2018- New Start
I know I haven't posted recently but in the off season there isn't much to post about. I've been working hard both in the gym and on the course over the past couple of months and I wanted to write a post sharing my progress, and voicing a couple of goals. Obviously I have goals that I wont share because they are personal and small but I want to put out there some of my larger goals for the season. I want to put them out there to help motivate me more to do well this year.
Firstly though, an update on how the off season is going. I have enjoyed a very productive couple of months since the tour school, having friends over to practice and improving my fitness in the gym. I have really enjoyed having my friend Billy over to go through some of my skills testing, I have found it is very beneficial to have someone to practice with a couple of days a week. It provides a competitive edge and it best replicates tournament pressure, we both have shots to win, shots to beat PB's, there are loads of pressure putts. We might not play for much, maybe a fiver on the course, or for who buys the drinks or makes the teas, but it's the will to win that intensifies the pressure. I'm not going to lie, there have been occasions where fist pumps have been had, from both of us, when a 25 footer drops, or a 30 yard bunker shot goes stone dead. It has been eye opening how much I have enjoyed this practice and I would recommend it to others, play against your buddies. Have an 18 hole putting comp for a drink, get your competitive juices flowing, give each other stick and try get in their heads, test your mental strength. I can't stress how important I have found it, and I think the improvements have been showing in my on course playing at home.
In the gym, I have really committed to a new program by Dan Coughlan who works on the European Tour Physio Unit for some events and helped me in my England Golf camps with gym work. We sat down at the start of the winter and set some goals for the time off, I wanted to make myself stronger and faster. I wanted to give myself the best body possible to allow more speed in the swing but most importantly, prevent injury in the swing. Simon, my coach and myself spoke about things and also felt that this was a good goal and would help me be able to do the things in my swing we wanted. It's been hard, but I am happy with my gains, I'm up in weight, 8KG in two and a half months, up in speed and now I'm onto my strength plan. It's exciting to see improvements and I'm really enjoying training, it's a hobby of mine and just a bonus that it has a positive effect on my golf game.
Finally, I want to speak about goals. Each month I set a new set of goals, for all aspects. I set goals to do with stats, fitness, test performance and other things related to my golf. To go with this, I have daily goals that I set out to accomplish but at the very least, I want to feel I progress every day. I never leave the range or gym without knowing that I am better at something than I was yesterday. For example, my goal yesterday was to make progress on my lofted chipping and pitching, an area that needs improvement. I didn't leave the short game area until I could see my flight become consistent and the ball react on the green as I wanted. Today, on the 5th hole I faced a lofted chip from long of the green and played it perfectly. That for me shows progress and improvement, even if it releases a tad too far, the shot was how I pictured it I just didn't expect it to roll so far.
A monthly goal I can share is for my driving. I'm a good driver of the ball who feels confident off the tee. However, I feel that I could really give myself a good chance to make the most of my iron play if I hit more fairways. My goals are to improve my technique to allow a more neutral ball flight and be able to confirm this from video evidence each week. I also want to average 75% or better fairways hit when playing 18 holes rounds in practice. This gives me complete focus when I am playing, I need to concentrate fully on each tee shot. If I don't achieve this at the end of the month then I will review my book and see if there is a trend of misses or a lack of improvement in my technique. I will then evaluate a goal for the following month to try and get the progress I want. The great thing about golf is that no matter how good I get, I can always get better.
Finally, a yearly goal for me is something that would be a great end result. Now I don't like setting individual tournament goals as I feel my other goals will control that. If, for example, I hit my goals for fairways, putts etc, I cant help but achieve my on course expectations. A yearly goal for me is something that will happen if I achieve my daily, weekly and monthly goals. This year, I have a category 15 Challenge Tour Card, it's not what I wanted but I am going to make the most out of it. Chase Koepka had this category in 2017 and he is now on the European Tour so I just need to play good golf. My goal for 2018 is to end the year with a |FULL Challenge Tour Card for 2019 as a minimum, a European Tour Card as my target. A top 15 on the Race to Oman, something that isn't going to be easy, but I know if I can achieve my smaller goals, this big one is more than achievable.
The most important goal of them all though, 'Enjoy the process of making my normal, better' ENJOY IT. Golf is a game that is meant to be fun, keep it that way. Too many times I see parents pushing their kids into doing things, swinging properly, not letting them just hit the ball. Let them enjoy the game, I have loved the game since the day I took it up, I have never been pushed into anything or forced only encouraged. So my goal for the rest of my life is to enjoy the game, the day I don't enjoy it I will stop.
Happy New Year all,
Scott
Firstly though, an update on how the off season is going. I have enjoyed a very productive couple of months since the tour school, having friends over to practice and improving my fitness in the gym. I have really enjoyed having my friend Billy over to go through some of my skills testing, I have found it is very beneficial to have someone to practice with a couple of days a week. It provides a competitive edge and it best replicates tournament pressure, we both have shots to win, shots to beat PB's, there are loads of pressure putts. We might not play for much, maybe a fiver on the course, or for who buys the drinks or makes the teas, but it's the will to win that intensifies the pressure. I'm not going to lie, there have been occasions where fist pumps have been had, from both of us, when a 25 footer drops, or a 30 yard bunker shot goes stone dead. It has been eye opening how much I have enjoyed this practice and I would recommend it to others, play against your buddies. Have an 18 hole putting comp for a drink, get your competitive juices flowing, give each other stick and try get in their heads, test your mental strength. I can't stress how important I have found it, and I think the improvements have been showing in my on course playing at home.
In the gym, I have really committed to a new program by Dan Coughlan who works on the European Tour Physio Unit for some events and helped me in my England Golf camps with gym work. We sat down at the start of the winter and set some goals for the time off, I wanted to make myself stronger and faster. I wanted to give myself the best body possible to allow more speed in the swing but most importantly, prevent injury in the swing. Simon, my coach and myself spoke about things and also felt that this was a good goal and would help me be able to do the things in my swing we wanted. It's been hard, but I am happy with my gains, I'm up in weight, 8KG in two and a half months, up in speed and now I'm onto my strength plan. It's exciting to see improvements and I'm really enjoying training, it's a hobby of mine and just a bonus that it has a positive effect on my golf game.
Finally, I want to speak about goals. Each month I set a new set of goals, for all aspects. I set goals to do with stats, fitness, test performance and other things related to my golf. To go with this, I have daily goals that I set out to accomplish but at the very least, I want to feel I progress every day. I never leave the range or gym without knowing that I am better at something than I was yesterday. For example, my goal yesterday was to make progress on my lofted chipping and pitching, an area that needs improvement. I didn't leave the short game area until I could see my flight become consistent and the ball react on the green as I wanted. Today, on the 5th hole I faced a lofted chip from long of the green and played it perfectly. That for me shows progress and improvement, even if it releases a tad too far, the shot was how I pictured it I just didn't expect it to roll so far.
A monthly goal I can share is for my driving. I'm a good driver of the ball who feels confident off the tee. However, I feel that I could really give myself a good chance to make the most of my iron play if I hit more fairways. My goals are to improve my technique to allow a more neutral ball flight and be able to confirm this from video evidence each week. I also want to average 75% or better fairways hit when playing 18 holes rounds in practice. This gives me complete focus when I am playing, I need to concentrate fully on each tee shot. If I don't achieve this at the end of the month then I will review my book and see if there is a trend of misses or a lack of improvement in my technique. I will then evaluate a goal for the following month to try and get the progress I want. The great thing about golf is that no matter how good I get, I can always get better.
Finally, a yearly goal for me is something that would be a great end result. Now I don't like setting individual tournament goals as I feel my other goals will control that. If, for example, I hit my goals for fairways, putts etc, I cant help but achieve my on course expectations. A yearly goal for me is something that will happen if I achieve my daily, weekly and monthly goals. This year, I have a category 15 Challenge Tour Card, it's not what I wanted but I am going to make the most out of it. Chase Koepka had this category in 2017 and he is now on the European Tour so I just need to play good golf. My goal for 2018 is to end the year with a |FULL Challenge Tour Card for 2019 as a minimum, a European Tour Card as my target. A top 15 on the Race to Oman, something that isn't going to be easy, but I know if I can achieve my smaller goals, this big one is more than achievable.
The most important goal of them all though, 'Enjoy the process of making my normal, better' ENJOY IT. Golf is a game that is meant to be fun, keep it that way. Too many times I see parents pushing their kids into doing things, swinging properly, not letting them just hit the ball. Let them enjoy the game, I have loved the game since the day I took it up, I have never been pushed into anything or forced only encouraged. So my goal for the rest of my life is to enjoy the game, the day I don't enjoy it I will stop.
Happy New Year all,
Scott
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