Are You A Golf Score Addict? Many Golfers believe it’s a good thing to be thinking about score during their round, before a particular shot or during their swing. But unfortunately, it’s the worst thing you could be thinking about on the golf course. It would actually be better for you to be focused on what you’re going to have for dinner later that evening – than it would focusing on your score!

Yet most Golfers don’t think it’s really a problem to be focused on score.  They don’t realize thinking about score can actually be causing problems in your golf swing. They feel their problem is – “If I could just hit the golf ball consistently – I’d be able to score better.” Score Addict!

Have you ever thought that the reason you might not be hitting the golf ball as well as you could, could be because you’re spending too much time on the golf course worried about your score? Score Addict!

Do you know why it’s detrimental to your golf game to think about score?  Has this ever happened to you?

You just finished the 9th hole not knowing what your score was – all you know is that you’re having fun on the golf course with friends. And then, as you’re getting ready to tee off on the 10th hole, your playing partner say’s “Hey Bob, you shot a 40 on the front!”, and you think to yourself “Wow, I had no idea I played that well! I was just having fun. If I can just follow that up with a 39 – I’ll have my best score ever and break 80 for the first time!”

This scenario could be modified for someone wanting to break 100 and scoring 50 on the Front 9 or someone wanting to break 90 and scoring 45 on the Front 9.

All of a sudden, the stakes are higher, the mood has changed and there’s a different feel in the air. Now you’re focused on making Pars and Birdies – which invariably leads to a double bogey on the 10th hole.

You try to stay positive and say “All is not lost; if I could just make a few Pars and a Birdie on the next holes, I’ll be back on track.” So, on the 11th hole you hit a good drive and are 195 yards to the green. This particular green is surrounded by a lot of trouble, yet you think to yourself “I need to make Birdie after that last Double Bogey.”

You do make a good golf swing, yet the shot drifts a little to the right, takes a bad bounce just short of the green and ends up in the right bunker. You then get in the bunker only to find your golf ball has a terrible lie (because someone didn’t rake very well before you and all of a sudden it seems like the whole world is against you shooting your best score). It takes you 2 shots to get out of the sand and you follow that up with 2 putts – Double Bogey.

And all you can think about is how you’ve messed up a good round. Score Addict!

But you try to stay positive and say to yourself: “If I finish really strong and make a Birdie or two I can still have my best round.” So you try really hard to make some Birdies, although all you’re doing is putting pressure on yourself to perform. And I’m sure you can guess what happens from this point. The scorecard looks like this 40 and 55 = 95.  15 shots higher on the back 9 … I wonder why? Score Addict!

This is just one of the many scenarios we could paint for you. If you play golf, I’m sure you’ve personally experienced worse “Blow-ups” than the one described above!

And someone may say “I often have the opposite happen to me. I usually play poorly on the front 9 and play well on the back 9.” Believe it or not, it’s for the same reason. Most of the time Golfers play poorly the first few holes is because they start with very high expectations of shooting their best score. And just like the scenario above – every hole is based on score. As opposed to playing one shot at a time based on your Strengths and Weaknesses – the Score Addict plays golf based on Pars and Birdies.

The Score Addict rarely plays well. Just think about your best 9 holes ever – most Golfers had no idea that they shot their best score. That is until they added up the scorecard or someone else told you your score. On the other hand – everyone knows their score when they’re playing bad.

After the bad front 9 caused by thinking about shooting a good score, the Golfer thinks – “That’s the worst I’ve ever played!” And then goes to the back 9 with no expectations and just plays one shot at a time because score isn’t a factor since they screwed up their round on the front 9.

And guess what happens? After the 18th hole, your playing partner asks you – “Do you know what you shot on the back 9” “No, I don’t really care. I played terrible today. This round was a disaster!” “Well, on the back 9 you shot 3 over Par for a 39.” “No I didn’t.” “Yes you did!” “If only I had played that well on the front 9!”

Let’s cut to the chase – thinking about your score on the golf course leads to bad results:

You probably won’t improve your scores by “thinking” about scoring well

You probably won’t hit better golf shots by “thinking” about making a birdie

You probably will have more blow-up holes by saying – “I’ve got to get this one close so I can make Par!”

Thinking about your score on the golf course is not going to help you to score better.

Why can some Golfers hit the golf ball well on the practice range, but can’t take that golf swing to the golf course? One reason is that on the practice range … you’re not focused on score – you’re just focused on “feeling” your golf swing – one shot at a time.

So the next question is – if you shouldn’t be focused on score while on the golf course – what should you be thinking about?

The Monkey is thinking about their 9-hole score on the 2nd tee

The Player understands that they should – ‘Play for their PLAN, not plan for their score’

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon