I think I've started this post about 20 times over the last few weeks, but I just haven't gotten anywhere with it. That said, I think it's finally time to get it done. I started mapping out, planning and even saving for my year about 2 months ago, but it's finally taking shape enough to know what the year may bring, hopefully. Of course, I love to plan, but I have to admit that for my 2018 goals, I'm stealing an idea from one of my favorite YouTube personalities (and a darn fine coach) Peter Finch. I'll put a link to his channel below, so make sure you go subscribe when you finish reading this. So, Pete's "Battle Board" is his way of planning how he will continue to grow his game, his YouTube Channel and prepare to compete in his first Major, The Open. Sure, there's those pesky qualifiers to get through, but... Anyway, let's delve into the Battle Board concept and see how it works for me.
I have three sections, just like Pete, but mine are broken up into basic categories. The categories are "practice" - "performance" - "fitness". These should be rather simple to translate but just in case you aren't sure what they mean, I'll break them down for you.
Practice - The practice section is all about making sure that I work on what I need to work on. Putting for 10 minutes a day, for example, is a simple chore that can be done indoors, at the course or just about anywhere. Completing 2 chipping sessions a week is also something that can be done just about anywhere - or at least the front yard in a worse case scenario. These are the basic blocks for building out that practice schedule. It may also includes a few rounds of limited club selection (playing a 3 or 5 club round for example) or playing a round at different tees to get me a different feel for a course. Anything that is a non-competitive round could fall under the practice category. Range time will also play a big part in this section, but it probably won't be the biggest portion of the time spent working on my game.
Practice Goals: 10 minutes of putting daily - 30 minutes of chipping (2x a week) - 25 full swings daily.
Performance - This section is reserved for my competition goals for the year. This will be a relatively simple section starting out, but should adapt throughout the year to be a bit more finalized based on how the season starts and how quickly I can get the early goals met. First off, getting out and playing some will be key, but more than anything, I need to get back into competitive golf. I haven't played an official tournament since 2005. That's a long dry spell between playing competitive rounds. Now fortunately, I'm a very competitive person, so even my non-competitive rounds were treated mostly like I would play a tournament. In 2018, I plan on entering at least 5 tournaments during the regular season and hopefully at least two of the major qualifiers this year as well. We will see if my new found swing is good enough to make due on those long courses.
Performance Goals: Join a Men's Club - Post an official USGA/GHIN handicap under 3 - Enter 10 Men's Club Events - Compete in Men's Club Championship - Enter Local Qualifier for US Amateur - Enter Local Qualifier for US Mid-AM.
Fitness - It's the dirty word that I hate talking about and I hate doing anything about. It's not so much that I am an anti-fitness guy or that I think gym rats are crazy, but the amount of time that it takes to lose weight and get healthy is just crazy! In 2006, I weight just over 300 pounds and really wanted to start playing golf again, and I mean really playing to a top notch level. So, I visited my local gym for advice. The trainer I talked with said, drop your calorie intake, stop eating fried foods and get out and walk for 30 minutes a day - then come back and see me when you've lost your first 25 pounds. That led me to a crash diet for 3 months where my activity was riding an exercise bike for 30 minutes a day. I'm nearly in the same spot today, but with a limited budget and a child in the house, it's not so easy to purge all the 'junk' food from the house and it's certainly not easy to find a salad when we stop at certain places for a lunch. This has led to the last 5 months of struggling - losing 5 pounds only to put 4 back on in one day. Fortunately, I'm back on track in the new year, being down 11.2 pounds in the new year. I'll continue to push this "cleaner" eating for the next few months to see where I get to by April.
Fitness Goal: I'm not setting an official target this time, but I'm hoping that I can get in better playing shape and increase my yardage off the tee to an even 300 yards before the middle of the season. That's about a 15 yard increase over average and about 10 yards over my summer distances. I'd also like to see myself fit in to more off the shelf clothing and just improve my overall health.
That is how my 2018 is going to get started. 25 swings and 10 minutes of putting a day, a few chipping sessions a week, getting into that men's club and competing in a few tournaments this summer and losing some weight and increasing my flexibility. If I can manage all that, I should be ready for those USGA qualifiers by the end of summer. If not, it will at least be fun to try and get there.
No comments:
Post a Comment