“I used to write down that five times I wanted to win, I wanted to win The Race To Dubai, I wanted to win The FedEx Cup…but it’s impossible to control. There are so many variables. There are so many variables.
When I am helping students set goals, I start with their dreams (and the motivation to achieve them), and then shift our focus to goals the player can control.
It doesn’t work to try and win
Why set goals for tournament winners? Isn’t this what we want?
We all want to achieve success, but setting our sights on this form of success can hinder us from reaching it.
The final score or where we finish in a tournament is our measure of success. This can cause us to feel pressure and impede our ability to do the things that we need to keep moving forward. If your goal is to hit every shot as well as possible and follow your pre-shot routine (among other things on your mental scorecard), then there will be less pressure and trying than if “the success of the round is all about me finishing”.
Also, rankings and finishes in tournaments are affected by things you can’t control (i.e. The performance of other players as well as other factors. Setting goals with a greater degree of uncertainty around them can cause anxiety and frustration. Your success is not measured by your rankings or results. We can shift our focus from tournament wins and other outcome goals to more manageable goals. This will allow us to be free to focus on what is necessary for our dreams.
Rory stated this week that he could control his stats if he has better results than last year when he started a new season of golf. I want my distance to the hole within 150 yards to be a specific number. I also want my strokes gained in putting to be a particular number. I want to hit more than 60% of fairways.”
Rory McIlroy Goal Setting Process
Rory McIlroy’s goal setting process revolves around “Performance Goals”, which are stats that he believes will improve his overall play over the course a season.
Once you have established your performance goals, you can break them down into the “Process Goals”, which are action steps. These are the things you have complete control of. E.g. You might set goals for your gym workouts if increasing club head speed is one goal. Rory set a goal to hit at least 60% fairways. You might focus more on driving and course strategy. You can do a game analysis to identify the areas that will help you improve your overall performance. Set short-term (3 months) as well as long-term (season-long) goals and then build your practice sessions around these goals. This will help you focus on what YOU are doing, and not what others are doing. This will help you get closer to your long-term goals.
Dreamstime.com
Instruction For The Mental Game of Golf first published The Rory McIlroy Goal Set Process.
By: David MacKenzie
Title: The Rory McIlroy Goal Setting Process
Sourced From: golfstateofmind.com/rory-mcilroy-goal-setting-process/
Published Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2022 19:03:20 +0000
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