For many of us, the winter has been spent making swing changes, whether that’s a new takeaway, improving weight shift or trying to find a more reliable ball flight.
I’ve been doing the same. Over the last few months, I’ve gone deep into the changes I’ve wanted to make in my swing for a long time – the things I knew needed to improve if I wanted to take my game to the next level.
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It’s when we can test our game on the course, learn what’s working and build the habits that will help us perform once the pressure of having a card in our hand returns. Here are five ways to start preparing your game for the competitive season ahead.
Use Casual Rounds To Build Confidence
Before those competitions arrive, casual rounds are incredibly valuable. Even if conditions are still muddy or more challenging than usual, they’re a brilliant way to benchmark where your game is at.
Casual rounds also give you the freedom to experiment. You can test the swing changes you’ve been working on over the winter and see how they behave on the course. Or try recovery shots you might avoid when there’s a scorecard present.
Can I get through that gap? Does it pay to be safe or bold here? Sometimes those experiments lead to confidence-building moments. Other times they reveal which risks simply aren’t worth taking.
You might discover, for example, that the punch shot under a tree that you thought you could pull off often ends up clipping a branch and dropping straight down.
Those little lessons are incredibly useful. Every round becomes a source of information about which shots you can rely on and which ones might be better avoided when your score actually matters.
Shift Your Practice From Technique To Target
The winter months are often focused on technical work. But as the season approaches, it becomes increasingly important to shift your focus from mechanics to performance.
This is something I’m working on myself at the moment, balancing swing…
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