The Golf Geek
Prescribing the Next Step for the Time-Starved Golfer
Many Golfers Make This Mistake – Do You?
Posted on 25. Oct, 2011 by Allan in Wisdom
So you think you’re pretty smart.
You read golf books and blogs instead of magazines.
You’ve even got one or two ideas on effective practice.
You don’t go through swing tip after swing tip in a fruitless search for “the one that works”.
But you might still be making a fundamental error which limits your ability to improve at golf.
Many smart golfers make the same silly mistake.
Imagine this: you’ve got a journey to make. You know where you want to go, but you’re not at all sure of the best way to get there. Each way has its advantages and drawbacks. You’re struggling to work out how best to get there. You spend ages researching it, but you still can’t decide. In the end, you decide to take the bus instead of driving.
But when you get on the bus, it becomes clear it doesn’t follow a direct route. As it meanders through village after village, you realise it’s far from the express service which was advertised. In fact, you’re now farther from your destination than you were when you started. You know the bus will get there in the end, but…
…you start to get frustrated.
Then the bus stops at a train station. You check the name, and realise it’s on the same line as your destination. It’s also on the same line as your home station – just two stops in the wrong direction. Cursing your decision-making, you hop off the bus, buy a train ticket and wait. Although you’re frustrated by the time and money you wasted by taking the bus, you’re happy you’ve now made the right decision. As soon as the train arrives, you’ll be on your way once more with the frustrations of the bus journey behind you.
But where is the train?
Shouldn’t be here by now? An announcement apologises for the delay, explaining there are extensive engineering works on the line. You’re frustrated (and questioning your decision to get off the bus) when it eventually arrives. You breathe a sigh of relief…and then realise you’ve been too hasty. The train limps along at half pace, stopping so frequently that by the time you should’ve arrived at your destination you’ve only reached your home station. Frustrated and unhappy, you alight once more, dashing home to get the car…
…only to get stuck in traffic.
The worst journey ever? Undoubtedly. Had you just picked one mode of transport and stuck with it, you would’ve arrived by now. Although your progress seemed slow, moving from one mode of transport to another meant you never moved forward, only sideways.
Is this a contrived story? Perhaps. Would you really switch from one mode of transport to another at the first sign of frustration, even when you were no closer to your destination? Maybe you wouldn’t.
But many golfers make this very mistake.
Desperate to improve at golf, they spend ages researching theory after theory. They invest precious time and money in one system, one idea, one school of thought…only to lose it all when, frustrated by lack of progress, they move onto another instructor, another school of thought, another theory. Had they simply had the courage of their convictions, their goal would have been far better served by persistence.
There are many roads to better golf.
I’m not suggesting you never make a change. Each method has their advantages and disadvantages; some will suit you better than others. So it is important to have a good idea of how you learn and which teaching style and underlying philosophy is most congruent with that before you start looking for a teacher.
And you might get it wrong…so it is important to review your decision if things aren’t going as you hoped. If you can’t see how the route you’ve chosen will take you where you want to go, then you should make a change.
But ask yourself: Am I worried because I won’t get there, or because I won’t get there fast enough?
Because if it’s the latter, you’re hopping from a bus to a train…and that might not even be enough.
You’ve got “Shortcut Syndrome”….and it’s in danger of ruining your golf game.
If you believe there’s a method out there, somewhere which means you’ll skip all of the hard work, cruise to the top without breaking a sweat, then all you’re ever going to do is hop from one idea to another, desperately hoping this one is “The One”.
This path leads only one place: Frustrationville, population: you.
Well, you and every other person making the same mistake. At least you won’t be lonely…
I know it’s not easy to resist. After all, there’s a substantial industry vying to convince you that their product, their idea is The One. Marketers want you to believe you can buy a golf game through buying clubs, and buy backspin by paying for a certain ball.
There isn’t just one route to improve at golf.
There isn’t even just one route for you.
If you can see you’re going to get there eventually, does it really matter how long it will take? Chasing shortcuts often makes the journey longer. Because when you move from one school of thought to another, you lose the time, effort and money you’ve invested thus far. Are you going to gain enough to compensate for what you’re losing?
Just because the grass looks greener on the other fairway, doesn’t mean it is.
Why not learn to enjoy the ride?
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it on your favourite social network!
(Hat tip to those who commented on this post for inspiring this week’s post, with special mentions for Mike and Nick)
[image credit: "Wall of Despair" by Cubmondo, "Face/Palm" by Andrew Mccluskey and "On Course to Frustration" by Beth Rankin under Creative Commons License]
8 Responses to “Many Golfers Make This Mistake – Do You?”
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I agree… and I don’t.
Change for change’s sake is clearly questionable. But then so many golfers do the opposite – they don’t change but they expect different results (to paraphrase Einstein’s definition of insanity).
If you want to improve your handicap, change is good – as long as iIt is intelligent change.
There are plenty of snake oil sellers in the golf industry. Similarly, though, there are plenty of very valuable approaches. The important thing is to find someone you trust and whose advice you really value. That takes intelligence. But it’s the right way to go.
I, for instance, tend to come over the top. I could, of course, buy a new driver. That, though, would not be intelligent change. Better, surely, to look for an instructor who can explain, illustrate and suggest a way of trying to iron out the problem. To get better, I have to embrace change – intelligently.
Tony, absolutely no arguments here. Change is necessary at times – doing the wrong things in the wrong way will keep us from playing to out potential, let alone develop that potential. But there’s no doubt many golfers change before mastering what they can already manage simply to chase a faster rate of improvement. They buy into the “quick fix” of the snake-oil salesmen and chase shortcut after shortcut; even if they were to luck into the correct method for them, the chances are they wouldn’t have a clue this was the case and they’d be off in search of the latest shiny new idea (tilt and stacking into the X-factor left hand low three-plane swing method, for example) .
So yes, change can be beneficial, even necessary. But there’s an awful lot of changing going on which is neither helpful nor needed, I’m hoping this post will help a few golfers see just that.
Many thanks for stopping by and for your comment (apologies for the delay in approval – it appeared to have been “spammed” for no discernible reason.
Allan – Dr Geek
Allan,
But ask yourself: Am I worried because I won’t get there, or because I won’t get there fast enough?
I mentioned in your lost post that it comes down to today’s society of wanting and needing things now. People are far to impatient and hope that things change quickly rather then putting in the long term work.
When it comes to golf with the various strategies and techniques, it’s no wonder why people are impatient. Golf Mags, instructors, equipment manufactures strike this emotional cord with people through their marketing. Stuff like “Drop two shots by the weekend” and “Hit it 50 yards further in 2 weeks” are ways that marketers capitalize on the gotta have it now society that we live in.
Jordan, thanks again for stopping by. You’re absolutely right; we get the media we deserve, in golf as in other aspects of life. If we didn’t buy into these myths, the shortcuts, the clubs which will suddenly and miraculously revolutionise our game without us having to do a thing, marketers wouldn’t use these tactics to sell to us. It’ll take a substantial sea-change, but such things start with a little swell…
I’ve got a post brewing for all those who believe in the reviews they read too…it makes for shocking reading.
Good on you Allan for focusing in on this issue, it may be the biggest reason of all that golfers fail to improve. A sense of urgency can work for us at times, inspiring action, but when combined with an ADD mindset and a focus on results it can lead to someone constantly looking for the next great training program or method of improvement when they haven’t given their current journey enough time to see it through. I struggle with this myself, and it doesn’t help that I know about 500 golf teachers who all have a slightly different approach.
Nick, thanks for your comment…and for the comment on the last post which helped inspire this one. I’d urge you to listen to the only person I’m certain is an expert on how you play golf, how you plan to improve at golf and your golf progress in general.
And that person is you. Others may know more about golf and golf instruction, but not one of them comes close to Nick Chertock when it comes to knowledge of Nick Chertock. Listen and ask questions all you like, but use this to build your own ideas about your golf swing, coupled with your experiential learning.
Keep the faith!
Hey Allan,
I kinda am glad you pointed this one out. Since many golfers do change on a whim in their plays and won’t stick to a single concept, it kinda does make it hard of them to actually get better at all. Don’t get me wrong, I also do believe that change is quite necessary for getting better, but not ALL the time, right?
That’s it in a nutshell, Russel, and there’s certainly fine judgement required. No matter how hard we work, working on the wrong things in the wrong way means we won’t come close to our potential as golfers…but then so does constantly flying from idea to idea and from one magazine tip to another in particular. Change course with golf instruction should be a considered, thoughtful process where we do our utmost to ensure we won’t ever have to change again.
Many thanks for stopping by!