Stop Chasing the Finish Line and Focus on Today's Practice

Last Tuesday, a frustrated student came to me with a familiar complaint. "Coach, I've been working on my game for eight months now, and I'm still not where I want to be. I'm starting to think I'll never get to scratch."

I asked him a simple question: "What are you working on today?"

"Today? I'm just trying to get better overall. You know, lower my handicap, improve my consistency, play like a single-digit player."

"No," I said. "What are you actually doing in today's practice session?"

He looked confused. "I don't know... hitting balls, I guess?"

And there was the problem. He was so focused on the finish line—becoming a scratch golfer—that he'd completely lost track of the daily work that would actually get him there.

The Tyranny of the Finish Line

Here's something I've learned over twenty years of coaching: the golfers who obsess about their final destination rarely reach it. The ones who focus on today's work get there without even realizing it.

John Steinbeck, the great American writer, understood this deeply. When facing the overwhelming task of writing a novel, he had simple advice: abandon the idea that you're ever going to finish. Stop thinking about the 400 pages ahead of you. Just write one page today. Then write one page tomorrow. Eventually, you'll look up and be surprised that you've finished.

Golf works exactly the same way.

When you fixate on becoming a 5-handicap or breaking 80 or finally conquering your slice, that goal becomes paralyzing. It's so far away, so overwhelming, that you don't know where to start. So you either freeze up with indecision or frantically chase every possible improvement at once.

But when you abandon that finish line thinking and focus on just today's practice—one session, one fundamental, one specific improvement—the work becomes manageable. Doable. Even enjoyable.

The Student Who Stopped Counting

Let me tell you about a student who transformed his entire approach using this mindset.

He came to me as a frustrated 12-handicap who'd been stuck at the same level for three years. "Coach, I want to be a single-digit player by the end of the year," he announced in our first lesson.

"Forget that," I told him. "That goal is doing nothing but making you anxious. Here's what we're going to do instead: every practice session, you're going to work on one specific thing. That's it. No counting strokes, no tracking handicap, no worrying about where you'll be in six months."

"But how will I know if I'm improving?"

"You'll know because you'll get better at the thing you're working on today. That's the only measure that matters."

For our first session, we worked only on his setup position. Nothing else. No swing mechanics, no ball flight concerns, just proper posture and alignment for one hour.

"That's it?" he asked. "Just setup?"

"That's everything for today. Tomorrow, if you practice, work on setup again. Make that your entire focus until it's automatic."

He trusted the process. For two weeks, he worked on nothing but his setup. He stopped checking his handicap. He stopped thinking about breaking 80. He just focused on getting his body in the right position before every swing.

After two weeks, his setup was automatic. So we moved to one specific swing feeling—maintaining his spine angle through impact. Again, that became his only focus for the next few weeks.

No finish line. No grand goal. Just today's work, done well.

Six months later, I asked him what his handicap was. He didn't know—he'd stopped tracking it. So we looked it up together. He'd dropped to an 8.

"How did that happen?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"You stopped trying to get there and started doing the daily work. The destination took care of itself."

Why Finish Line Thinking Fails

The problem with goal-focused thinking in golf is that it puts all your attention on something you can't directly control. You can't will yourself to a lower handicap. You can't force your way to breaking 80. You can't think yourself into becoming a scratch golfer.

But you can control today's practice. You can choose to work on your grip for thirty minutes. You can decide to hit twenty putts focusing only on tempo. You can commit to checking your alignment before every shot in today's round.

These daily actions—these pages you write today—are what eventually create the finished book. But if you're constantly looking ahead to how many pages remain, you'll never write today's page well.

The golfers who stay focused on distant goals often experience:

• Paralysis from not knowing where to start

• Anxiety about not improving fast enough

• Frustration when progress doesn't match expectations

• Inconsistent practice because they're overwhelmed by the size of the task

The golfers who focus on daily work experience:

• Clear direction about what to practice today

• Satisfaction from completing today's work well

• Steady improvement that compounds over time

• Surprise when they realize how far they've come

The Daily Practice Mindset

So what does this look like practically? How do you abandon the finish line and focus on the daily work?

Each Practice Session Has One Focus

Not five things to work on. Not "overall improvement." One specific element. Today might be:

• Maintaining steady tempo on every swing

• Checking alignment before every shot

• Hitting chips with one specific landing spot

• Making ten 3-foot putts in a row with perfect routine

That's your page for today. Write it well.

Track Process, Not Outcome

Instead of tracking your handicap obsessively, track whether you did today's work:

• Did I complete my focused practice session?

• Did I maintain my one swing thought throughout today's round?

• Did I execute my pre-shot routine on every shot?

These process measures tell you if you're writing your daily page. The finished book will come.

Forget the Timeline

Stop asking "How long until I'm a 5-handicap?" Start asking "What does excellent practice look like today?" The timeline becomes irrelevant when you're focused on daily quality.

Be Surprised by Progress

When you stop obsessively tracking your handicap and scores, something magical happens: you look up after months of focused daily work and discover you're playing better golf than you realized. The surprise is part of the reward.

What Happens When You Let Go

I've watched this transformation dozens of times. When golfers stop fixating on the finish line and start focusing on daily work, several things happen:

Practice Becomes Enjoyable

It's no longer a means to an end, something you have to suffer through to reach your goal. It becomes satisfying in itself—you're doing today's work well, and that feels good.

Pressure Decreases

You're not carrying the weight of "I need to be a 5-handicap" into every round. You're just executing today's process. The stakes feel lower because you're not measuring everything against a distant goal.

Improvement Accelerates

Paradoxically, when you stop trying so hard to improve and just focus on daily quality, you improve faster. You're not scattered across ten different areas—you're going deep on one thing at a time.

Confidence Builds

Instead of constantly measuring yourself against an unreached goal (which erodes confidence), you're consistently completing today's work (which builds confidence).

Your One Page Today

Here's my challenge: for the next month, abandon your long-term golf goals completely. Stop thinking about your target handicap. Stop worrying about when you'll break 80 or 90 or 100.

Instead, before each practice session and each round, identify your one focus for the day. Your one page to write. Make it specific and manageable:

• "Today I'm working on keeping my grip pressure light"

• "Today I'm maintaining my pre-shot routine on every shot"

• "Today I'm committing fully to every club selection without second-guessing"

Then do that one thing well. Don't worry about the outcome. Don't track your score against your ultimate goal. Just write today's page with complete focus and effort.

Do this consistently, and something interesting will happen: you'll look up in three months and be surprised at how much you've improved. Not because you were chasing improvement, but because you were focused on doing excellent work today.

The Wisdom of Daily Focus

I've come to believe that the golfers who improve most consistently are those who've learned to ignore the finish line. They understand that golf improvement isn't about reaching a destination—it's about committing to the daily work of getting better.

They're not trying to write the whole book. They're just writing today's page. And they're writing it as well as they possibly can.

Eventually, they look up and discover they've written something remarkable. But they got there by forgetting about the ending and focusing on the sentence they're writing right now.

Stop asking how long it will take to reach your goal. Start asking what excellent work looks like today. Write that page. Then write tomorrow's page. The finished book will surprise you.

Think About This

What if you abandoned your long-term golf goals for the next three months and focused only on doing one thing excellently each practice session? What would your "one page for today" be, and how well could you write it if you stopped worrying about the 400 pages ahead?

Until next time, less swing thoughts, more great shots!

Owen.