Measure your current levels
It is important to have a realistic evaluation of where you stand in two areas of your golf game:
- Confidence
- Mechanical Skills
You want to be very clear on what area of your game needs attention. Exactly where do you need to put in time so that you can reach your goals.
***Keep this in mind – this will change over time. As you spend a lot of time in one area of your game, another area can get neglected. This is a common issue. If you went through a streak of hitting every green when you played, your chipping and bunker play would not be put to task.
If you hit every fairway (a good thing) you wouldn’t have experience with fairway bunkers, rough or hitting under tree branches.
So know that you do want to re-evaluate every few weeks when you are playing regularly.
Confidence Web
Download this worksheet and pick a different category for each of the web sections. Then shade in to the level of confidence you have in each area.
I suggest you add some of the following categories:
Mechanics and Shots…
- Full Swing
- Driver
- Fairway Woods
- Hybrids
- Irons
- Pitching
- Bunker
- Putting
- Chipping
- Rough
- Fairway Bunkers
Another sheet for other areas…
- Course Management
- Competition
- Playing with new people
- Playing in front of people
- Stroke Play
- Match Play
- Hitting over water
- Hitting over a bunker
- Playing from an uneven lie
You add or subtract what is applicable to your game.
Use the web as a visual reference for where you need to focus.
Skill Chart
Your skill set is totally different than your confidence.
Determining which skills you need to work on takes clarity and honesty.
We often want to focus on parts of our game that are not actually the problem.
For instance, you may be a fair putter and could really lower your handicap with a bit of focus In this department but you would RATHER try to hit it 5 yards further or work on your 3 wood.
What you want to do and what you need to do….are two totally different things.
In the attached scorecard you will evaluate 3 parts of your game:
- Knowledge – Do you know how to execute the shot
- Practice – Do you practice the shot
- Performance – How well you hit the shot
Fill in the chart/scorecard with an open mind. I also have included a filled scorecard to help you as an example.
This is an eye-opening exercise. Have fun with it.