Reviewing Your Golf Season: An Essential Step Towards a Successful Year Ahead

The golf season is coming to an end for most junior golfers.

Before fully turning their attention to the 2027 season, there is one step I strongly recommend to every player with ambitious development goals: taking the time to properly review the season.

Whether the objective is to improve national rankings, earn a place on a team, reach a certain level of performance or prepare for a US college golf journey, it is essential to take a step back and reflect on the past few months.

A season review is about much more than looking at results. It is an opportunity to understand what worked well, what needs to improve and what decisions need to be made to keep moving in the right direction.

I recommend carrying out this review with everyone involved in the player's development: parents, coaches and any other professionals supporting the player's journey. The goal is to establish a shared understanding of the season and ensure everyone has a clear vision of the next steps.

Before looking at what needs to improve, it is important to recognise everything that went well.

A season should not be defined by a few disappointing tournaments or goals that were not achieved. There are always improvements, achievements and important milestones worth recognizing.

Here are a few questions to consider:

• What were the highlights of my season?

• Which areas of my game have improved?

• Which results or performances made me particularly proud?

• Have I become more independent, consistent or confident?

• What positive habits have I managed to develop?

It is important not to focus exclusively on results. A player may have made significant progress without necessarily achieving the results they were hoping for.

Recognizing your progress is just as important as identifying your weaknesses.

At the beginning of the season, the player and their support team should have established several goals. Now is the time to revisit them and assess what has actually been accomplished.

I distinguish between two types of goals:

Performance goals:

• Did I achieve the rankings I was aiming for?

• Did I achieve the results I had set as targets?

• Did I reach my target scoring average?

• Did I take a step forward in my golfing journey?

Process goals:

• Did I follow my training programme?

• Did I dedicate enough time to each area of my game?

• Did I compete in the tournaments I had planned?

• Did I develop the preparation and tracking habits I had committed to?

This distinction is essential. A player may not achieve their performance goals despite investing significant time and effort and making genuine progress. Conversely, they may achieve good results without consistently following the processes they had committed to.

Both dimensions need to be analysed to gain an accurate understanding of the season.

A season review should also be based on concrete and measurable information.

Statistics help players take an objective look at their performance and identify trends that may not always be obvious when focusing exclusively on scores.

It is particularly useful to review progress in driving, iron play, short game and putting, as well as scoring average, consistency and the ability to avoid big mistakes.

Here are a few questions to consider:

• Which areas of my game have genuinely improved?

• Which areas have remained unchanged?

• Where am I still losing the most shots?

• Do the difficulties I experience in competition match the weaknesses identified during practice?

Statistics should help players make better decisions, not simply fill in a spreadsheet.

They provide an essential foundation for identifying the main priorities for the upcoming season.

Once the positives, goals and statistics have been reviewed, it is time to identify what needs to change.

It is not enough to simply recognise that putting was below expectations or that the player lacks consistency off the tee. The next step is to understand why and consider possible solutions.

• Does the training approach need to change?

• Could weekly training sessions be better organised?

• Should a more consistent statistical tracking system be introduced?

• Is more focused work needed with the coach in certain areas?

• Should the tournament schedule be adjusted?

For every area identified for improvement, it is important to make a decision and define a concrete action.

However, there is no need to change everything. The goal is to identify the few key priorities that will have the greatest impact on the player's development.

A good season review should lead to clear actions, not simply a list of things to improve.

For players who already have a structured action plan, this is also an ideal time to review it.

An action plan should not be a document created at the beginning of the year and then forgotten. It needs to be monitored and regularly updated.

Take the time to revisit the different steps and milestones:

• Have the planned deadlines been met?

• Have the intended actions been implemented?

• Have any steps fallen behind schedule?

• Are the priorities still the same?

• Is the project still moving in the right direction?

Once this review is complete, the player can start setting their goals for 2027, both in terms of performance and process.

This is also when the tournament schedule should be developed. Competitions should align with the player's ambitions, current level, development goals and key milestones.

The idea is not to start from scratch every year, but to build on the work already completed and use it as a foundation for the next stage of development.

Finally, I want to emphasise one important point: this review should not be something the player and his family do on their own.

It is essential to schedule a proper discussion with all professionals involved in their development: coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, mentor, mental coach, performance coach and any other relevant professionals.

Everyone brings a different perspective and can contribute valuable insights.

The player must, of course, remain at the centre of the process. They should be able to express their feelings, ambitions and the changes they would like to make. However, discussions with their support team help them take a step back, compare perspectives and identify solutions they may not have considered on their own.

It is also an opportunity to ensure that everyone shares the same vision, understands the priorities and knows which direction the project is heading.

An ambitious sporting project requires consistency and communication between everyone involved.

Review Today to Move Forward Tomorrow

The end of the season is an ideal time to take a step back and reflect. I therefore encourage every player and family to schedule dedicated time before the end of the year to review the season and prepare for the next one.

The purpose is not to judge the past season, but to learn as much as possible from it and make the right decisions moving forward.

A successful season starts with the ability to analyse and understand the season that came before it.

At Golf Elevation, I place great importance on this overall approach to junior golf development: learning to understand yourself, structure your project, make informed decisions and gradually become more independent.

Because improving in golf is not just about playing better. It is also about learning how to build, manage and develop your own sporting journey.