Rainy Days

Keep your skills sharp even when the weather isn’t favourable

Excessive rain certainly makes playing the game a little less enjoyable; however this is not to say you need to put your game improvement plans on hold.

We have certainly seen our fair share of rain the past few weeks and many players are opting for the much drier confines of their living room rather than heading outside to peg it up in the cool and wet conditions.

I understand their decision to not play or practice lately, as I myself prefer to be inside with a cup of coffee and some slippers on when days like these come around.

Just because we are restricted to the indoors, does not mean game improvement opportunities are lost. If you take advantage of some outside the box style thinking, you can find numerous ways to develop your game, let me give you a couple examples.

When it comes to physical skills, putting is one of the most crucial scoring elements of the game. We can very effectively polish up our putting stance and stroke mechanics while rolling balls across the carpet in our living room.

Sure the carpet may not be the same speed as your club’s greens, but when it comes to stance and stroke mechanics green speed is irrelevant. The only time you need green speeds to be consistent is when working on feel and distance control.

Goal setting is rarely done to its fullest extent and if you want to improve, a good goal setting session every now and then is important. On rainy days, get out a notepad (or golf journal, which I encourage many players to use) and start writing out your goals.

When establishing goals, it is important to be very specific; it is not just about listing the outcomes you want to achieve. Good goal setting sessions have a healthy blend of what you want to see happen, how you plan on making it happen, as well as when you want it to happen by. It is like the road map for your journey to success and it helps keep you heading in the right direction.

Goals which are not written down lack commitment and accountability…we see players rarely achieve the success they desire when they have nothing solidified in writing to keep them committed and on track. A coach once told me that “goals without deadlines are simply dreams!” and I couldn’t agree more.

For those of you have already journalized a set of goals for the season, this is a great time for you to review and adjust them. Ensure you are on the right track, check your time lines to see if they are still appropriate, make sure you have stuck to the little things you noted with regards to how you plan on achieving your goals and remind yourself of what you felt was important at the start of the season.

Rather than fret over lost time due to weather, refocus your efforts into other areas and methods of improvement which are every bit as important as hitting range balls or booking your next tee time.