Why Golfers Need to Become Goalies

I’ll be honest – the only reason I liked playing soccer was that I could be a goalie and use my hands (see picture). However, in this post, I’m talking about a different kind of goalie. My golfer goalie makes goals the backbone of my practice. Doing so makes it easy to be honest about what I need to improve and inspires me to work hard toward that improvement every day.

As off season comes upon us, I find it important to take a moment to review the goals I set last year and create some new ones. I would be lost without goals - I would have less motivation to get out of bed in the mornings, I would have unproductive practices, and I would feel like I have little to celebrate after training all day.

I split my list into external and internal goals. The external goals mainly surround experiences in which I have zero control. For example, advancing through LPGA Qualifying School, consistently placing top 15 in my NWGA mini tour events, lowering my putts per round to 28, etc. Zero control doesn’t equate to zero importance – these external goals are the ones that motivate me to work hard all day, erry day.

How I give myself the best chance to achieve these goals is found in my internal goals. These can range from completing specific drills each day to practicing mental imagery – whatever it takes to make those external goals a reality. Like one of my college teammates says, if I improve 1% each day, I’m doing just fine. With that in mind, I feel optimistic after an organized practice because I can see my improvement in the statistics I track. Accomplishing these internal goals, little by little, is a huge reason to celebrate – I’m getting closer to my dream!

All it comes down to is putting in the work off the course that will ensure confidence next time I’m on the course, and goals will help me achieve that more effectively. While my soccer career was quite short, I hope my golfer goalie will be with me a long time. We have much left to accomplish!