8/25: Fall Player Development Advice
Fall is almost here! How will you spend your time improving your game?
I think it is a great time to do some analysis of your summer tournaments and figure out what has been working and what hasn’t been working… Did you achieve all of your summer goals? Everything starts with assessing what you have been up to and where you want to go. The fall is an interesting time of year as we have shorter days with less light and we have school schedules to manage. But this is also the same time of year the Fall College Golf Season is played so you have to be good in college at managing all. So there are 2 unique situations here. One in which certain players will need to be in tournament mode and others in practice mode.
Practice Mode
Set up with your golf coach a lesson schedule that is strategic. In your early fall training sessions, spend some time with your coach to evaluate your recent play and what your goals are for the fall season and what your goals are for next year. Attack all weaknesses and turn them into strengths and sharpen your strengths so everything is getting better. If a bigger change to your game is needed then the Fall season is the best time to do it. Maybe not play any or as many tournaments and really work on your game to take it to the next level.
Tournament Playing Mode
For those players who are in need of playing experience, building your tournament resume, and trying to prepare for your future college golf fall experiences it is best to play 1-2 competitive tournaments per month. Best way to handle it is look ahead and schedule your events as best you can around your school schedule. Select events you will have time to play practice rounds so you have that feel of having an advantage and knowing enough about the course to be in contention. As you compete, play with a mindset that it isn’t like summer so you may not be as sharp as you were when you were playing everyday all day. I highly recommend when possible to play or practice on the golf course the Friday afternoon before every weekend tournament. It is good to see what you have been working on transfer to the golf course so you don’t have those early struggles many players experience when they haven’t had enough time to transfer their improvements onto the course.
For those players who are in need of playing experience, building your tournament resume, and trying to prepare for your future college golf fall experiences it is best to play 1-2 competitive tournaments per month. Best way to handle it is look ahead and schedule your events as best you can around your school schedule. Select events you will have time to play practice rounds so you have that feel of having an advantage and knowing enough about the course to be in contention. As you compete, play with a mindset that it isn’t like summer so you may not be as sharp as you were when you were playing everyday all day. I highly recommend when possible to play or practice on the golf course the Friday afternoon before every weekend tournament. It is good to see what you have been working on transfer to the golf course so you don’t have those early struggles many players experience when they haven’t had enough time to transfer their improvements onto the course.
Thank you for reading… If you have any questions or comments please send to chrissmeal@gmail.com
Read More in the August Issue of FCG Magazine
Also check out Chris’s 10 Tips for High School Golfers Article