Goals need to be realistic

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We all know Michelle Wie is in over her head. She's never even won on the LPGA Tour yet she's been trying to break into the men's tour. And 'break into' is the operative term. She doesn't belong there but before we laugh too hard or get too smug is there any chance we might be doing the same thing?

Goals need to be realistic, measurable, specific and framed by a deadline. While it's okay to reach for the moon, Wie's goals aren't realistic because she hasn't laid out the proper stepping-stones to achieve them.

Tiger Woods has used a more successful approach to reach the top. He moved up the ladder one step at a time. As his father, Earl Woods, put it, Tiger regularly dipped his toe into the waters of higher competition but always came back to win in the arena he belonged to considering his talent level. At the age of 16, Tiger played in the L.A. Nissan Open as a way of peeking into his future and stretching himself mentally. But he just peeked. He didn't make a habit of playing with the big boys until he was more seasoned.

You want to be a good golfer. So do you have an arena in which you can win and another where you can test your skills? There are club matches, one-day invitations, regional, provincial and national events. Are you participating at a level in which you can win? If the answer is no you need to gear back and enhance your resume before moving forward.

On the other hand, some people play comfortably with only two or three buddies year after year never testing their abilities at a higher level. They are pulling a Michelle Wie in reverse. If this describes your golf activity you could learn more from a bit of competition than from a week of hitting balls on the range. Occasional higher competition will stretch your abilities and keep you moving steadily forward.

Bob Skura is author of How Great Golfers Think - Perfecting Your Mental Game. For more information or to order his book visit: www.howgreatgolfersthink.com