Holding Yourself Accountable...

[Obee]

In a different thread, @CMCSGolf mentioned Mike Booker's new book on tournament play for the serious golfer. He said that the book focuses on three things:

1. Get yourself prepared before the tournament
2. Play lots of golf/tournaments
3. Hold yourself very accountable

 

The "Hold yourself very accountable" part is incredibly important for people who want to both improve and break through and play their best golf in tournaments/competitions. However, interestingly, what people need to hold themselves accountable for can be quite different from person to person. For instance, for me, it means:

• Be accountable to get practice short game and putting for just an hour or two every week
• Hit balls for at least 30 minutes once a week (my back can't take extended practice sessions any more)
• Get to the course early on each day of a given tournament (I frequently show up with 30 minutes to tee time and don't have time to properly warm up)
• If I'm going to consume alcohol when I play, do it in moderation (maybe a shot before I tee off and then another at the turn)
• Remember to breathe and walk slowly if I start to take a round more than a couple under par

 

For other types of people, they have no trouble doing that kind of stuff above at all. They struggle with:

• Creating and/or consistently using a pre-shot routine
• Staying "in the moment" on pre-shot/shots
• Having any kind of realistic or helpful "post shot routine" (this is HUGE for those who want to improve their ball striking, shot selection, target selection, etc.)
  • An entire book could be written about the value of a post-shot routine
  • For a certain level and type of golfer (the golfer with a good amount of talent for the game) so much of what happens on a bad shot is due to what happened well before the shot was even executed (lie assessment, weather conditions, shot selection relative to pin placement and green firmness, etc., etc., etc.)
  • If you don't have a post-shot routine, you never learn from these mistakes that happened before you even hit the damn shot!

 

In the article that I wrote years ago, one of the things I mention is that you must truly "pay attention" when playing, practicing, preparing, etc. --  which dovetails nicely with the concept of "holding oneself accountable." After all, you simply can't hold yourself accountable unless you are paying attention, right?

Anywho, just some random thoughts on a Monday morning as I head into tournament season. Big tournament this week in Palm Springs. GolfWeek Senior Amateur. Fantastic field. Looking for a top 5 in this one. Feeling decent, so we shall see ....

Edited March 27, 2023 by Obee
typo

[Ross_Albatross]

1 hour ago, Obee said:

After all, you simply can't hold yourself accountable unless you are paying attention, right?
 

I'm definitely not at that level (yet!) as I've been playing regularly only for the last 3 years... but a tangent of this was, for me, to gather the correct information - data on all of my games / shots... to objectively figure out what are/were my weaknesses rather than just best guesstimating it, to have realistic expectations - and hold myself accountable to get better; with an objective benchmark

[getitdaily]

Post shot routine...can be interesting. 

 

For me, I'm assessing how yhe wind affected the ball, whether I selected the right shot (did I try to draw a 5i into a left pin when I know to not to), and how much the temp or humidity is affecting distance.

 

After the round I go over where I cost myself so I constantly evaluate my on-course execution against my strategy. This is how I reinforce the mental decisions that have to be made quickly on the course.

 

196 to a back left pin - is not a draw 5i for this fader. It's a 5i to the center of the green and try to make a putt. 

[tipuga93]

Big, big believer in post shot routine. I read a tip somewhere a couple of years ago that suggested drawing an imaginary line a few feet ahead of you after you've hit your shot and once you walk past that imaginary line any thought about the previous shot is forgotten and it's on to the next shot. Works wonders for me. I'll still utter some commentary under my breath and may even be visibly flustered but as soon as I cross my imaginary "line" it's like flipping a light switch and I'm on to thinking about my next shot.

[CMCSGolf]

4 hours ago, Obee said:

• Creating and/or consistently using a pre-shot routine
• Staying "in the moment" on pre-shot/shots
• Having any kind of realistic or helpful "post shot routine" (this is HUGE for those who want to improve their ball striking, shot selection, target selection, etc.)
  • An entire book could be written about the value of a post-shot routine
  • For a certain level and type of golfer (the golfer with a good amount of talent for the game) so much of what happens on a bad shot is due to what happened well before the shot was even executed (lie assessment, weather conditions, shot selection relative to pin placement and green firmness, etc., etc., etc.)
  • If you don't have a post-shot routine, you never learn from these mistakes that happened before you even hit the damn shot!

Booker really focuses on these items in his book.  He also talks a lot about shrugging off the bad breaks.

 

He makes a distinction between a "Tournament Golfer" and a "Golfer who plays tournaments".  The Tournament Golfer holds himself accountable to an extreme degree in many of the ways @Obeementioned.  When his ball takes a bad bounce, he relishes in the challenge and knows that's part of the game.  More importantly, he is honest with himself when something bad occurs.  Was he unfocused or did he make a mental mistake? Was it a bad swing that happens to even the best players?  Whatever the item, he get's to the true cause because he is ruthlessly accountable. 

 

Everyone can read Booker's book.  It's short and super easy to rad.  It probably takes you less time than to play a round of golf.

[ferrispgm]

Post shot is extremely important and highly underrated IMO.  Learning to accept the outcome of a shot has helped me massively.  I used to get upset as a 5 cap when I didn't hit 9 iron inside of 20 feet.  now as a +3, I only get upset if I miss the green and even then I don't treat it like it's a big deal.  Ppl need to realize that bad swings happen and you aren't going to hit everything well.  Often times the reaction to the bad shot is worse than the shot itself and then it puts you in a failure mindset.

 

I would also add that focus when practicing is huge.  Really focus on what you're doing for 20 minutes and trying to make a change, be deliberate about it.  Going out and mindlessly hitting balls is exercise.  I practice at the same range every week and there are a good amount of regulars.  No joke, nearly all of them have something new they are working on each week and that new thing is usually abandoned after 10 minutes. 

[CMCSGolf]

@ferrispgmand @Obee, Could you guys give as detailed of a walkthrough as you're willing on your post shot routine?  I've attempted this, but mine is very simple and I wonder if it could be better.

 

For starters, here's what I've done (though not consistently): For every hole that results in a bogey, I attempt to identify exactly what the cause was and assign the lost stroke to it.  Could be, something technical like bad drive/poor chip or could be something mental like picked a bad target/uncommitted to the shot.  If two things went wrong, I'll split it to the half shot.  At the end of a week, I'll look at what I believe was the cause of my lost shots.

 

The limitation here is it does not rate every shot and there is not focus on positive outcomes.  The good part is that it's simple and easy to implement.

[xabia]

Golf is really all about accountability in the end if you subscribe to the idea that you are only as good as your misses. This is a timely thread as I recently laid out a plan to force myself the be accountable for what I am producing on the course. My plan is to log each shot of each round but in a way that works for me and the I way I think (excluding putting). Every shot I try and hit has a plan whether that is "aim for the bush off of the right bunker and draw it back" or whatever it may be, its never just get up there and hit, just like all good players. My issue is that I always have that plan but never keep track of what actually happened in regards to that plan - just whether or not I hit it ok or not and kind of go from there. The plan entails tracking the result of that shot but distinctly against what the plan was. By doing this time and time again I will see how consistent these results are and what it implies for my swing. Thankfully, I have an excellent memory especially with golf, so I will actually be able to accomplish this without furiously scribbling, but for me, it will force myself to see what the flaws are and how I have not actually been fixing them.  It can be painful to force yourself to see your weaknesses in such a way, but improvement can not come without some form of discomfort. 

 

Glad to see that this concept has also been stated above by other posters. 

[Obee]

13 hours ago, CMCSGolf said:

@ferrispgmand @Obee, Could you guys give as detailed of a walkthrough as you're willing on your post shot routine?  I've attempted this, but mine is very simple and I wonder if it could be better.

 

For starters, here's what I've done (though not consistently): For every hole that results in a bogey, I attempt to identify exactly what the cause was and assign the lost stroke to it.  Could be, something technical like bad drive/poor chip or could be something mental like picked a bad target/uncommitted to the shot.  If two things went wrong, I'll split it to the half shot.  At the end of a week, I'll look at what I believe was the cause of my lost shots.

 

The limitation here is it does not rate every shot and there is not focus on positive outcomes.  The good part is that it's simple and easy to implement.

 

My post shot routine is VERY short:

After hitting a good to great shot: <think to self> "Now THAT is how David Ober hits a golf shot." You internalize and imprint the GOOD.

 

After hitting a less than stellar shot: <think to self> "Whoops, that was a bit quick there, David. That whole process from not having a clear shot in mind to the step in to the pulling the trigger to the transition. Slow down and stick to your routine. Just because you're 4-under and leading the tournament right now, doesn't mean we've got this in the bag. Walk slowly. Think slowly. Swing with purpose."

 

Or, could be: <think to self> "C'mon David, that wind is definitely hurting AND you were into the wind, AND it's cold this morning. That was at least 2 extra clubs there. Let's put that in the memory bank for the rest of the day..."

Something like that. Make sense?

Edited March 28, 2023 by Obee

[jonsnow]

21 hours ago, Obee said:

In a different thread, @CMCSGolf mentioned Mike Booker's new book on tournament play for the serious golfer. He said that the book focuses on three things:

1. Get yourself prepared before the tournament
2. Play lots of golf/tournaments
3. Hold yourself very accountable

 

The "Hold yourself very accountable" part is incredibly important for people who want to both improve and break through and play their best golf in tournaments/competitions. However, interestingly, what people need to hold themselves accountable for can be quite different from person to person. For instance, for me, it means:

• Be accountable to get practice short game and putting for just an hour or two every week
• Hit balls for at least 30 minutes once a week (my back can't take extended practice sessions any more)
• Get to the course early on each day of a given tournament (I frequently show up with 30 minutes to tee time and don't have time to properly warm up)
• If I'm going to consume alcohol when I play, do it in moderation (maybe a shot before I tee off and then another at the turn)
• Remember to breathe and walk slowly if I start to take a round more than a couple under par

 

For other types of people, they have no trouble doing that kind of stuff above at all. They struggle with:

• Creating and/or consistently using a pre-shot routine
• Staying "in the moment" on pre-shot/shots
• Having any kind of realistic or helpful "post shot routine" (this is HUGE for those who want to improve their ball striking, shot selection, target selection, etc.)
  • An entire book could be written about the value of a post-shot routine
  • For a certain level and type of golfer (the golfer with a good amount of talent for the game) so much of what happens on a bad shot is due to what happened well before the shot was even executed (lie assessment, weather conditions, shot selection relative to pin placement and green firmness, etc., etc., etc.)
  • If you don't have a post-shot routine, you never learn from these mistakes that happened before you even hit the damn shot!

 

In the article that I wrote years ago, one of the things I mention is that you must truly "pay attention" when playing, practicing, preparing, etc. --  which dovetails nicely with the concept of "holding oneself accountable." After all, you simply can't hold yourself accountable unless you are paying attention, right?

Anywho, just some random thoughts on a Monday morning as I head into tournament season. Big tournament this week in Palm Springs. GolfWeek Senior Amateur. Fantastic field. Looking for a top 5 in this one. Feeling decent, so we shall see ....

[ferrispgm]

17 hours ago, CMCSGolf said:

@ferrispgmand @Obee, Could you guys give as detailed of a walkthrough as you're willing on your post shot routine?  I've attempted this, but mine is very simple and I wonder if it could be better.

 

For starters, here's what I've done (though not consistently): For every hole that results in a bogey, I attempt to identify exactly what the cause was and assign the lost stroke to it.  Could be, something technical like bad drive/poor chip or could be something mental like picked a bad target/uncommitted to the shot.  If two things went wrong, I'll split it to the half shot.  At the end of a week, I'll look at what I believe was the cause of my lost shots.

 

The limitation here is it does not rate every shot and there is not focus on positive outcomes.  The good part is that it's simple and easy to implement.

Very simple for me....Hit the shot, decide if I made a mistake judging conditions or if it was a bad swing, sing a song in my head the whole way up to the next shot. I find that dwelling on anything more than a few seconds is a waste of time and leads to worse scores.  I do most of the assessing after the round. I normally play really early so when I'm done i take a 15 minute nap at home.  When I close my eyes I go through the bad shots and think about how I could do better.....If its a bad swing I can't do much but if it was mental or carelessness I make a note of it in my head and try to pay better attention next time.  

[Barfolomew]

Great thread Obee... 🐈

 

So many good players know exactly how they like to hit a certain club and shot but they dont "wrap" that decent skill with what you're talkin about, being accountable to help them repeat good play, so then on tourney day that club skill that has a lot of time invested in it doesn't get to shine through...... and that can confuse and maybe frustrate good players when they dont play up to their ability.