New Year’s Resolutions. Also known as Lies We Tell Ourselves.

If you’re like most golfers, sometime during the off-season, you’ll think about your game and make some half-assed pledge to improve. “Yup, I’m going to play better next year. No more pussyfootin’ around. This is the year.”

But, as we all know, simply vowing to play better isn’t a plan unless it’s accompanied by change. Otherwise, it’s just insanity – doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result.

The good news is that while you may make resolutions for 2025, you don’t have to have your golf plan in place by January 1. It’s a long off-season with plenty of time to think about your improvement strategy and maybe even test a few ideas on an indoor simulator or a warm weather trip.

My planning starts with an assessment of what worked and what didn’t over the past year. Call it a report card.

Maybe I should add that it’s supposed to be an honest assessment too, not some glowing fantasy highlight reel. On the flip side, it shouldn’t be a cry of desperation like, “My golf game sucks, it’s always sucked and no reason to believe that it won’t suck forever. What should I do?” That’s way too bleak. Besides it doesn’t offer any detail about why it sucks.

For my report card, I use the four pillars of golf – Mental, Physical, Technical and Tactical – to assess performance and determine what needs work.

For example, I wrote earlier about my DIY program this past year, particularly my struggles with the driver. At the beginning of the season, I had no confidence in my ability to hit a straight drive with any reasonable distance. By the end of 2024, I was pretty comfortable with the big stick. I would say I improved from a failing grade to a C+ or B-. If I had a teacher, she might have written, “Shows steady improvement. Still needs work.”

Here are the questions I ask myself for my report card:

1. From a technical standpoint, what grade do I give myself in each of the following areas: Driving, long game, short game, bunker play, long putting and short putting?
2. Am I physically capable of playing golf at the level I want to play including walking the golf course? If not, what’s holding me back?
3. Is my golf equipment right for my skill level and my physical ability?
4. Are my expectations for performance and score reasonable or based on what I used to be able to do when I was 20 or 30?
5. Did I make reasonable strategic decisions on the golf course or rely too much on hope and prayer?
6. Is golf still fun? Am I enjoying myself or is it a source of anxiety or frustration?
7. How important is golf in my overall life plan? Am I playing too much or too little?

I give myself a grade in each of those areas but more importantly, I write down comments about my performance, add in suggestions for improvement and then I lock it away for a week or two.

Some time in January, I’ll read through it again and see if my assessments were correct. Usually, I find I’m pretty harsh with myself. Then the real planning starts for a more successful, fun year of golf in 2025.

You can obviously come up with your own questions if you don’t like mine. Next month, we’ll walk through the next steps for a realistic plan.

Hope you enjoy the exercise. See you in January.