Why Goal Setting Is The Foundation For Better Golf

Most people that read the Fairway Time don't know this. I got my start in the golf space as a Sport and Performance Psychology Consultant. I received my master's degree and my research was built around D1 Golfers and Baseball Players. I still own and operate my own private practice working with Juniors up to Professionals. That is why I started this category. Not everyone can work with someone like me on a week to week basis. I want this category to serve as something people can consistently read each week and grab a mental game nugget that will help them shoot better scores.

Goal Setting is the foundation of all cognitive performance. If we don't know where we are going, we certainly can't build a road to get there. On that road, we make stops along the way to get gas/food or rest (aka reevaluate and make sure we are still on the path we want to be on). Now as I begin writing in the "My Golf Journey" you guys can see that I am nowhere near the level yet to qualify for a US Open. The problem is I see players who are an 8 handicap telling me they want to do just that "this year". Why would you set yourself up for failure? I would love to be an astronaut and go to the moon tomorrow (although that's a separate tangent since we probably have never been). The point is if I say that my goal for tomorrow, I am setting my brain and emotions up for failure.

This is why I love the SMART Goal framework. What is it that you ask?

S: Specific

M: Measurable

A: Attainable

R: Relevant

T: Time Bound

When you write out a golf goal, it needs to be this criterion. Within this there should be 3 types. Long Term, Medium Term, and Daily. I will give you an example below of using this system with one of my junior players.

Long Term: I want to play collegiate golf at the D1 or D2 level by the time I am 21 (this player is most likely going the Junior College Route first)

Medium: I want to improve my 3 release system around the greens by June. Right now in chipping practice I am succeeding in my pressure drills 5/10 balls on average between low, medium, and high trajectories. By June I want to improve this to 7/10.

Daily (this changes every day). Today during my pressure chipping practice I am only going to focus on my breathing every shot. This will allow me to control my heart rate better.

It's that simple yet no one does this every day. Most of us are not going to be tour players, but this is also a framework to dominate life in general. Get yourself a cheap notebook and write this out every morning or night. Whatever you are trying to achieve, I promise you are going to improve. What are your golf goals for 2026, sound off in the comments!