Have you ever heard someone on the golf course exclaim – ‘This is the worst I’ve ever hit the golf ball!’ or ‘this is the worst I’ve ever played, I’ve never hit the golf ball this bad!’
I’ve been fortunate enough the last couple of months to have played more golf than usual – some rounds at very high-end golf clubs, some rounds at municipal clubs, even a round or two at a golf course that hasn’t even opened yet – though there’s at least one common trait amongst Golfers regardless of the price of the green fee: Exaggeration!
Man, Golfers can really exaggerate the negative aspects of their game. Though on-the-other-hand you rarely hear a Golfer exaggerate positive information.
I’m sure you’ve heard more than one Golfer who has uttered the comment ‘this is the worst I’ve ever played’ – but how many times have you ever heard the reverse: ‘This is the best I’ve ever played’? Now we usually hear that positive comment during our 3-Day GMS Programs – but you rarely hear a Golfer saying that during a casual round of Golf.
Yet, there are more Golfers than I can ever count that have the habit of letting everybody know they’re ‘playing my worst round ever’. And it’s usually those people that have this supposed ‘worst round’ – every round they play.
They’re habitual ‘Worst Rounders’.
It’s like the Golfer that tells you that ‘I’m a mid 80’s Golfer’. Then when you play with them and they score a 97 – they say, ‘that’s the worst I’ve ever played’. Yet, the next time they play and score a 95 – guess what they’ll be telling their foursome?
Yeah, probably the same ‘worst ever’ comment even though he scored higher the round before!
But to dig even deeper – do you really think this Golfer’s a ‘mid 80’s Golfer? Maybe in their mind, but most likely they had a couple of good rounds a few years ago where they scored an 86 and 87 – so in their minds, they’re a ‘mid 80’s Golfer’. When in reality, each of the last 53 rounds they’ve played have been they’re ‘worst ever’ with scores ranging between 94 and 104.
Though, this Golfer is doing a disservice to their golf game because by believing that they’re a mid 80’s Golfer when they’re really a mid 90’s Golfer – they often feel defeated by the 7th hole. Because after 7 holes they might only be 7 strokes over par on their way to scoring a very respectable 45 – though because they don’t believe that Bogey Golf is up to their standard (because in their mind – they’re a mid 80’s Golfer), they start to become disappointed and start convincing themselves ‘that I’m playing my worst round ever’ – which leads them to making a double bogey on hole 8 and a triple bogey on hole 9 to score their typical 48 for the front 9.
Have you ever seen this happen to somebody? Or maybe, just maybe – you’re doing it yourself?
The more you’re around Golfers like I’m around Golfers – the more you see this self-defeatist mentality. Golfers are often their own worst enemy – which is an unfortunate event. Because it pains me to hear a Golfer say – ‘I’m playing worse than I’ve ever played before.’ I don’t feel bad for this Golfer beacuse they’re playing bad – I feel bad because they’re lying to themselves. Yes, you have played this bad in the past – and once you admit this to yourself – you’ll be able to make the next step towards improvement.
For example – for the Golfer a couple paragraphs above: if they accepted that they were a mid 90’s Golfer, they’d be very happy being 7 over after 7 holes. And because of that – they might even par the last two holes to score 43 on the front 9 (although if they Bogeyed and shot 45 it would also be good). But because they pressed too hard because they’re on track to play Bogey Golf (which isn’t good enough for them), they end up finding a way to score the same old 48 (or worse).
The Monkey remembers one time that they shot a career round and believes that they should always shoot that score. Which isn’t the best way to think about it because if Tiger looked at his 65 last Friday and carried the same attitude as the frustrated Golfer on Sunday during his round when he shot 6 shots higher – he might’ve done what many frustrated Golfers do every day by telling himself ‘this is the worst round I have ever played’.
And guess what? He might’ve ended shooting an 84 like Mike O’Meara last Sunday.
The Monkey is constantly shooting their worst round ever
The Player knows that they’re going to have some very good rounds and some very bad rounds
Go ahead, Be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon – Your Instructor For Life