“I don’t know where I’m going but I’m on my way!”
I heard this line yesterday and thought “what a great line and I must use it someday.” Well, today is the day! It is such a great line for so many things, but for golfers it is the best line ever! How many times have you taken a lesson and come away with a message, “I know what I just did but I’m not sure how it fits in with my overall development?” Is it poor golf? Poor understanding of what you know? More than likely it is a misunderstanding of what the task at hand really is.
It is ok to step back and ask, why I’m I doing this? It is ok to ask questions if you do not understand something in your “lesson” with your professional. I would be willing to bet you are going somewhere but may not know where. How often do you hear, “let’s do this,” then ask yourself “why am I doing this?” Chances are you are doing what you were told to do, not what you need to do. If you are wanting to improve your chances of lowering your score and continually improve your game, you first need to know where your skills are and how to actually improve them. How do you know what you need if you haven’t been assessed or evaluated? Recently, I heard from a golfer that was watching golf on TV and heard the commentator say,” to hit the ball further you need to change your grip with your driver like “Dustin Johnson ”, because that is why he hits it so far. WOW! Just change my grip like Dustin Johnson and I’ll hit 300 yards! Can you believe this “coaching!” Sorry, you’re not DJ and likely will not swing the club like him either.
It’s a dangerous thing to not know where you’re going and realize you are already on your way! This is how most people give and receive golf lessons. Change that this season, even though you may already be too late in making the greatest impact for this season; find a professional who values your time and money, start with a thorough interview so that you and your professional understand your goals and your desire to reach them. From your goal setting, you need to take a Player Development Index (PDI) Assessment to understand your golfing skills, from putting to driver, once you understand your skills, you will want to go through a 5 Elements of Success Evaluation to have an understanding as to why your skills are the way they are. Golf is complicated but not so if you understand what the “game” is all about. Golf is a game, it should be fun, but fun happens more often when you have a good understanding of what you want, how you will get it, and sticking with the plan because there are no shortcuts. In order to have consistent improvement you want to have a destination and a road map to get there, mapquest it! Of course there will be some bumps along the way but if you stick with your plan you will have more fun, you will have consistent messaging, you will get to where you want to go sooner rather than later, and the road will begin to smooth out for you!
Assess your skills to know what you have, evaluate to know why things are happening the way they are, and develop a plan to get where you want to be!
Enjoy Your Journey!
