What are your thoughts on improving your golf game during the off-season?
I always ask new clients what their thoughts are.
Most of my new clients respond that they hope to maintain their current level during the off-season and maybe deal with a little bit of rust when the new season kicks off.
This mindset is a HUGE limiting factor when it comes to how good you can get.
You are reducing the amount of time that you have to improve your game by 25 to 50 percent every year!
It's tough enough to make permanent, positive changes without reducing the amount of time that you have to make those changes.
Did you know the touring professionals make all their biggest changes during the off-season?
The reason for this is simple.
When you make a change it takes successful repetitions before you can start to trust that change.
If the change is challenging... it rarely feels good when you first begin to make it.
When it doesn't feel good and your trust level is low the number of successful repetitions will also be low.
It could be the best change in the world but it rarely feels good when you first start making it.
So if you're making a change during the season you're you are making it even more difficult to trust your swing during the middle of the most important part of the year for playing well.
I was very fortunate to work at Torrey Pines for 12 years.
During those 12 years I got to see a interactions with tour pros and their coaches every year during the PGA Tour event.
Since Torrey was often the first tournament of the year for many of the pros... A lot of that interaction was the coaches helping the pros trust the changes they had been making during the offseason.
Seeing this interaction really emphasized the importance of having a set of eyes that you trust to give you accurate feedback and to make sure you're moving in the right direction with the change you're making.
In my experience when left on your own making a change... many golfers will go back to what they were comfortable with before they've had enough time to begin to trust the change.
Have you experienced this before?
You see your swing on video.
You recognize a change that could help your swing get better.
When you try to make that change it feels awful.
The results will also tend to be mixed at best.
When something feels bad and you don't trust it... the results will almost always be mixed.
So after a period of time you go back to where you were before... because it's comfortable and because you trust it.
Even though you know it could be better in the long term if you made the change.
This is not just true for physical swing changes.
This is also true for mental game changes.
It is also true for psychological changes.
The BEST TIME to make ANY changes is during the off-season.
The BEST WAY to make changes is to be working with someone that you trust will do the right thing for you.
NOW Is a great time to start looking at your options for how to become a better golfer before the next season starts.
