Junior competitions

Whatever level you are at, training, diet and sleep are important factors in performing well. To give yourself the best possible chance of performing at a higher level, it's important to understand that it's all about preparation. How have you prepared for the season? If you've done what you need to do during the winter months when it comes to physical, swing and technique training, you've laid a good foundation. Before a round, whether it's a training or competition round, you need to warm up properly. Warm up your body properly and make sure that the shots you hit have a purpose: change targets between each shot, hit all different types of shots, use your imagination to make it as game-like as possible. Create a routine before each shot to help you find your inner focus. Before competition, it is also important to see how the course is laid out, if the greens are faster than on your home course, it is of great importance to practice putting on faster greens to be prepared. When it comes to practicing putts, it is good to practice longer putts from 8 meters and up to find a good length feeling and to be able to eliminate 3-putts, feel free to finish by putting some short putts so you can take a positive feeling out on the course.

Training is what sets the foundation for how you play, making the most of your strengths and improving your weaknesses. Diet and sleep are what give you energy and the ability to stay focused during training and competition. So how should you think when planning? As much fun as it is to compete, it is important to understand that playing as many races as possible is not always the right thing to do. Over the course of a month, 2-3 competitions would be more than enough. For example: you sign up for competitions that are played one week apart. The non-competition weeks should have at least 3-4 training sessions where you focus on developing your skills in all the different parts of the game. During competition weeks, your training sessions should include competition-like elements to help you learn how to perform under pressure. Training does not only take place in the training areas, but it is also important to include rounds on the course as this is where the performance will take place. Training on course can look different. For example, you can play "chamois ball".
This means that you hit two balls off the tee. Say one ball ends up in the fairway and one in the rough, then you play two shots from the rough. One lands on the green and one in the bunker, then you play 2 shots from the bunker. One lands 3m away and the other 6m away, then you putt from 6m. You manage to put one and the other lands next to the hole. Play the one next to it and if you make both, the result is - a good bogey.

Before some competitions, it is possible to play a practice round. What does it mean and how do you play it?
It's always a good idea to get a course guide before heading out on the course. You can use it to see the layout of the holes and to make a plan in your head of how you want to play the different holes, identify the different obstacles and roughly how far you would like to hit the ball to have a suitable distance on the next shot. One recommendation is to hit two balls off the tee with two different clubs to see which one feels safer and gives the desired result. What you should do now is write in the club guide which club you want to play on the competition round. Identify where on the green it is best to position yourself depending on flag placements, test putts from different directions to familiarize yourself with the speed and slope. So a practice round is never about playing as well as possible and sinking, but about testing out which club choices feel the most comfortable and setting up a clear game plan for the competition. Let the practice round take a little longer than a normal round as the most important thing is that you have your game plan ready in your head and you get the necessary notes down in the course guide so that you feel ready for the competition day.

On race day, it's common to be nervous, which is a good sign, because the race means something to you. The important thing is to try to find a way to relax your body and muscles despite the nervousness. A good tip to manage your nerves is to breathe deeply before each stroke and focus on being present in the moment.