Believe it or not, the expectations of many Golfers of what their range of scores should be is far off. For example: once a Golfer scores a 95 for the first time, they usually expect to score 95 or better in each of their next 10 rounds. And when this doesn’t happen, there’s often a sense of you thinking you’re still inconsistent.
This can’t be farther from the truth. For you to understand what inconsistency truly is … will only help you to get on the road to consistency.
For example: I’m sure you’d agree that the most consistent Golfers in the world are the men and women that play professionally on the PGA and LPGA Tours. And if we look at the differences in their scores from day to day – you’d actually see as much or more inconsistency as you might be seeing.
To see what I mean – let’s look at one of the best young players on the PGA Tour – Ryan Palmer. Ryan just came in 4th place at this past week’s PGA Tour event in New Orleans. And there’s quite a lot you can learn by watching Ryan. Although he’s won 3 times on the PGA Tour … he’s not the quintessential natural. He’s had to work extremely hard to get to where he is today.
Yet, despite his success and talent, he still has his up-n-downs. Ryan has had to go through more struggles on the golf course than you would go through if you lived 5 lifetimes. And considering his life depends on how well he plays golf … he needs to play well to eat! You play a bad round of golf – you’re still in the grill room after your round crunching on a plate of Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. Ryan plays enough bad rounds in a row and he’s sitting on the side of the road holding a sign that says “Will Golf for Food.”
Seriously, if you used the same criteria that you use for yourself as far as whether you’re consistent on the golf course – you’d probably call Ryan a very inconsistent Golfer. Yet, I’m sure you’d be extremely happy to “suffer through his inconsistency”.
If you scored 95 one Saturday and 99 the following Saturday and then 101 the next Saturday – you’d be telling everybody within earshot – “I’m so inconsistent. I don’t know what’s wrong with my game.” Yet Ryan has missed the cut in 4 out of 11 PGA Tour events this year.
And in the other 6 events besides this last week – he hasn’t finished better than 21st place. And that 21st place was because he shot a 76 in the final round to fall out of contention
Now, many Golfers are probably saying “Ohhhh, 76. I feel soooo bad for him. I wish I could shoot 76.” Well, it is a big deal because he shot 66 in the 3rd Round and the 76 his very next round is ten shots worse (a 13% gain in strokes in just a 24 hour span). And to put this in perspective, that 13% gain in strokes is like you shooting a 95 on Saturday and a 107 the next day.
Now if a guy on the PGA Tour (that has won 3 times) can have a 13% differential in strokes from day to day … why isn’t that acceptable for your game? And trust me … he’s way more consistent than any of us! If one of the Top 100 Players in the World can have a 10 shot difference between rounds – someone, who scores 95 shouldn’t worry if their next round is a 107!
Even this week (where he came in 4th place), his scores from round to round included a 5 stroke difference from round 1 to 2; 3 strokes from round 2 to 3; 5 strokes from round 3 to 4. So he twice had a 5 stroke difference from round to round. And that 5 stroke difference is coming from one of the most consistent Golfers in the world. Someone that practices every day for 8 hours!
Why is this important for me to point out? Because the normal Golfer that see’s that same “inconsistency” will probably go home and scour the Golf Magazines to find out what they did wrong. Then go to the driving range the next morning before their round to try every tip they read the night before. And because of all the swing thoughts going through their head each shot on the golf course … they will play an even worse round of golf.
And then go home for more golf tips … and repeat the same unsuccessful process the next week.
The Monkey gets upset with a 10 stroke difference between rounds because it’s “so inconsistent”
The Player watches Players like Ryan Palmer and learns from them
Go ahead, Be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon