A Little Patience Goes a Long Way

Most of us play golf with the hope that there is always a tomorrow and the expectation of better things, or in this case a better score, on the golf course. For some of us this does not happen nearly enough, but there are always those one or two days a year when the planets align and we shoot that score that keeps us coming back. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Some of us think it is a matter of luck. We use the same color tee or the same lucky coin or maybe it is a lucky shirt or blouse. But what happens when the luck runs out? Or does it really run out?
It wasn’t luck. Your best score is has the potential of being your everyday score! What often happens is that we get impatient. Our rhythm and tempo was smooth and everything seemed easy on the good day. But, as soon as a shot goes astray we start to change our alignment, grip, swing path and /or tempo because we automatically assume we did something wrong. That begins the process of fixing the last shot with the next swing. Assuming a miss is a great technique to use in shooting higher scores not lower.
What we really need when things go bad is patience, not change. Golf is a game, not of perfect, but of controlled misses. Some terrible misses won’t hurt your score too bad. Like that time you hit a drive two fairways over and had a perfect lie with a clear view to the green. Some near misses cost you dearly, like the ball that just missed the green and hit a stone that kicked it back into a pond. The secret is not to react. It was just one shot. You have had poor results before and this won’t be the last time it happens.
Stay patient. With patience comes consistency and with consistency comes better play and lower scores. Remember every time you make change, you start over. Develop a routine, find your best rhythm and tempo and use them every time regardless of results. If a shot pattern emerges like a slice or you hit it fat or top it, then come see someone like me. I promise it won’t cost much because with patience and consistency also comes consistent misses. A predictable shot shape is much easier to analyze and utilize than the unpredictable one.