What ’ s Your Summer Golf Training Plan ?
By Nick Duffy and Zach Parker , BGGA Senior Coaches
Once school is out for the summer and you have several months to dedicate to your golf game , be sure to have a plan for how you ’ re going to get the most out of your game during this time .
Your summer training plan should be all about maintenance and tournament prep . You should have done all the technical work required in the lead up to summer . If you ’ re playing summer tournaments , you shouldn ’ t be making swing changes and overhauls in your game .
The most effective way to train for big events is to play into the events . It will allow you to be comfortable and in a competitive frame of mind . Don ’ t spend three weeks training for a big event .
Think about building a schedule with a strategy of knowing you have four or five days in between each event and what you want to achieve in those days . The first day or two could be going back to the priorities you ’ ve worked on with your coach the entire year , evaluating where you are and then creating playable fields for the weekend .
After each event , look at your statistics to see what parts of your game you should be working on before the next event . Track the modern statistics and not just greens , fairways and putts . Those don ’ t really tell you much . Keep stats to determine your weaknesses . You can make your practice schedule reflective of that . If you had a tournament in which you hit it well , chipped it ok and putted poorly , your training should have more time putting , not as much time chipping and less time on ball striking .
Don ’ t just monitor your statistics during the summer . A player needs to be tracking their stats throughout the entire year . When you evaluate your statistics , it ’ s important to not just look at a snapshot of one weekend but the trends throughout the entire year or season . That way you ’ re building a program that improves your game overall and not just one area .
To make the most of your summer break , there needs to be a clear plan and build your game around what you want .
If you ’ re really in that competitive frame of mind , your training needs to prepare you for the rigors of that . Continue to stretch , do your fitness , but also work on your course management and the way that you ’ re going to score even if you ’ re not playing your best golf . Playing week in and week out teaches you how to play the game , not how to swing .