Before the season rolls in, the start of the year is the perfect time to review and renew your performance plan. Here are five central areas for reviewing your mental game and effectively carving out a plan to refocus your energy for the season ahead.
Check your Burnout Radar
Physical exhaustion and training overload alone are not pre-requisites for burnout. Many athletes do not realise that feeling emotionally drained, experiencing a loss in motivation, or losing sight of your vision for the future can be signs of burnout. Refocusing your goals and plans can help immensely but recognising when you need a real break in action is important. You need to proactively plan ahead to schedule adequate breaks in your schedule through out the year and the most appropriate times and go into your last events feeling energised, rather than hanging out for the season to end.
Reconnect with your Strengths and Passion for the Game
One of the most energising ways to boost your motivation and connection to the game is to reflect on your mental qualities as a player that brings out your best game. Perhaps you have a “creative mind”, so maximise this by re-engaging your skills in visualisation, seeing and feeling your shots in renewed ways to create stronger commitment to your shot execution.
“Be careful not to let your subjective assessment of what is working well right now fool you into snap judgments about what is impacting your scores.”
Use your Stats Effectively to Target the Correct Areas in your Game that Need Work
Analyze patterns across multiple seasons and the key question to ask is, “In the first half of the season, which statistics showed the greatest impact on your stroke average?” To explain further, a recent article by protourgolfcollege.com analyzed Yani Tseng’s drop from the top ranks with a closer look at her statistics over the past 7 years. In 2013, Yani showed a significant 20% improvement in sand saves, but interestingly that did not impact her scoring average that year in any way shape or form. The message here is to be careful not to let your subjective assessment of what is working well right now fool you into snap judgments about what is impacting your scores. Don’t guess why you think your game has or hasn’t improved because you could be missing crucial details.
Log your Training
Athletes in physically demanding sports spend a lot of time recording the activities in their training, but golf players seldom do, instead creating random practice sessions based on what feels right that day. There may be days that you create a brilliant intensive practice session that you can replicate again the following week if you log the details of that session. Logging will allow you to track and test your progress across sets and refine your practice time, just as you would when doing the all important skills test.
“Do you know what focus works best for you? Do you have a plan to consistently get into your best focus?”
Refine your Preparation For Peak Performance
Do you mentally prepare yourself to live and perform your best…consistently? Reflect on your current habits and how helpful they are in achieving your goals. Consider the type of focus you carry into competitive rounds. Do you know what focus works best for you? Do you have a plan to consistently get into your best focus? These questions are a good place to start to gather the resources you need to take action and make helpful tweaks to your preparation routines and habits.
