I did this last year. My goals are the same as mrodock's qualify for my state amateur and US Mid Am. I have played a lot of local tournaments...so here were my goals starting last year.
Break Par: Accomplished
Break 75 in a Tournament: Not accomplished, but broke 80 in every tournament round.
Break Par consistently: 2008
Break 75 in tournaments consistently: 2008
Break Par in a tournament: 2008
Consistently break par in tournaments: 2009
Qualify for state Mid Am: 2010
Qualify for state Am: 2010
Qualify for US Mid Am: 2011
As you can see I am behind schedule.
They are mostly scoring goals I know and maybe that creates too much expectation. Interested to learn what others think
I really like the way you made your stages to the ultimate? goal as incremental, I have neglected to think in these terms. I think the scoring goals are extremely important because they give you completely objective feedback on whether you are making progress toward your ultimate goal on the schedule you have set. This has given me a lot of clarity, thanks!
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"In my experience, if you stay with the essentials you WILL build a repeatable swing undoubtedly. If you can master the Imperatives you have a champion" (Vikram).
The reason you can't sustain the lag is because you are so eager to make the club move fast (a reaction to the intent of "hitting it far"). So on a full shot you throw it away too early, which doesn't happen for your short chip. (bts)