What are you doing for your game this winter?  Most likely not a whole lot.  What the cold weather is so useful for though, is creating your game plan.  When the weather doesn’t cooperate, fight back by letting the course know it’s not going to get the best of you this year.  This year you come prepared!

How many great players are great without practice and preparation.  The answer…none.  Of course there is natural ability, but the players that make it to the top and are impressive got there with a plan and a lot of hard work.  The first excuse is usually “Well, I could never play like a pro because I don’t have time to practice like one.”  While that is a very valid point, it is even more reason to design a plan.  If you, like the rest of us, are scheduled from the moment you wake until the moment your head hits the pillow, then every minute counts.  It’s the players who practice the least that need the best game plans.

What should your game plan entail?  Basically you need to look at every area of your game.  Think of a pentagram.  You have 5 points.  The points and not in order of importance are:   1) Fitness 2) Mental Game 3) Equipment 4) Technique or Instruction and 5) Course Management.

Start by making a chart with each point listed at the top.  Next, make a list underneath it of what your goals are for each point.  What do you want to do with that part of your game?  What do you want to do differently?  What do you want to improve on?  How can you make the improvements?  After this you now have your road map for success.  All you need to do now is put in in action by scheduling the time and enlisting the help of a quality pro for assistance.  Charting your progress in each area is a really good idea.  The first step of making the plan is easy for everyone.  It’s sticking to it that’s difficult.  Seeing your progress right in front of your own eyes is nothing but encouraging.  By charting it you may also catch yourself slacking in certain areas.

Once you are set with a game plan I recommend setting up your free Game Tracker and Practice Planner on MyGolfInstructor.com to help track your progress and formulate a complete picture of your golf game.  Here is the link so you can get started today:  http://www.mygolfinstructor.com/

Last week when Brandt Snedeker was interviewed on t.v. he said something I thought was oh, so important.  I’m not sure anyone else really noticed it though.  It was the night before he won the Tour Championship and the Fed Ex Cup.  The newscaster made a comment about  Brandt’s outstanding putting.  He asked Brandt “what in his opinion would he credit for his great performance on the greens.”  The FIRST words out of Brandt’s mouth were “I practice it alot.”

Those are 4 words I think every student of the game should take to heart.  These guys weren’t just born great.  They put in a tremendous amount of time, work, effort and concentration to improving every facet of their game.  Through my years of competing I never knew a great putter who didn’t put in hours and hours on the greens.  You could actually spot the best putters in the field before you even teed off  because where were they…on the greens.  They didn’t practice just because they were good at putting and enjoyed it so much.  They were good and enjoyed it because they practiced.

Back in the days of competing it was common for collegiate players and young pros to pull their cars up to the putting green, crank on the lights and night putt.  If you really wanted to be good, you never stopped.  While playing in tournaments we would putt and chip in the hotel rooms, even using the lines on the tiled floors in the bathroom to perfect our strokes.  What’s great about putting is all you need is to put in the time and you can do it almost anywhere and any time of the year.  You don’t have to be really strong, athletic or coordinated, you just need to practice.  I just asked a student yesterday when was the last time he spent an hour on the green practicing putting.  The answer….”never.”   Believe it or not that is the answer I always get!

Back to Brandt for a minute though.  What has all his hard work and putting practice gotten him?  The largest winning in golf history for one thing.  $11.4 million was Brandt’s take home pay last week after winning the Tour Championship and capturing the Fed Ex Cup!  Brandt is currently 3rd on the PGA Tour money list this year, first in Fed Ex Cup points and of course earned a spot on the Ryder Cup team.   Brandt is first in strokes gained putting and 2nd in total putting,  proving that his tremendous putting is to credit with most of his success.  What can you learn from Brandt?  Practice it a lot!!!

This is a question I get continuously from students.  “How many lessons should I take?”  I have never been one to push lessons as I don’t consider myself a salesman, rather an educator.  I believe everyone learns at their own pace and they have to be willing and ready to accept new information in order for it to soak in and be effective.

Throughout my years of teaching, I have noticed 3 common categories of lesson takers.

1) The “Fix Me” group.  This group consists of students who are having a current problem with their game that is causing them aggravation and just want it fixed as quickly as possible.  They are not in it for long term improvement.  That is not important to them.  These students will show up usually once or twice a year for lessons.

2)  The “Maintenance” group.  This group comes out every year.  On average they show up quarterly for swing/game checks to make sure they are doing things correctly and not picking up bad habits.  They like new information in small doses.

3)  The “Game Improvement” group.   This is the group that is really serious about taking their game to the next level.  These students will come out for a package of lessons which most commonly consists of between 4 and 8 lessons.  They usually schedule the lessons on a regular basis either weekly or bi-weekly so they will stick to the program.  They are really wanting to make a leap with their game and know that consistency and effort are paramount.  Typically they will do multiple lessons packages and will see huge improvement rather quickly.

No instructor can tell you how many lessons you need.  They can try to predict how many based on experience, but it is really up to you to decide which category suits your game and your desires.  Obviously all teachers would like their students to be in the “Game Improvement” category as we know it will make a huge difference, but it only will if that is what the student really wants.