Asking yourself why you play the game of golf is important not just for elite competitive players, but also for the recreation golfer. Many give up on this great game because their expectation level doesn’t meet up with their reality.
Before we go any further, understand that you can change your reality. If you currently struggle to break 100, your reality will not be to shoot under par and win a tournament. But if you put forth a plan to practice and play enough you can start to change that reality so that over time you may be able to break par.
Judge Your Play by Time Spent on the Game
When I say time spent on the game, I don’t necessarily mean that once you’ve played for 30 years you will officially become an expert on golf. Ask any club member that’s played 30 years and they will probably agree. What I do mean is that your expectation level must be set by the overall time spent and quality of your practice.
I’d love to spit out some data that says if you play X amount it will equal Y results. Unfortunately no such data exists. So many factors go into a player’s development that it is impossible to come up with the rate of progress one should have.
The closest thing to it would be the “10,000 hour or 10 years” rule that Malcom Gladwell made famous in his book Outliers, saying that if you spend 10,000 hours or 10 years of deliberate practice you can become a master at that skill. The key is deliberate practice. If you are spending quality time practicing your game then your expectation level can change. If not, then your reality is set.
One of the best ways to know if you’re achieving what you should would be to get with a qualified instructor to evaluate your current skill set and start managing your expectations. You can also begin putting together a plan to improve your skills and begin changing your expectations.
Understand and Use Basic Statistics
Do you know many greens in regulation (GIR) you average hitting when you play? What about fairways hit? Your percentage you get up and down for par? Or the number of putts your average per round?
For most golfers this is simply too much to keep up with or worry about when you’re playing. And if you’re expectations level is low, then by all means continue. But if you find yourself questioning your abilities or getting mad because you think you should be doing better, then you need to start paying attention to your stats.
One of the most basic reasons to know your stats is so you can easily compare what you do with the best players in the world on the PGA or LPGA Tours. The number of stats available for each professional players is extremely detailed and published for free to see by anyone.
The most obvious reason to keep your stats is so that you can take them to an instructor and begin putting a plan together to start improving. What can be measured can be improved so be more diligent in keeping track of your current statistics and give your self another way to see your improvement.
NOTE - It should be noted that statistics are not the “end all, be all” for your golf game. They are simply a tool. For example, the average number of putts stat is possibly the most worthless stat in golf because it is directly tied to your ability to hit greens in regulation. Learning to keep a strokes gained putting stat is much more valuable.
Remember… It’s Just a Game!
The most important thing that everyone should remember (except for those that do it for a living) is that golf is a game! By keeping your expectations in line with the reality of your skill set will free you up to enjoy the game of golf from start to finish.
At the end of the day I think it should be every golfer’s goal to walk off the golf course feeling good about the time they just spent. Don’t worry about score, especially when you’re playing a recreational round of golf!
If you feel like you are struggling to align your expectations with your skills you can schedule a session with me by clicking here and we will work together to get the most from your game.
