Happy New Year Team Titleist, Sounds good to me Darius. I already started on my goals for golf for 2014 as soon as the courses closed because of snow in 2013. I would like a index of 5. Beat the Pro at the course at least once but it's fun either way. Be consistent with 4 and 5 iron. I hit them alright but last weekend I hit my 6 iron 220 yards. Still early in my training but pretty sure the 4 and 5 iron will pass the 6 iron. Even if not needed, would like to hit them like they should be hit.

My goals are pretty simple. 

1) Hit more greens 2) Sink more putts I've been doing a LOT of work on my putting and chipping so far during the winter. Taking some wristiness out of the iron swing too.

Larry

Darius, this is a great discussion to start. I urge everyone who's serious about their game to jump on board and set some goals for the year. Although goals don't have to be shared with others, they have to be written down to be real. I did it last year for the first time and it was a tremendous help. Of course along with having a goal one must have a plan to achieve the goal. 

My goal for 2014 is to get my handicap index down to 3.0. To put it in perspective, in 2013 I went from a 7.6 to a 5.0.

My plan to lower my scores will be accomplished through a number of initiatives. The first of which I have already started, is fitness. I am already a couple of months into my new fitness routine that focuses on being stronger and more flexible. Apart from the standard strength and conditioning work there is some great golf specific fitness instruction on the TPI website. For those who have never been to the TPI website you should check it out. There are some great episodes featuring the fitness routines of Adam Scott and Jason Zuback. There's a reason they can swing a club like they do!

The second part of my plan is to practice more effectively and improve upon my weaknesses. The biggest weakness in my game is hitting fairways. The rest of my game is no where near perfect but is not a hindrance in getting to a 3.0 index. For the last ten rounds of golf last year I recorded detailed statistics of my game and found that I was hitting less than 50% of fairways and my propensity to bogey or double bogey a hole with a missed fairway was much higher. For 2014 my goal will be to hit 60% of fairways. Practice will be a big part of it but I am also going to get fit for a new driver.

The third part is course navigation/game management. Better club selection through more accurate yardages (I got a SkyCaddie for Christmas). 

Hope I didn't lose anyone through this lengthy War & Peace like post. 

What a great post...

You raised some great points regarding course management, tracking your results and statistics, and practicing effectively (rather than just hitting balls.)

I also agree that it is good to write down your goals so that you can go back in the fall and see how you did. Then re-evaluate the reasons why you either did or did not achieve them.

I have to say I am REALLY impressed that you have set a goal to drop down to a 3.0 index. I managed to get down to a 6.2 from an 8 something, and I have to say that was really tough compared to when I was trying to drop to an 8 from a 10. It seems that the lower you are the harder it is to shave the strokes. Particularly if you are looking at the averaging used in handicapping.

Best of luck Travis...

Darius

Thanks for the encouragement Darius. You are correct with regards to lowering your handicap; it is more difficult the lower the handicap. However I think it becomes easier to identify what your barriers are to lowering your handicap. You have to know what's holding you back from shooting better scores. This will allow you to focus your efforts and ultimately shoot better scores.

Also, I encourage you to be aggressive with your goals and plan to achieve those goals. Good luck in 2014, may it be your best year ever!

Hey Darius - Happy New Year to you! I'm looking to get back to a +2 this year after doing some pretty major swing work and working through an injury in the last year. 

My focus for the winter is getting stronger in the gym to generate more speed with the same effort and control. Once the season arrives I'll focus on improving my putting after doing some TOMI work this winter and getting comfortable with the swing changes on the course. 

Specifics would be to lower putts per round, gain 5-10 yards off the tee and I've set scoring goals to be in the 60's at least 10% of my rounds next year.

Cheers and maybe I'll see you out at another TT event once the weather comes around.

Mark

Mark - Awesome goal for 2014.

I saw your other post regarding your winter work-out routine to build up your strength in order to improve both your distance and stamina. I guess I should not be surprised, but I have to say I was in awe to see you are targeting 10% of your rounds in the 60's. I guess you need to do that in order to get down to a +2 but I just can't fathom that myself. There is obviously a huge difference between a +7 and a +2 as I simply cannot imagine myself shooting even one round in the 60's through the entire year. My best is even par 71 which is close, but that was one of those rounds where everything went right.

I look forward to hearing how you did when we re-visit these posts in the fall when the season ends. If we are fortunate enough to be invited again to the TT event it will be fun to reminisce about our summer experiences.

Darius

I have finally decided to get lessons this year! I feel that the past two seasons, my game has not improved/changed so I think it makes sense to fork over some $$$ and start tweaking! I am stuck at low 90's and it drives me crazy. Yeah, I shot the odd high 80's but without consistency. Here's to a much improved 2014!!