If You Haven't Achieved Your End-Of-Season Golf Goals, Here's 7 Reasons Why (And How To Fix Them)

As the season draws to a close it provides the perfect time to reflect on your golf and ask the question, “Did I achieve my goals this year?” If your answer is a resounding no, I’m here to help you understand why you may have struggled.

Setting Goals Is The Easy Part

Setting goals is fun, they provide meaning and purpose and give you that instant surge of excitement and optimism for the pending new and improved version of your game. The trouble is writing ‘break 90’ or ‘hit longer drives’ can make you feel like you have already achieved them.

The real challenge isn’t dreaming big but building the habits and actions that carry you from the excitement of January into the reality of July.

Less Is More

You went too big! We are told to dream big and shoot for the stars, but from my experience when it comes to setting goals, it’s best to opt for stepping stones rather than huge milestones.

Aim to break your goals for the year down into quarters, as what you work on throughout the seasons will likely look different. Ask yourself, what I can do over the next 12 weeks to help me achieve this goal and then review and plan your next quarter.

You’re Not Realistic

Now this is a biggie and is something we are all likely guilty of. The goals people often set themselves while sitting comfortably do not reflect the reality of the work that their future selves will have to do.

It’s no good saying you want to be the best golfer in the county if you are not even the best golfer in your club. Just as it’s no good saying you want to be able to drive the ball 250 yards when you have a swing speed of 80mph.

That’s not to say you are incapable of hitting the ball further, you just need to have a different strategy to make marginal gains to improve your distance, like firstly working on your efficiency, then your speed and striking.

Misplaced Focus

You lost sight of the purpose of trying to improve, which is to play better golf, and playing better golf ultimately means shooting lower scores.

As mentioned above, a common goal is to hit the ball further. Let’s say you gain some yardage, now what? Are you going to be able to convert that into hitting more greens and lowering your scores?

Think about your whole game and where you’re losing shots. Would your time be better spent working on your chipping and putting?

Focus is also lost when comparing yourself to others, which again is a waste of time and energy. Our golf swings are unique, and real progress comes when you learn to work with what you’ve got, rather than what you think you should be doing.

Systems Create Outcomes

All goals but no process. Let’s say you set the goal to practice three times a week through the winter months, but practice day rolls around and it’s cold, you’re tired after work and you don’t feel like it. That is completely normal, which is why you need a system in place.

Checking the weather the night before and packing appropriate warm clothing can remove that friction point. Having a practice session plan of 30 minutes minimum means your session is achievable.

Removing guesswork to your practice and planning properly are essential tools to develop, and all tie in with focusing on the small things that compound to make the big differences.

Your Environment Didn’t Support Your Goals

You can’t grow flowers in the wrong soil and if you have a highly demanding job and family commitments, making big improvements may not be possible right now. Consider your environment and if it supports your goals or makes achieving them more difficult. Then look at what you can change.

If your club has limited practice facilities you will need to find somewhere that has what you need and is convenient for you to visit. It may also be a case of right now you have a lot on in life that takes priority, but that likely won’t always be the case and when the time is right you will have more flexibility and opportunity to curate the right environment that supports your goals.

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

You bought the best women's golf clubs, you spent money on lessons, but there was one vital ingredient missing, work! Like a chick pecking out of its shell or a butterfly struggling to emerge from its chrysalis, it is the strength of the struggle that prepares them for life in the outside world.

To improve at anything, especially golf, there has to be a level of discomfort as you work on things that you find difficult, as that’s how you level up. Get nervous in matches, play in more of them to get used to feeling wobbly on 3-foot pressure putts. Practice having to make twenty in a row before you can leave the practice putting green. Embrace the nerves, embrace the discomfort that comes with true progress.

I’m a big fan of goal setting. Having aspirations for your life, work and hobbies isn’t just about productivity it’s about striving to achieve, which I believe is good for the soul.

Remember to keep things fun. If chasing your goals starts to feel like a chore or too much, change things up and create goals that excite and motivate you, because as frustrating a game as golf can be it is meant to be fun!