Indiana University Athletics
IU Playing Urgent, Eying Potential Postseason
4/8/2016 7:34:00 PM | Women's Golf
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Intuitively, urgency and golf don't typically mix.
An individual sport played against a static course, golf is widely considered to be as much a mental game as it is physical. Players who taper their nerves and emotions without letting individual moments become too large tend to enjoy the most success.
But urgency is precisely what Indiana head coach Clint Wallman wants out of his players this season. From the beginning of each round, Wallman has stressed to his players that they need to attack the course and look to score early and often If they want to compete for wins in competitive fields.
"It's kind of weird in golf because we tend to play sometimes thinking you tee off on No. 1, you've got 17 more holes in the round to play," Wallman said. "You kind of ease through it sometimes. One of the things I noticed throughout our play in the year was it wasn't really inspired early. We needed to change that."
Based on the results Indiana has had so far, Wallman's strategy appears to be working.
The emphasis on playing with urgency has coincided with one of the most successful starts to a season IU women's golf has had in recent history. The Hoosiers currently sit No. 56 in the RPI and find themselves in a position to compete for an NCAA Tournament berth down the closing stretch of the season.
"You have to be pleased with the March that they had," Wallman said. "But saying that, I'm even more pleased that they have kind of figured everything out and adopted playing with urgency."
Indiana has been slowly building momentum throughout the spring, but Wallman said last month's Bay Area Intercollegiate in Fairfax, California, was a turning point of sorts. The Hoosiers finished in fourth place but came out firing early, he said, playing through a pair of weather delays while maintaining the sense of urgency he's been trying to teach.
Now with only next weekend's Lady Buckeye Invitational and the following weekend's Big Ten Women's Golf Championship left on the schedule, Indiana has turned its attention to qualifying for the postseason.
Although the Hoosiers' RPI is right near the cusp of what typically qualifies for the NCAA Tournament Regional, senior Camille Chevalier and junior Ana Sanjuan agreed in saying their team is playing even better than the RPI may indicate.
Chevalier said the pieces are falling into place at the right time for IU to make a run down the closing stretch.
"The ranking doesn't really reflect the level of play, I don't think," said Chevalier, who boasts the team's top scoring average. "We've got a really good team with really good players and we complement each other well. We've all got different skills that work really well together."
Although the results have been improved, Sanjuan said there's nothing technically different about how the players are swinging.
Instead, she said their scores are the result of a process months in the making that's only now starting to become realized.
"I feel there is no different rally. I think the work is showing," Sanjuan said. "We have all been working really hard and improving, but we just needed the results."
As the numbers have gotten lower, Sanjuan said the players' confidence has only gone up.
"For me, for example, I feel like I'm coming to practice more motivated," she said. "I feel like I have a goal and we can reach our goal. It's just more motivating because we can do it."
That goal, playing postseason golf, will be determined over the next few weeks. The Hoosiers' next two weekends will likely go a long way toward determining whether or not the Hoosiers make the NCAA Regional field for the first time since 2013.
At this point in the season, Chevalier said there's no reason to feel pressure going into the critical stretch run. She said the talent is already there. It's just a matter of executing it on the golf course down the closing stretch.
As they go, Chevalier said her team will continue to play with a sense of urgency no matter how unconventional it may seem.
It's worked so far.
"If we all do our own thing with a common goal, that's kind of what works the best," she said. "It's very exciting, and I think we've just got to keep going. If we do everything the same, I think we'll end up where we want to be."
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Intuitively, urgency and golf don't typically mix.
An individual sport played against a static course, golf is widely considered to be as much a mental game as it is physical. Players who taper their nerves and emotions without letting individual moments become too large tend to enjoy the most success.
But urgency is precisely what Indiana head coach Clint Wallman wants out of his players this season. From the beginning of each round, Wallman has stressed to his players that they need to attack the course and look to score early and often If they want to compete for wins in competitive fields.
"It's kind of weird in golf because we tend to play sometimes thinking you tee off on No. 1, you've got 17 more holes in the round to play," Wallman said. "You kind of ease through it sometimes. One of the things I noticed throughout our play in the year was it wasn't really inspired early. We needed to change that."
Based on the results Indiana has had so far, Wallman's strategy appears to be working.
The emphasis on playing with urgency has coincided with one of the most successful starts to a season IU women's golf has had in recent history. The Hoosiers currently sit No. 56 in the RPI and find themselves in a position to compete for an NCAA Tournament berth down the closing stretch of the season.
"You have to be pleased with the March that they had," Wallman said. "But saying that, I'm even more pleased that they have kind of figured everything out and adopted playing with urgency."
Indiana has been slowly building momentum throughout the spring, but Wallman said last month's Bay Area Intercollegiate in Fairfax, California, was a turning point of sorts. The Hoosiers finished in fourth place but came out firing early, he said, playing through a pair of weather delays while maintaining the sense of urgency he's been trying to teach.
Now with only next weekend's Lady Buckeye Invitational and the following weekend's Big Ten Women's Golf Championship left on the schedule, Indiana has turned its attention to qualifying for the postseason.
Although the Hoosiers' RPI is right near the cusp of what typically qualifies for the NCAA Tournament Regional, senior Camille Chevalier and junior Ana Sanjuan agreed in saying their team is playing even better than the RPI may indicate.
Chevalier said the pieces are falling into place at the right time for IU to make a run down the closing stretch.
"The ranking doesn't really reflect the level of play, I don't think," said Chevalier, who boasts the team's top scoring average. "We've got a really good team with really good players and we complement each other well. We've all got different skills that work really well together."
Although the results have been improved, Sanjuan said there's nothing technically different about how the players are swinging.
Instead, she said their scores are the result of a process months in the making that's only now starting to become realized.
"I feel there is no different rally. I think the work is showing," Sanjuan said. "We have all been working really hard and improving, but we just needed the results."
As the numbers have gotten lower, Sanjuan said the players' confidence has only gone up.
"For me, for example, I feel like I'm coming to practice more motivated," she said. "I feel like I have a goal and we can reach our goal. It's just more motivating because we can do it."
That goal, playing postseason golf, will be determined over the next few weeks. The Hoosiers' next two weekends will likely go a long way toward determining whether or not the Hoosiers make the NCAA Regional field for the first time since 2013.
At this point in the season, Chevalier said there's no reason to feel pressure going into the critical stretch run. She said the talent is already there. It's just a matter of executing it on the golf course down the closing stretch.
As they go, Chevalier said her team will continue to play with a sense of urgency no matter how unconventional it may seem.
It's worked so far.
"If we all do our own thing with a common goal, that's kind of what works the best," she said. "It's very exciting, and I think we've just got to keep going. If we do everything the same, I think we'll end up where we want to be."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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