8 Topics Essential to Getting the Most Out of Your Preparation

written by Jon Whithaus

Eight Topics to focus your preparation towards:

1. Compete as much as possible in tournaments, especially amateur tournaments such as state amateur qualifiers and U.S. Amateur qualifiers.
2. Short Game: Work extremely hard on all aspects of your short game. Usually the one thing incoming players notice is the how good older players are at getting the ball up-and-down from anywhere inside 100 yards.
3. Mental Improvements: Having belief in your ability to executive the correct shot. Belief in your ability to shoot scores under 70. Ability to compete without becoming frustrated with mistakes. Patience and letting things happen and not forcing things to happen.
4. Course Management: Becoming better at picking the correct targets. Becoming better at trusting your choices. Becoming better at preparing for a particular course. Becoming better at reading greens and green complexes.
5. Fitness: Any player will not reach his potential if he not fit, strong and flexible.
6. Student of the Game: Reading books on important competitive elements in golf. Topics such as sports psychology (especially books by Bob Rotella, David Cohn, Richard Gordin), short game (especially books by Dave Pelz), the rules of golf, golf course architecture, etc.
7. Hang around the best: Play, practice and/or speak with best players that you can find. This may include other college players (past or present), club pros, club champions, etc. Ask the pro at your home course to help you set up weekly or bi-weekly games with the best players. When you are with the best players, observe them and ask questions; then write down what you notice about their actions and habits, and what they say.
8. Work with someone you trust: Either with your head pro or someone that you trust, take a few lessons and develop a fundamentally sound set-up and routine that you can depend on to produce the shots that you visualize. Make sure to take notes or ask your instructor to write down comments. You will need to refer to those ideas during the future months.