An Impressive Year For The Winter Marksman League

By all intents and purposes, winter is over and so is the 2018-2019 Winter Marksman League. While it’s not always easy to be able to practice putt during the offseason, competing in this event gave tons of players around the globe the chance to keep their skills fresh over the last few months. Some decided to join a local league simply for the fun of it while others wanted to truly sharpen their putting ability and make an attempt at winning some awesome prizes.

In years past, we’ve seen that many participants were able to improve their putting over the course of six weeks, but now that we’ve partnered with UDisc the numbers we’re able to pull are even more incredible. Let’s take a peek at some of the highlights from this past season.

Excitement Abounds

There’s a funny correlation when looking at some of the participants across the world, as leagues that racked up a lot of points tended to be the ones who dealt with massive amounts of inclement weather. After all, if you’re in Southern California and you can still putt outside, the chances of you engaging in a Winter Marksman League may be slightly less. Over the last three months, here were the top 10 states/regions that had the most people attend:

1. Michigan
2. Ohio
3. Connecticut
4. North Carolina
5. Washington
6. North Dakota
7. Wyoming
8. Minnesota
9. Missouri
10. Alabama

Just slightly lower on the list was Iceland and, of course, Alaska.

Who’s Got The Putts?

When viewing individual player statistics and putts as a whole, it’s pretty shocking to see just how many times a disc catching chains was actually logged. Of the 892,035 putting attempts within the Winter Marksman League, 45% of them, or 403,753 were made. Is that higher or lower than you would’ve guessed?

Some of the individuals who came out this season were likely just starting, and we applaud them for taking their passion for disc golf to the next level. Balancing out the field were some incredibly accurate players, and we can’t not mention the top three individuals who led the field on the Marksman baskets:

• Troy, part of the Discgust league, had an 80% accuracy rate over six weeks
• Oskar Persson, a member of the Discsport Winter Marksman League and part of the Latitude 64 team, pulled off a 73% accuracy rate
• Caleb, another Discgust player, also found success 73% of the time
• Rounding out the three-way tie at 73% was Ian from the Central CT Putting League

We’re All Winners

While the intention of the Winter Marksman League is for players to enjoy disc golf during the winter months, there’s still an element of competition as well. When examining the Global Standings, there was one person who racked up the most points - Latitude 64’s James Proctor. Here’s what he had to say about the event:

“I personally had a great time. I enjoyed how every week was the same but played differently. It was always a competition with myself to beat my previous scores. I also thought it was unique how you could compare your personal and league scores with others all over the world. This was my first season playing the putting league but it definitely won’t be my last!”

The disc golf season will no doubt fly by once again this year, so as the weather begins to get cooler in a handful of months, keep your eyes open for information on the 2019-2020 Winter Marksman League!

Practice: Living that life.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

I don't think there's a more punitive sound in sports. It sounds like the sort of noise you hear following behind you as a crowd cries out "SHAME. SHAME. SHAME." From the volume of the collision to the discordant and sudden lack of resonance at the end of the sound - it is an aural shredding of the eardrums. Whether you're throwing it high off of that dark intimidating bogey bar or throwing it low off of the rim - you're jarred by it. When your nose down putt chips the bar and slides down into the chains: everything about the beautiful and harmonious chime of the catching area is thrown off.

It can be discouraging to miss. Even more so when you're tracking numbers. When you're trying to focus on results every single night, that noise becomes synonymous with your failures.

This is all a roundabout way of bringing me to my topic:

What to do when putting turns into a grind?

We all want to be that person that dedicates time to the basket daily. But, likewise, we are all that person with responsibilities away from the basket. When the sessions go bad, it can be tempting to set the discs aside and go in to Netflix and chill. This was the case myself on a recent evening. The sun was down, the lights were on, and the baskets in my yard were calling me. I've made a habit this winter of telling people about my putting, so I have to hold up my end of the bargain and do what I say I'm doing. I could tell right away that adjustments would need to be made. The snow, half melted, resulted in ice patches all around the yard where I and my dogs had compacted it over the days. I knew footing would be bad. Winds were gusting to 15 miles per hour. I tried to make adjustments to my weight shift to compensate, while adjusting height and pace of putt. Starting out 21 feet away from the basket.

CLANG. CLANG. ching. CLANG.

(Well, I mean, some of them tinkled off of the chains...)

Seven out of eight. Six out of eight. Sporadic sets resulting in an effective number under my target. For 20 minutes. Frustration begins to set in. This isn't going to be a good set. I can't get my footing. I can't get my head off of my footwork. I probably look stiff. I begin to tell myself that I need to just go inside, this isn't going to work tonight.

You can't do that!

So how do you move past these putting doldrums? For me the answer lies in changing the routine. I believe strongly in tracking putts, making sure you are assessing yourself regularly. But you can't do it every day. In education (my own field and experience as a person) we repeat the same thing every year: over-testing is bad. It holds true in disc golf. So how do you take a session that isn't up to your standards, and back off of the numbers to enjoy it?

You remember that the numbers are not what give the routine structure. There are a thousand different ways to structure your routine that allow you to take your mind and pull it away from the numbers. For me, on that night, it meant creating a routine that involved a very generous and pleasant progression. I stepped back from my routine, and I decided I wanted to feel successful. I needed to get in reps. I needed to be able to focus. And I needed to step away from frustration.

With my flags set at every three feet from 18 to 48 - I set down simple rules. At every station I would get 3 misses. If I missed 3 putts in a row, I move to the next closer station. If I make a putt, I move to the next deeper station. And I would go through this until I went all the way from 18 to 48 to one basket, and then I'd turn around and do the same from the other basket. It allowed me to feel good about my results, because of the varied distances it was difficult to develop a meaningful statistic in my head (I can't help but track myself when I can, often to my chagrin). I was consistently hanging out in the 39-45 foot range for long stretches of time, which made the missed putts easier to stomach.

In the end I was able to get meaningful practice out of a night that I wasn't at my most focused. I was able to come out of the session with a positive mindset about my putting game while getting all of the reps I needed, despite less than stellar conditions.

Living the practice life does mean tracking numbers. You need to understand your progression. But it doesn't mean doing it every single night. There's no need to track every putt that you take. I could not tell you how many putts it took me to move up and down both ends of my distance ladder. But I can tell you that I felt good about the work I put in at the end. And that made me want to get out there again the next night.

Live that life.

Sharpen Your Off-Season Skills With The Winter Marksman League

For many disc golfers, the winter off-season means it's a time for rest and relaxation from a grueling touring schedule. However, if you're a casual player or want to keep your skills sharp for next year, participating in an indoor putting league is a great way to go. Don't have one in your area? No problem, as Dynamic Discs offers a cool solution through the Winter Marksman League.

It's really easy for your local club or a group of friends to get involved this winter season with our league. By utilizing a special partnership with the UDisc app, you're able to see how you stack up against others across the world and you can even win a Marksman basket if you end up on top!

While we can't secure a location for your league (that part's up to you), we can help with the rest. For $200, you'll receive a Marksman basket and six Moonshine Deputies with the exclusive Winter Marksman League stamp to give away to the weekly winners. If you have a large group, $300 gets you the six discs and two Marksman baskets. Shipping is on us either way you go.

Check out this quick video where Robert McCall explains more, and visit our website for additional information and to register your league.

The DD Women's Series - Part 4: Choosing Putters With Paige Bjerkaas

We’ve had a blast learning from Paige Bjerkaas about which discs will help both beginning and advanced female disc golfers, and now it’s time for the final piece to bring it all together. Learning to master your putter can bring a depth of skill to the rest of your game, so let’s find out which discs she recommends for those shots when you’re close to the basket.

What About The Rest Of The Bag?

In case you missed any of the other parts of this Women’s Series, let’s do a quick run through to find out which discs will help you out on the course:

• Beginning women can benefit from the Renegade and the Breakout when you’re on the tee box or working your way down a long fairway. The Proof works great as a predictable midrange disc.
• Pro gals will love the Sheriff and the Escape for max distance shots that need a lot of power and finesse. The Truth will be your new favorite midrange due to its versatility and reliability.

What disc golf bag would be complete without putters? Bjerkaas is a firm believer in having the right putter for your skill set since your technique with this type of disc can set you up for success in all areas of disc golf.

Best For Beginners: The Gavel

When you’re just learning the basics of disc golf, having easy to throw discs is the name of the game. It’s important for a disc to fit comfortably in your hand and to be able to trust that it will do what you want it to.

With that being said, the Gavel is an awesome understable putter for women who are still dialing in their putting form. It has a smaller rim and feels great in the hand, encouraging you to use it for putts and shorter upshots. A soft throw will get it to fly nice and straight, yet it won’t fade out on you if you’re taking on a shot that’s a bit beyond your comfort zone.

Plastic Availability:

• Prime
• Lucid

Best For Pros: The Judge

One of the more popular putters made by Dynamic Discs, the Judge can handle a lot of power for experienced players who have an aggressive spin or push putts. Great for upshots that need to fly straight, Paige says she can really put some power behind her Judge and it will hyzer and flip up to straight every time.

Having a predictable disc to get you within the circle is key when playing at a top level, and Bjerkaas recommends the Judge as it will do what you need it to every single time. There’s no question about it - the Judge should be in every experienced lady’s bag!

Plastic Availability:

• Fuzion
• Lucid
• Fluid
• Classic
• Classic Blend
• Classic Soft
• Classic Super Soft

By now you should have a complete bag stocked up with the discs that will suit your game the best! Thanks so much for joining us on this four-part Women’s Series where we got to find out from Paige Bjerkaas which discs work great for female disc golfers.

Be sure to catch our next Women’s Series and check out the online store for any of the discs we’ve talked about!

Quick Tip: Putting Duel

Hey guys, my name is Robert McCall. I’m the Team Manager for Dynamic Discs, and I’ve been playing disc golf for around 10 years. I’ve played with players from all over the world, and I’ve been doing my best to learn from as many of them as possible. In the Quick Tip series, I’m going to share something I’ve learned over the years from a combination of personal experience and expertise from other players.

This Week’s Quick Tip: Putting Duel

If you play competitive disc golf, you’ve probably experienced this scenario:

Late in your tournament round, you and another player are jockeying for position, trading birdies and pars on your way to the last few holes. You throw a fantastic drive on hole 17, landing around 20 feet away from the basket. Your opponent throws a decent drive but lands 60 feet out. You think to yourself, “I’ve got another one. I’ll be up 1 going to 18.” As you approach your lie, you begin counting all of the dollars (#discgolfrich) you’ll get or all of the discs you’ll be able to choose from for winning this tournament. Then, in uncanny fashion, your opponent jams their 60 footer. You incredulously walk to your shot, look up to the basket, and all of a sudden, your routine 20 footer feels like a 40 footer with a lot more pressure than you had anticipated.

I’m no expert, but I believe the scientific term for this phenomenon is getting “big-putted”, or alternately, “playing any round of disc golf with Ricky Wysocki”. I’m unsure of which is more correct. Either way, unless your mental game is perfectly steady, watching a long putt go in can cause you to feel more nervous about your putt.

At a recent tournament, I had some extra time to warm-up because of how the tee times were set up, so I was just putting to stay warm. While I was putting, Spencer Ling from Nevada asked me if I wanted to have a putting duel. I didn’t know what a putting duel was, but I agreed. He paced off 30 feet or so and set down a marker for us, and then he explained the premise of the game: we trade putts one by one. If he makes and I miss or vice versa, the person that made the putt gets a point. If we both make it or both miss it, no points are awarded. If Spencer makes a putt and I miss, he goes first again. However, if he misses and I make it, I get a point and take the box, putting first for the next putt. We played to 10 points.

At first, I was just having fun putting, because I really enjoy putting, but after a few makes and misses, we both became slightly more competitive and focused, because even if nothing is on the line, no one likes to lose. Though we weren’t playing a competitive round, this format allowed us to feel some pressure on our putts, and by the time the round was about to begin, both of us had our putting stroke grooved in fairly well. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I putted well during the round that followed because we’d both had an opportunity to feel some nerves while putting before throwing putts that actually counted toward tournament scores.

I will definitely try some more putting duels before tournament rounds, but also during putting practice sessions to mix it up a bit. Thanks so much (and full credit goes to) Spencer Ling for sharing the game he created with me!

I’d love to hear what kind of competitive putting games you’ve created or tried! If you have some suggestions that work well for you, I’d really appreciate if you submit a question to the Disc Golf Answer Man podcast, call into Disc Golf Answer Man on the Anchor app, or post in the Disc Golf Answer Man Facebook page. You can also reach me via my social media links below. See you next week!

Follow Robert McCall on Facebook and Instagarm.

Perfect practice makes perfect

Putting 01: Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

You grasp the Trilogy branded towel hanging from your belt strap, the sweat wicks away easily. The towel is fresh, your clothes are crisp and breezy, your comfort level is at the highest its been stepping into any tournament this year. After a month of practice you know exactly what to do on green, and on the first hole of the day you’ve got a perfect tester. This 24 footer is exactly the shot you’ve been practicing for at home, right down to the Veteran basket matching the one mounted in your backyard. Stepping up to your lie you set your front foot down, perfect. Sitting on your back foot you’re sure to draw your disc in and then drive through your arm slot. 

A dull metallic thud.

Okay, top side off the bogey bar. But you know what happened. You followed through high. You’ll make sure to focus on following through on chains next hole, it’s fine – 53 holes to go, 62 if you count the Final 9 you’re sure to slide right into. But you don’t, and it isn’t fine. Hole after hole to follow you feel like you’re executing perfectly only to experience failure on top of failure. By the midway point you’re only sure of one thing: this is not what you prepared for. By the time you walk off of the course after three rounds of brutality your heart feels like it has fallen into your bowels.

What is it that leads even the most dedicated practice putter to fail when the time comes to putt for the money? In short: it isn’t the amount of time spent on the green but how you spend that time that matters. To borrow a quote from the sport of American football and legendary coach Vince Lombardi: “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” There are varying interpretations of this quote, and to my eyes it is often misinterpreted as a need to practice until mistakes are no longer made. I believe that this interpretation is flawed, and so what we need to answer is: what constitutes perfect practice?

While for decades in athletics there has been intense debate regarding the efficacy of various practice strategies, it appears that we have entered a golden age in sports training. For the longest time various strategies were built on research and the pure reputations of experts. For example: in weight training the mere presence of research by experts in the field of power lifting led to a definition of a proper half squat for all – power lifters and all athletes – as parallel to the ground. However these training methods were not based on evidence of efficacy. In recent years a new definition of a proper half squat has appeared as evidence has demonstrated that the fulfillment of a 90 degree angle at the knee is what is necessary for all of the benefits of a half squat (long story short: angle of ankle bend was ignored in earlier research). In all athletic endeavors – evidence demonstrating results is emerging to help us practice better, to develop “perfect practice.”

In the sport of disc golf I’ve found that following evidence from thought science and learning science are both necessary in developing an appropriate training regimen. From the world of learning science I’ve found particularly poignant the compilation of evidence done by Brown, Roedigger III, and McDaniel in their 2014 book “make it stick: The Science of Successful Learning” which covers a both counterproductive yet widespread tactics as well as strategies that encourage retention of information and skills. From the field of thought science I am not the first to find the work of Kahneman, particularly in his work “Thinking Fast, and Slow” useful: much of his work is paraphrased in the work of athletics trainer Peter Gallwey, the author of the “Inner Game …” series of sports training books.

Over a sequence of two articles to come I am going to work to synthesize the work of these authors to develop a theory of practice that will allow you to both analyze your game and then disengage from analysis when executing a throw on the course. Next up will be a focus on theories of learning, followed by theories of thought.

Putting 02: Putting as Learning

Your eyes are bleary by the end of each day, every single morning you’ve been out early putting before work. Your routines are becoming habit. After a few months of this these habits are your new normal as a person. Your friends now know you as an obsessive. And yet your numbers never improve. Every week ends the same as the last: no improvement from 18, no improvement from 21, no improvement out to the circle’s edge. Each day the routine is mind numbing, all you’ve ever heard is that practice is the key to success – but it just isn’t happening. After a summer of work you come to a personal realization: maybe those guys who say you shouldn’t practice too much are right...

I’d like to begin with one important statement: successful learning is, on the whole, difficult and slow. There is no shortcut to successfully developing a new skill. The best putters in the world improve incrementally over the course of multiple years. Each new plateau in skill exhibits the next year’s plateaus in its hot streaks, and so it continues through the limits of your own body’s capabilities in terms of muscle memory. It takes months of practice to reach each of those new plateaus in skill, and earth shattering improvements rarely happen in a single season. The strategies I’m going to elucidate on are not likely to improve your game overnight, but they will improve your game.

Let's begin with the types of practice most common among developing putters: massed practice and repetition. One of the more common complaints that pops up in disc golf’s social media outlets are along the lines of: “I’ve been taking hundreds of putts per day, but ...” Commonly these competitors are chunking their repetitions into massive groups. A new player feels like 15 footers are giving him trouble, and so he repeats those 15 footers for an hour, dropping a couple of hundred putts on the basket from that range until he can mindlessly zip the putter into the basket without thinking about it. By the end of a session the putt feels easy, but when a tournament rolls around the skill seems to wash away like a sand castle at high tide.

There’s nothing wrong with taking hundreds of putts per session. But the practice needs to be varied. Evidence shows that repetition from a single range must be interleaved with practice that varies the range. Taking 50-100 putts at a time from a single range before moving to another range is beneficial, but the benefits are stronger when one also implements a routine that involves moving putt by putt closer and further from the basket. Contemplate for a moment what tournament golf is like: a golfer does not often take 18 putts on 18 holes all from 25 feet. The body needs to be able to adjust dynamically up and down from 15 footers out to the limits of range. A recommendation would be to set stations up at varied distances from the basket allowing you to move putt by putt in and out in small increments. When out on the practice green take 50 putts from 18 feet, and then break it up by moving in and out for the next 50 before moving to another set of massed putts from a single distance.

The benefits may not be as obvious: where you were finishing your massed sets at a single range by zinging in putt after putt and feeling confident and successful, you may find yourself missing quite a bit more often as you move up and down your “ladder” of stations. This is not a bad thing, learners often interpret difficult practice as indicative of an unsuccessful day, but that is rarely the case. Difficult practice is more in line with the mental challenges one will encounter on the disc golf course and develops the resilience necessary to maintain focus on the course through a day of competition.

You’ll note that I still recommend sitting back on a single distance and working that distance to perfection. At first glance those sets appear counterproductive, and on their own they are. In one study of children throwing bean bags at a bucket the children practicing a single range (3 feet) were far less successful on tests from 3 feet than children who only practiced from the ranges shorter and longer than that range. When interleaved with varied practice, however, there are definite positive results. These positive results come from the use of those massed sessions as retrieval practice: by using those sessions as ‘pop quizzes’ for your body you improve your ability to recall the muscle memory in the future.

Research into learning demonstrates that frequent low stakes quizzing on a particular skill improves retention of the skill over time. This is why, when taking those massed sets, you’re going to want to keep track of how many putts you make. By tracking your numbers you turn every individual putt into a true test of your skill as a player (this is especially true as you build toward 100% numbers at shorter ranges, where a single moment of lost focus means not hitting your target goals). This frequent practice with something small on the line develops the ability to focus when it counts. By making each of those 18 foot putts a must hit, you are again improving your resilience on the course. By coming back to a certain range every couple of days to quiz on it you develop your body’s ability to recognize that it will be called upon to perform a task and perform it successfully.

Putting 03: Developing Your Mindset

The drive leg is the problem. You’re sure of it.

Your lead has been evaporating for the past six holes. Ever since the missed birdie on hole 10, you’ve been hemorrhaging strokes on the green. Low off the cage. Focus on the leg, focus on the leg. High. Low. Low again. It has to be the leg. And then chaos. This isn’t what your putt is supposed to look like. This isn’t what its supposed to FEEL like. Where did that feel you’d held for 29 holes go? It was so natural for so long, how could it go so very wrong...

Now that we’ve taken the time to develop the rough outline of a routine for practicing – it’s time to look at how to approach those aspects of the routine from a mental standpoint. Both Kahneman (in “Thinking Fast, and Slow”) and Gallwey (in the “Inner Game ...” series) like to use the numbers “1” and “2” - with Kahneman referring to them as “systems” and Gallwey referring to them as “selfs.” Although I am going to use Kahneman’s work to explain much of what these numbers mean within the realm of thought science, I’m going to focus on referring to them as “self 1” and “self 2” as Gallwey does in his work. This is intended to align more closely with the fact that as competitors we often ‘hear’ the conscious and analytical self as an inner voice instructing our actions.

The first of the two selfs, self 1, is the automatic and intuitive you. It uses your learned experiences to perform tasks without much conscious thought. In the everyday world self 1 is used to inform your conscious decisions, guiding you toward the conscious thoughts that you have. In an interaction with another person self 1 would guide you toward immediately recognizing the attitude of that person at a glance before entering into a conversation. While driving self 1 is going to allow you to unconsciously turn the wheel first right, and then overturn the wheel back to the left during a lane shift (to prevent that shift stalling out as a total alteration of direction… into a median). When disc golfing you want self 1 in control whenever engaging in any sort of throw.

Self 2 on the other hand should be avoided during the throw in competition. Self 2 is responsible for conscious tasks. Counting scores after a round requires self 2, as does comparing the value of your prize discs with your voucher total, or determining whether it is worth it to enter a basket toss. It is a very energy intensive way of thought, and as such it blinds a competitor to tasks that would otherwise be unconscious. We often disengage from tasks that engage self 2 without even thinking about it – a good example being when a passenger in a car. When the driver of the vehicle has to pass a large truck in a narrow construction zone, as passengers we often quiet ourselves without recognizing it to allow the driver to focus more consciously on driving as opposed to interpreting our words. On the course, self 2 is going to want to take control of our actions. When putting: self 2 is going to tell you to get your fingers under your putter and pop through; to drive through with the rear foot; to follow through after release. These conscious tasks interfere with self 1’s ability to unconsciously perform in coordination all of the other bits of muscle memory required to successfully make a putt.

Despite all of these flaws with self 2, it retains a very important role in practice and rounds if not within a competition throw. This is where I see all routines as requiring a division into two halves. One half of the putting routine should be focused purely on engagement of self 1, and the other half of the putting routine should be focused purely on engagement of self 2. This is because self 2 is the one responsible for mechanical analysis, and without mechanical analysis it is impossible to understand where mistakes are being made. On the course self 2 should be engaged when in between throws, and during the set-up aspect prior to a throw. To go back to learning theory: self 2 is in control of reflection, without which true learning is significantly delayed.

During a practice routine it is preferable to engage self 1 during massed practice that is done for the purpose of quizzing and retrieval of muscle memory. When focused on a set of 50 putts from 18 feet, for example, self 2 needs to be completely discarded. What you are practicing when you are attempting to hit 50 out of 50 from the edge of your 100% range is the ability to completely recall your muscle memory without conscious thought. Therefore: there should be absolutely no focus on the vagaries of form. This is the time to learn to trust your muscle memory just as you will in competition. You use these large sets of putts to develop trust in the practice routines that you’ve spent countless hours on.

The time for self 2 comes when you’re not engaged in counting makes and misses. For example: when working yourself up and down the ladder of ranges. If you are simply moving deeper and closer based on making or missing putts, you’re going to find that counting makes and misses is almost without a point aside from getting a personal ‘feel’ for your putt. This is a great time to focus on form. If your putts seem to be coming out soft, take the time to analyze and “listen” to your body as you go, noticing whether or not you’re following through or driving off of your rear leg. Use the energy intensive analytical skills of self 2 to your advantage during this part of your session. By necessity engaging in this sort of mental focus is going to make it difficult to make your putts at the high rate of consistency you’ll want for tournament golf, so never count makes or misses while doing it. It is a surefire way to ruin your self confidence as you’ll convince yourself that every aspect of your form has been thought through and you’ll struggle to recognize that by actively thinking it through you’re in essence preventing the sort of muscle memory retrieval necessary for all of those pieces to work with automaticity.

To translate this work to the course in competition you’ll want to use self 2 between shots, and discard when performing a competitive action. Competitors with self-confidence problems are often told to not “think so much” when on the course. There are seeds of truth in that, but they ignore the value of setup and reflection in proper execution. The practice with self 1 during the frequent ‘quizzing’ of the muscle memory teaches you to slide into a mental state where your only focus on the green is ‘throw it at that link’ when the time comes to execute. The practice with self 2 allows you to realize in between shots that maybe due to fatigue you started that last putt from your hip instead of your middle abdomen, or failed to get down into an athletic stance to drive off your rear foot. Engagement of self 2 is also vital in pre-shot setup: making sure your toe is pointed in the correct direction, lining up your shot to engage the proper shoulder slot, and so on.

By learning to use both of these forms of thought in practice, through a split putting routine that on one hand allows you to totally engage self 1 without thinking about form at all for the purpose of results and on the other hand analyzing your form while not worrying about the outcome you will learn to switch each form of thought “on” and “off” on the course. This will make you both a more prepared player, as well as a more natural and comfortable player.

I hope that this sequence of articles has been helpful for you as a player. Remember that at no point is any of this intended as an edict on exactly how to structure your routine down to the finest detail. This is meant as a guide to what the evidence regarding learning and thought tell us about developing our routines. It is intended to guide you toward developing the routine that best fits your day, your attitude, and who you are as a competitor.

See you on the course.

Chris Wojciechowski