Are you better at golf this year compared to last year? If not, YOU might be holding back your ability to improve your golf – a self sabotaging move made solely by your inability to understand what is in this article.
This article will
- Reveal the biggest differentiator between players who chase their tails and those who constantly get better long-term
- Give steps you can implement to change this problem, and start improving more consistently year over year.
Before we read on, if you haven’t read my Ebook, “Golf Hacks” – a quick and easy guide to fixing shanks, toes, fats, thins, slices, hooks, as well as practicing better and improving on-course strategy – I’m giving it away FREE.
Just pop in your email below, and continue to read this blog. The book will be sent to your email.
This Is The Only Consistent Thing In Golf
The only thing that is consistent in this game is….
Wait for it……
Inconsistency!
Yes, even pros shoot a 63 and follow it with a round over par.
Furyk once shot a round of 2 over and followed it with a 12 under par round (a 14 shot swing)
McIlroy shot a 62 one week and an 82 the next (20 shot swing)
But Why?
Golf is a game with many shots and many variables.
Everything from;
- Tiredness
- Coordination
- Emotions
- Skill fluctuations
- Small technique fluctuations
- Strategy
- Environment (wind, green hardness)
- Course difficulty/set up etc
can affect how we play. If you go out to the course angry one day, for whatever reason, and have high expectations for playing well, you are very likely to play poorly.
Hell, even the same shot can cost you more from one day to the next,
Imagine hitting a fat shot that lands 20 yards short – if there is water guarding the front of the green it is going to cost you more than if you did the same shot on an unguarded green.
Same shot quality – different effect on your score.
Learning Golf Is Not Linear
Due to the the multi-factorial nature of golf, day to day scores can vary wildly.
This should be expected – improving at golf is not as linear as something like learning the piano, where fewer variables are at play.
There will be plateaus in learning with all skills, but we see much more linear improvement in skills such as learning the piano.
In your progression, your monthly (or yearly) average should be coming down, but you are very likely to experience a wave of results around that average.
golf score (pink) versus total average score (green). This player sees a yearly average score decrease of 5 shots, with a high score of 95 and a low of 75.
A yearly swing of 20 shot between your highest and lowest scores is more than normal – even the tour players go through this. But if your average score drops by 5 shots each year, that’s significant!
The Biggest Problem Amateurs Have
Luckily, this problem is something that is pretty easily fixable – as YOU are the one that’s causing it in the first place.
Imagine a player is doing all the right things – they are;
- Having good-quality instruction
- Practicing effectively
- Working on things that relate to performance improvements (not random things they found on Youtube)
They are projected to see an average stroke decrease of 5 shots.
But, due to the random fluctuations around this, they have a bad round (which is inevitable), or even a bad stretch.
The below picture shows 3 times during the year (yellow) where a player may “jump ship” and change their process due to a bad stretch, as opposed to seeing the bigger picture (the average).
The amateur who chases their tail all year jumps ship and moves onto something new, thinking that what they are doing is not (or no longer) working and there is some secret out there that they need to find.
Better players do something different…..
Top Tips For Stopping This Madness
What can you do to improve your golf more consistently over a long period of time? Start adding some of these to your life.
- Understand that there is no secret ingredient that will take your game from where you are now to scratch
- Recognize the reality/nature of golf and the fact it is always going to be consistently inconsistent.
- Look more at your average score – and zoom out to at least a monthly average (yearly ideally).
- Work on things that improve performance – as opposed to striving to achieve a “look”
- Be patient with changes – even the best change can throw you off for a short time – nothing new is easy. Almost every change requires reps and practice for the fruits of your labor to be seen.
- Improve your golf strategy – by doing this, you will be able to smooth out a lot of the variance in scores, and lower the average score quicker.
- Stop bounding around between ideas – stick to a methodology that has been proven to work, as well as drills that relate directly to performance improvements – like those in my plans.
- Better techniques mean outcomes fluctuate less when your movement has any inevitable variability – basically, your shots become more consistent, even if your movement is not consistent. This is what the pros do which makes them better.
Want More?
In my programs for improvement, I show you exactly how to do all of the above.
If you tend to suffer with heel shots, toe shots, fats, thins, and tend to miss the target more long/short – The Strike Plan is perfect for you.
I show you how to strike the ball like the pros, creating those great-feeling/sounding shots more often. As a result, you will hit more greens, score lower and just walk off the course having enjoyed it more.
Click the image link below to learn more.
If you suffer more with slices/hooks, lose balls and miss greens left and right – The Accuracy Plan is the perfect plan for you.
I show you how to quickly fix your slices/hooks, how to be more consistent with the driver to hit more fairways, as well as some awesome strategies that can allow you to quickly lower your scores without practice (as well as make more consistent scores).
Do you want to learn more about The Accuracy Plan? Click the image link below.
Finally, if you are an absolute golf geek and want to improve it all – everything from swing mechanics, performance, your training, as well as deep-diving into strategy, psychology, motor learning and other topics (over 40hrs of content) – Next Level Golf is the perfect program.
It’s coach-level information given in a way that amateur golfers can understand and benefit from. Want to learn more about NLG – Click the image link below.
Dennis Zukiwsky
Excellent article and so true I spent 40 years chasing the mythical “fix”
Now using your strike plan and solid practice plans my game is slowly improving. Thanks Adam
andy williams
that was a great podcast with Karl, thank you for that, Andy
Eddie
I ve read the practice manual a number of times and love it. So was wondering what to get next. Strike plan, accuracy plan or go NLG. Any advice Adam conscious of information overload!