Why you should take action now for the 2018 golf season

It seems in no more than a blink of an eye we have gone from looking forward to the season ahead to the curtain being drawn on yet another golfing year.

The summer days and light nights draw to a close and all we have to look forward to is getting up in the dark and coming home from work in the dark as the cloak of another long winter wraps around us.

It has been a memorable year in many ways. We will probably still be talking for years to come about how Jordan Spieth came back from the edge of the abyss to make perhaps the greatest bogey in the history of the game on the 13th at Royal Birkdale before going on to lift the Claret Jug.

Then there was Harry Ellis winning the British Amateur at a sun-drenched Royal St George’s, coming back in the final from four down with five to play to secure his place in next year’s Masters at Augusta.

It is very easy as the weather turns to put the clubs away and forget about them until next spring.

We then dust them down, bring them out of their hiding place and hope the season ahead is going to be a good one.

My belief, however, is a great season next year for your golf will start with what you do this winter; the way you either progress your game with the actions you take or how you let it stagnate.

We are drawn towards visions of possibility. What could be possible for your game in the next 12 months? What would it be like if you could look back on 2018 with real pride as you reflect on what turned out to be one of the best years of your golfing life? Could it be possible?

My belief is a resounding ‘yes’, if you decide to take action now to move towards the vision of where you want to go with your game.

First of all, create that vision and then take action to move towards that vision. What would you really want to do with your game? Do you want to play for your county? Do you want to break 100? Do you just want to play your own game in the way that you see it to be of purpose to you personally?

The goal of the game is to score as low as possible but the purpose of the game is for you to decide alone.

When you have clarity of purpose as to why you are doing this thing called golf you are then much more likely to take the appropriate action.

When delegates come to the Mind Factor course I run once a year in Manchester they often say they realise it is impossible to see the system when you are in the system.

We often don’t see the wood for the trees and it is seemingly impossible to break the shackles of our embedded patterns and habitual routines.

This is the value that good coaching can provide. I cannot recommend highly enough how important it is to spend time with a coach you trust and get a neutral appraisal of what is really going on with your game.

Work with someone who can share your passion to get better and improve. It can be a great starting point in a coaching relationship to simply ask a coach what he or she thinks and feels could be achieved with the right approach.

Human beings respond extraordinarily well to challenges. The trick is to set the challenge and then surround yourself with the kind of people who could support that challenge.

Never underestimate the effect that people who you spend a lot of time with can have on your future.

It may well be you are honest with yourself about your fitness and nutrition and you take the appropriate steps to a well fuelled and flexible body.

Was there a particular part of your game consistently letting you down last year? Could some quality time with a putting specialist or a short game coach give you the platform for better scoring next year? Could you use the winter time to get out and play some links courses?

The onset of winter can be potentially demoralising or it can energise you depending on the perspective you take. That perspective is yours alone to choose.