November’s Tip of the Month: START WITH THE RIGHT GOAL

BY RYAN WILLIAMS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL

Happy November everyone! This month is most-closely associated with Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season. With that in mind, I think it’s important we all meditate on the concept of gratitude and how it applies to you playing your best golf.

Maybe the best place to begin this conversation has to do with establishing your goals on any given day. Often, I’ll ask students before a competitive round about their goals for the day. Usually, they reply with something to do with score or the quality of shots they want to play. Let’s think about that though: if a day’s success depends on shooting a low score or hitting lots of pretty golf shots, that’s an awful lot of weight to place on each hole or each shot. There’s an inherent pressure associated with the goal of playing well. Obviously, we’re all competitive to some degree and all of us want to play well but, does shouldering the burden of playing well help you accomplish that goal?

I would argue that high expectations or the day’s enjoyment depending on playing great golf more often leads players astray than helps them accomplish their goals. “If I can play good golf, then I’ll enjoy the day,” is essentially what many are hoping when they play. What most people should do is just the opposite: “My goal is to enjoy the day because I know that my best golf comes through enjoyment.” Instead, your goals for the day should have do with things over which you actually have control. Enjoying every moment of the day, committing to every shot, learning as much you can, treating each shot with the same low level of importance, enjoying the challenge of each shot, being great company to your playing partners, are all examples of healthy goals that are within your realm of control.

Being a member of the PGA is an incredible thing for a number of reasons, not least of which is how many great professionals, players, and coaches you gain access to. Stuart Smith of Somerset Country Club in Reno has been one of the best club professional players in the country over the last several decades, even leading the Senior PGA Championship in 2016 against the likes of Bernard Langer and Kevin Sutherland. After getting to know him a little bit at section events, I was presumptuous enough to ask how he prepares for meaningful rounds, like playing in major championships. His answer was profound in its simplicity.

He said, “I’m never playing the important round. Every day, I’m just trying to get better and improve my skills. Obviously, I get nervous and pumped up at times, but I don’t put more pressure on myself with a ‘now is the time’ sort of attitude. Even my important rounds are just part of a bigger process toward getting better. My goal is to learn and improve.”

Contrast his attitude toward some you and I have taken into rounds and it becomes easy to see why he’s had such success. The humility and grace with which Stuart approaches his rounds is much easier to achieve when you are grateful to simply be at the course that day.

Daily Practices:

So, how we can reach and keep an attitude allowing our best golf (or at least more fun) to come out more often? James Sieckmann, arguably the best short game coach in the world, recommends his students keep a “gratitude journal” in which they must write down something for which they are grateful every day before coming to the course. Julie Elion, sports psychologist to Justin Thomas and Wyndham Clark, has her players text her goals daily, but they are not allowed to have anything to do with score or shots. These would be more in line with those mentioned in previous paragraphs.

Give either one of these practices a shot and I promise, at the very least, you will enjoy your time on the course more and perhaps be a better playing partner!

Happy Holidays to you all!