Masters Week!

For some it starts the golf season, others see it as the second weekend in April when the flowers start to bloom, my friends up north find it to be re-energizing after a long winter. For me, it is the greatest week of the year. The historical, mythical, beautiful, Augusta National comes alive for all to see, only to reward those on top of their game and punish the players that just might not have it.

From now until the end of the Masters, please come back to this blog for analysis from the Tournament on topics that might pertain to your game!

MASTERS PREPARATION

Most of you have events throughout the year that you have to make preparations for. All week on the Golf Channel experts have been discussing the preparation decisions that the participants of the Masters have been making. Some take the week off and practice, some are playing in Houston this week, other players decide to have practice rounds at Augusta. I think it is very important that you develop ways that you get ready for competitions.

I find it interesting when a student comes to me a few days from an event and wants me to get him ready for a tournament. The fact is, it takes more than a few days to get your golf games in shape to be in competition form. Dr. Bob Rotella, a leading Sports Physiologist says there are two frame of minds for practice: Training Mentality and Trusting Mentality. In the days leading up to your tournaments you need to work starting in Training Mentality which focuses on working on swing techniques. As you get closer to the event, you need to decrease your Training Mentality and move to Trusting Mentality where you simply trust the training you have put in and react to your situations.

Lets say a player has a member-guest tournament in a two weeks. I would love it if he goes out onto the course and plays around of golf with friends. Following the round, he should take a moment to analyze what went well and what might not have gone the way he wanted. That is when you call your golf professional and seek out some additional help in the Training Mentality. If the instructor is good, he will address your issues and give you a plan to work on each part of the game working up to the event.

One week out, the player needs to be finished with instruction. This is when he truly needs to work towards Trusting Mentality and focus at least 15 min on each of the three parts of the game (full swing, chipping, putting) for every practice session. These 45 min practice sessions are highly realistic for the busy working person. Schedule them as much as you can on the days up to your challenge. Make sure that when you enter the practice round or the tournament, you are focused on trusting what you have. Don't continue to work on something your pro said you should work on, just TRUST IT.