Bringing Balance to a Busy Schedule

The start of a new school year presents unique challenges for golfers who are trying to balance their class work, responsibilities at home, and their golf commitments. If your son or daughter is fortunate enough to play competitive golf on a high school team, then the task is even more daunting.

Thanks to years of experience in dealing with this situation with my own children and with hundreds of students, I have some recommendations for your son or daughter that might help them get the most out of their limited practice time.

1. Focus 100% of your energy on controllable commitments rather than focusing on arbitrary goals. What are you committed to doing each and every day to close the gap between where you and where you want to be? Commitments are things we can do that are under our control. Things like doing your drills, sticking to a nutrition plan, working on your putting, getting enough sleep, etc. All of these things and more are under our control.
2. Increase the intensity of your work by spending more time at the edge of your capabilities. Too many players like to practice what they’re good at it. It turns out that improving your skills demands that you push yourself to the edge of your comfort zone where mistakes are more likely. That’s the place where you learn and grow. If you can get there, you’ll only be able to train for 2-3 hours a day because the work can be mentally and physically exhausting.
3. Set up a studio at home, complete with a full-size mirror and your favorite training aids. Improving movement patterns is an essential component of shooting lower scores and getting good feedback makes a big difference. Also, an in-home studio creates more flexibility and allows you to train even if your free time is limited.
4. Make sure you know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish on a daily basis before you begin your work. Great performers start each day with a plan and you need to do the same. It can be as simple as writing down the drills you’re going to do or the things you want to accomplish at the range. The key is to be intentional with your time.
5. Record your results. This is another habit that high-level athletes use to get more out of their training. It’s best summarized by Daniel Coyle in his book “The Talent Code.” As he states in his book, the cycle of deep practice, and ultimately high performance boils down to the following:

                    a.     Pick a target.
                    b.     Reach for it.
                    c.     Evaluate the gap between the target and the reach. (In other words, record your results.)
                    d.     Return to step one.

Being great is hard work, and the task is even more challenging when time is limited. Our students know that the steps detailed above are the keys to their success and they work closely with their coaches to “pursue better on a daily basis”.