Personalize Your Plan
Every golfer I have ever met has enjoyed their golf the most when they have played well. Thus they have all wanted to play well every time they tee up the ball. But very few have truly understood what is required to play well consistently and thus keep improving. To them it is a lottery how they will play from day to day. What is required is your own Personal Performance Plan.
First you must assess your current skills by completing some skills tests and tracking your play on the course, then set some goals as to what must improve if you are to play your best golf. This is the key initial step in forming your Performance Plan.
Next you need to get some new information on exactly how you will improve the designated areas of weakness. You can do this through a variety of sources – books, videos, television or Internet. But the best way is to invest your time and money, in taking a lesson from a PGA Professional. They will listen to your goals, assess your game and then design a plan that is specific to your needs and focuses on the areas of your game that require the most attention. While the other sources mentioned are good, they are designed to help everyone, not you personally, and so it can be difficult to know for certain if you are working on the area of your technique that requires the most help.
There are many good PGA Professionals, who spend a great deal of their time on the lesson tee, so do your research first. It is crucial that you find someone who has experience in helping players through a long-term plan for improvement. Someone whom you can relate to and is happy explaining things in a way you can easily understand.
Talk to your golf buddies and see if they can recommend someone. Check the website of a number of instructors in your area and read their biographies to see if they have the background you are looking for. Then call them up and interview them. Ask them some questions, to see if you think they are the person with whom you want to invest your time and energy. Only then will you book a lesson. Book one lesson first and then if that lesson goes well covert it to a series while you are there. At your first lesson be clear with your coach exactly what your goals are and what it is you want from them and the lesson. If the lesson turns out to be not what you had hoped, start your process over again.
Once you have your practice drills from your lesson, the next thing to decide is when you will do them. Set aside time in your day and week when you can focus on the drills without interruption. Some drills can be done at home and even indoors and thus do not require regular visits to the range. When you are practicing, be sure your focus is on quality and not quantity. This will afford you the fastest improvement.
If you believe you have made the change you have been working on, test it on the range or in a skills test. You can also go back to your coach and get some feedback from them on how well you have done. If you have made the necessary improvement it is then time to tackle the next weakest aspect of your game and the process continues as you scores slowly get lower and lower.
Derek Hooper is the Director of Instruction at Lake of Isles Golf Academy. Derek has a college degree in teaching and over 14 years experience conducting lesson programs in Australia, Japan and Taiwan. Before moving to the United Sates Derek was the Director of Instruction at the David Duval Golf Academy in Miyazaki, Japan. Derek can be contacted at 1.888.475.3746 or dhooper@troongolf.com
