I create a training sheet before the event to keep my practice focused and high quality.
Grab a sheet of paper and list out the major areas of the game you plan on working on. For example:
Driver:
Iron shots:
Wedges:
Bunkers:
Putting:
If there are trouble areas of your game, write them down and focus extra in that area!!!
ex: downhill lies or distance putting
OK, the next step is to break each category into various drills so you know exactly what you’ll practice when you go out to the range:
Driver:
1. Front Route Drills (20 front routes is one block)
2. Driver Drill (100 drivers in various gravity drill modes)
3. 4×4 Drill with one arm (32 balls. 4 right hand only/4 left hand only, repeat 4 times)
These are the drills I will do with my driver…. I will continue to break out each category (iron shots, wedges, putting, etc…) into the drills I will do when I go to train.
Iron shots:
Cross Footed Drill (20 swings is one block)
Front Route Drill (20 swings is one block)
Cross Footed From Route Drill (20 swings is one block)
Wedges:
Cross Footed Pitch Drill (20 swings is one block)
The Three Mode Drill (20 swings is one block)
Pitching Out of Deep Rough (20 swings is one block)
Bunkers:
Basic Bunker Shots (20 swings is one block)
Plugged Bunker Shots (20 swings is one block)
Three Mode Bunker Drill (21 swings is one block)
Putting:
Cross Footed Putting (20 Putts is one block)
No Grip Putting (20 Putts is one block)
Cross Footed 3 Mode Putting (20 Putts is one block)
***Never go to the range just swing searching for a swing! Build skills with a few quality drills… Gravity Drills are by far the best way to train!
The final step is figuring out how many times you want to complete each drill over the period you’ve chosen to train before the event:
Driver:
Front Route Drills: 3 times a week ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
(*I put lines there so I can check off each time I’ve completed a task!)
Driver Drill: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
4×4 Drill: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Iron shots:
Cross Footed Drill ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Front Route Drill ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Cross Footed From Route Drill ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Wedges:
Cross Footed Pitch Drill ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
The Three Mode Drill ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Pitching Out of Deep Rough ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Bunkers:
Basic Bunker Shots ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Plugged Bunker Shots ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Three Mode Bunker Drill ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Putting:
Cross Footed Putting ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
No Grip Putting ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Cross Footed 3 Mode Putting ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
When I’m finished, I’ll have a full sheet of paper that lays out how I want to train for the event. Exactly which drills and how many times I want to complete each drill. The goal is to complete the action steps before I tee it up in the event!
The greatest benefit of setting up a training list and completing it before you play is that you’ll take great satisfaction knowing that you have prepared for the event. Even when I can’t make the time to attend the best golf school, getting myself prepared and completing action steps is the next best way to achieve any result oriented goals you might have.
Keep it simple. Keep it focused. Check it off the list! Now go PLAY GOLF! Stop ‘Thinking golf swing!’
Written by: Pete Dunham
Website: www.athleticgolf.net
Certifications: Gravity Golf Certified / PGA Certified
Location: Mt. Pleasant, SC
Also read: Gravity Players Use More Body Mass And Less Muscle In The Swing and How To Hit A Power Fade.
