Talking in the 19th Hole
DRIVER. Some people hit balls on the driving range without any specific objective or who play the tournaments and tours, just to participate, settling for any result. It is best if you train motivated to achieve a objective, for example, improve your shoulder turn or achieve greater distance. It is also better if you play motivated to accomplish a objective, for example, breaking 90 or making the cut. Objectives setting is an excellent psychological strategy that helps increase motivation, strengthens self-confidence, and promotes golf adherence. In general, players are very ambiguous when expressing their objectives; they often say phrases like «I’m going to really want to» or «I’m going to give my best effort», which are wishes, not objectives.
You should set goals that genuinely captivate you, that are challenging, and that is within your means. In golf, you must set objectives that motivate you a lot (pass the cut, win the annual tournament, break 80, etc.) If you fail in making the goal attractive enough, the rest is unnecessary.
Therefore, a good objective indicates the goal to be achieved and determines the course that the behavior must follow to achieve it. Being clear about each class/round’s objective contributes to achieving it; What do I have to get? (objective). Which way do I follow? (plan). How do I advance? (strategy). What difficulties can I find? (prevention of adversity). What will I do if such problems arise? (to always be prepared).
The objectives can be of result or realization
Result objectives. They are the sporting achievements that you want to achieve. For example, be within the first three places in a particular tournament or achieve 80 strokes in a round.
Objectives of realization or execution. The achievements in one’s behavior are the key to achieving the result objectives, for example, mastering a specific movement in the swing: the finish in balance.
The importance of execution objectives is:
– They emphasize the importance of their behavior to influence the results.
– They help you focus and take care of your behavior rather than the results.
– Facilitate performance evaluation.
– They allow you to use your behavior as an indicator of progress instead of the results.
– They increase the perception of self-control. – Increases self-confidence and motivation.
Objectives for their duration
Long-term objectives. They define the direction that the players’ efforts should follow. It is best to start with long-term objectives from which to plan others.
Progressive intermediate objectives. They are closer objectives in time that keep the player motivated. They are progressive intermediate steps to achieve long-term goals.
Short-term objectives. They are objectives that should occupy the attention of the player and their pros as a priority.
The characteristics of the objectives
The concept of SMART objectives refers to an acronym for five characteristics of objectives:
S for specific. The specificity of an objective refers to the details that it must include and solves questions such as what, when, how, where, with what, who, etc. For example, a player may set an objective to improve his swing; this is a very general objective. For the objective to be specific, you must indicate some particular details of the swing, such as hinge the wrists on the backswing when the hands pass the right thigh.
M is measurable. An objective must have a quantitative way of measuring itself to know if it is achieved. For this, it must involve some form of measurement in percentage or quantity. For example, it is not correct to say that the objective is «to improve the putt», it is better than based on an analysis of the putts per round to establish an objective such as «to make 31 putts per round».
A for achievable. Many objectives are not achieved because they seem impossible to achieve or are too ambitious. The objective must be a challenge that is attractive enough for the player but also achievable. For example, if you score 90’s highs, setting an objective to achieve 80’s lows this year doesn’t seem like an achievable goal. You should first set an objective of score 90’s lows. On the other hand, if they are not a challenge, because they are too simple, because they have been achieved before or are not attractive, it will be difficult for them to raise motivation.
R for realistic. A realistic objective considers the potential of the player and the resources he has to achieve it. If you set an objective of hitting 280 yards to the driver when your average is 240 yards, it is not a realistic objective because to achieve it; you require that your stroke increase enough miles per hour that, for now, it is outside your potential.
T of definite time. The objective must have a start time and an end time, so it can be determined if it is met or not. Putting time helps to know if what is being done is optimal to reach the objective on time. For example, if a player sets the objective of having a handicap of 10, it is not enough; it remains determined by what date he plans to achieve it.
Exercise: Write down your long-term realization and results objectives. Based on them, it determines the progressive intermediate objectives and the short-term priority ones. The following is a real example of a female player who obtained a scholarship at a university in the United States. Remember that the objectives can be from the four sports areas: physical, technical, strategy, and mental. FORE.
