Hope is Not a Plan

Wow, what a great weekend clinic I had at our home field!

Gil and Brian were in freezing Iowa teaching the SCTP coaches and athletes in the snow while I took the clinic in 80-degree Houston. I got lucky this time!

I still had some folks looking down the gun at first, but that didn’t take long to stop. Once we went through the animations it became clear that they all needed to form new habits and have a plan for every shot.

Most students want to be more consistent but won’t take the time to do what it takes to be consistent, or they don’t know how or what to do to be consistent.

So, we learned what it takes: it takes a plan for every shot you take, either in practice or for score. If there is no plan, you are only hoping to hit the target… and hope is not a plan!

So, every time you get ready to call “pull,” have a plan of where to see the target and where to break it. If it works, keep doing it. If it didn’t work, you can always change the plan.

I find that students think they have a plan, but they are not specific with where their eyes are to begin with. This means they can’t repeat it if it worked. They will do a plan on the first pair then not again. The purpose of the plan is to use it if it works. It keeps you in the same rhythm for all pairs so you don’t speed up your tempo and miss a target or two.

Make the plan—shoot the plan!