Hey, Zoё here, I hope you find this section useful, and it gives you some ideas on how to prepare your game for the winter months.
Keeping motivated
During these cold months motivation can be a little low when wanting to practice or play, which is something I can definitely relate to. I’ve been having this conversation about practice with my lessons a lot recently and I thought I would share with you some ideas that help them.
In my last article I spoke about goal setting and thinking about what you wish to achieve this season, this can help give you a clearer idea of what you need to do to get there and help give you the push to head out and practice.
I also get my lessons to look ahead at what the warmer months hold for them. Is it that golf trip away in Spain with the girls? Club competitions? Or even just to play more golf with friends. This soon starts getting them thinking about where their game is now VS where they want it to be.
When it comes to practicing this is where my lessons say they lack in motivation the most as they don’t want to just ‘go and hit balls’ when it’s cold and dark. This is where I talk to them about practice plans. You can create them just before you head out or to use them to structure your practice for the week or month.
Before going to the range or short game area what is your plan?
My points I ask my lessons to think about to create a plan are:
- TIME: How long do I have for this session?
- WHAT: What are you going to be working on today?
- WHY: Why are you practicing this area of your game?
- WHERE: Where is your practice taking you? Range? Short game? On Course?
After you have thought about those answers the next step is to plan out your session. First of all, dividing the time you have available into your different areas. This is critical if you are at the driving range for example, so we practise effectively and not hitting all our shots with 1 club and 1 swing. Then we think about how many balls will you be hitting and dedicate a number of balls to each area.
Practice Plan:
Time Allowance: 60 mins Location: Driving Range
Balls: 60 total
Today’s Goals: Working on strike & start direction.
Warm Up – stretches 5 mins.
Hitting warm up – 6 balls chipping
Chipping Drill – 10 Balls
Chipping to targets – 6 balls
Pitching Drills - 10 Balls
Pitching to Targets - 6 Balls
Full Swing Irons to see how strike is coming along- 4 Balls.
Full Swing Drills & Target practice alternate- 10 Balls
Fun Target practice / Game – 8 Balls.
This is just an example, you can make it more or less in depth and change to what suits you and your session.
Always keep in mind quality NOT quantity. Keep your practice fun and specific to what motivates you. If that means more games and less drills that’s great as there is no right or wrong, the main thing is that you enjoy your practice and keep up the progress.
Love
Zoe x