This time of year I see many junior golfers start to struggle with the grind of summer golf. Between the heat, the competition and the hundreds of golf holes played it can start to take a toll. I absolutely loved golf in the summer but it does start to become a bit of a grind. If I wasn’t at a tournament, I spent all day at the golf course, usually taking a lunch and pool break during the middle of the day to cool off, then I was right back at it all afternoon and into the evening. I know for many players it may seem like work and if you aren’t playing well it can really become tough to grind it out. Many non-golfers are probably at home hanging out in the air conditioning, or laying by the pool, while you sweat it out practicing or playing all day. But rather than see it as tough work, learn to embrace the grind.

If you can change your attitude and truly love what you are doing everyday then it can make it seem just a bit easier. The night before or when you first wake up in the morning try this, write down 3 things you are grateful for and 3 things you want to accomplish that day with practice or playing. This will help remind yourself that you are fortunate to spend the day on the golf course and it will give you 3 things to focus on accomplishing that day. If you don’t have a purpose, the day can easily become a grind and time can get away from you without feeling like you have really accomplished anything.

Try to keep your practice and time on the course as fun as possible, while also staying focused and working hard. Try to play with others as often as you can. Play a match against each other. Anything you can do to stay in engaged will help you be able to embrace the grind of it. When you are in a tournament and having a tough day, try to look at it as more of a challenge rather than getting down on yourself. Embrace that it’s going to be a tough day, laugh at yourself a little bit and keep grinding till the end. If you get a bad break and your ball kicks sideways into a tough up and down, rather than get upset, embrace the challenge of pulling off an awesome shot to get up and down. Learn to love the challenges and embrace the grind.