Will Mitchell was a standout junior golfer during his teenage years as a member of the Canadian Junior Golf Association (CJGA).  As a former CJGA National Champion and captain of a victorious CJGA Team Canada at the Mizuno North America Cup, Will graduated from the junior ranks with an accomplished competitive golf resume.

In 2008, Will embarks on a professional career as a full time member of the Canadian Tour.  His blog will provide an inside look at what juniors can expect if they pursue a professional career as well as some helpful tips and insights from an individual who is very familiar with the competitive junior golf scene.

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May 7, 2008

After a disappointing finish in Mexico I decided to come back home for a two week break between tournaments to work on my game and to rest. I have discovered this year that though it is important to work on your physical and mental game, it may be more important to know
your limits.

For this two week break I am dividing my time between working on my game with my coach, as well as taking a step back from the game and spending time with family and friends. I have found this week that it is difficult to divide my off time between everyone in my life. There are so many people in my life that I would like to see while I am home, as well as things I would like to do in a short period of time. For me, my intentions for this break were to tune up the few swing flaws that were happening as well as making sure that I go back down to Mexico with a rested mind and body.

In this last trip to California and to Mexico I was gone for two months. For those two months I had no physical contact with anyone from my family or any close friends. The only contact that I had with people from home would be through the phone or over the internet. I found for myself that was just long enough to become homesick. I also discovered that after two months my mind would start wondering off of the task at hand and start thinking about home and what my friends and family were doing. Tournament and Tour life are hard enough at the best of times. When you start the day without a total concentration on the moments at hand, you are at a great disadvantage to the rest of the field.

This brings me to my second point, if you have had a rough tournament, or even if you are having a tough week at work, deciding to take some time off and "recharge the batteries" is probably the best remedy. Make sure that you fully separate yourself from whatever you are taking a break from. Everything in your life that you do should have a purpose. EVERYTHING! If you decide to go the cottage for a weekend to get away from work do NOT bring your laptop and do some emailing while you're there.

When you practice and play you should be doing it with a plan and a purpose. This philosophy is no different for your off time. If you find that you need some down time or just a break away from the game, make sure that your off time is spent doing something other
than golfing. Catch a movie, hang out with your friends...ect.

Now this is not to say that if you have a poor tournament, that you should hang the clubs up for a week. I am simply saying that you should have a purpose to what you are doing. If you want to practice, then practice with intention. And when your body or mind tells you that it is time for a break, make sure you listen.

Will Mitchell
Canadian Tour Professional

Have a question for Will? Email will.mitchell@cjga.com and he’ll do his best to have it answered here in a future blog.

Note: Follow Will's progress on the Canadian Tour