Expectations and Reality

Have you ever played a round after some time away from golf and scored really well? Then played the next round and scored poorly? I have. Nothing felt different. The swing felt the same, but nothing worked.

Why does this happen?

It all has to do with expectations. The first round after time away from the game carries little to no expectations. As a result, you just swing and play free. The second round, because the first round was good, suddenly carries expectations and usually is not a good round.

As golfers, we all have expectations. We expect to shoot certain scores. We expect to never three putt. We expect our swing to work every round. We expect to hit every green with a wedge.

But are those expectations realistic?

Of course not.

The reality is we shoot bad scores. We three putt. Our swing varies from round to round. We miss greens with wedges.

And we get upset.

Why?

We all do it even when our expectations are unrealistic. And our expectations ARE unrealistic.

We need to temper our expectations with reality.

Score expectation vs. reality - having a target score for the day sets up massive expectation for the round. There is less tolerance for a poor shot or hole. It places undo pressure to perform to a certain level. Get off to a poor start, the target score appears less attainable and undo pressure forms. The reality is scores fluctuate from day to day. Take for instance a tour player who goes really low one day and struggles to break par the next. Same player, same swing, same course with completely different results. Instead of setting a target score or a score range, set the goal to simply play as well as you can that day. More often than not, you will shoot a score you will be happy with.

No three putt expectations vs. reality - Admittedly this is a tough one. No one likes a three-putt. It turns a potentially good score on a hole into a poor score, or, worse, a poor score into a bad score. Tour pros three-putt 2.73% of the time. This equates to one three-putt every two rounds. Naturally, distance from the hole matters. At 33 feet a tour pro is more likely to three-putt than one-putt. From 40 feet, a tour pro has just over 10% chance of three-putting. Reality is you are going to three-putt. When you do three-putt, learn as much as you can from it. Did you misread the putt? Was the speed wrong? Was it a simple pull or push? If you discover a pattern to your three putts, you have something to work on to correct the issue.

Never missing a green with a wedge expectation vs. reality - This one I have always felt stems from the belief tour pros not only hit greens with their wedges every time, but they also hit them to five feet or less more often than not. The reality is tour pros miss greens with wedges. From 100 yards, tour pros miss the green 25% of the time. You read that right. One out of four times a tour pro misses a green from 100 yards. 4% of the time the ball will end up inside three feet from the hole from 100 yards. 57% will finish inside18 feet which means 43% of the time the ball finishes outside 18 feet. Reality dictates you will miss greens more than 25% of the time and finish outside of 18 feet when you do hit the green at least 50% of the time. No need to get upset at either. If you feel your wedge play is sub-standard, examine where you are missing greens. Are you short siding yourself by flag hunting? Do you hit them consistently thin or fat? Like putting, you can work to correct whatever issue is causing your misses.

Swing expectation vs reality - We all want our swing to be consistent and produce the same quality shot with every swing and every round. Intrinsically, we understand this is not possible. Swinging a golf club requires complex movement performed with different length clubs with different lofts from various types of lies/turf conditions. Even the most technically sound swings produce poor shots. But there is more to it. Our bodies can move differently from day to day. I’m not talking some visible difference. It can be something as simple as weight shift in the downswing is a fraction of a second late or quick. This can lead to different contact such as fat or thin shots. There is nothing physically bothering you, but your body just moves a little differently from day to day. This is part of the reason tour pros spend time in the gym and working with physical therapists prior to a round. They want their bodies moving as efficiently and consistently as possible for every round, but, even with all the expertise around them. tour players need to adjust from round to round with what they bring to the course on a particular day. You do to. Play with what you have that day. Don’t try to fix it on the course with a swing change. For instance, if you’re hitting the ball a little fat, move the ball back in your stance to improve contact. If you’re pushing or pulling the ball, adjust your aim slightly to accommodate.

Our expectations too often extend beyond reality. Golf is hard. We are going to hit poor shots. We are going to three putt. We are going to have good days and bad days. It’s part of the game. It’s what makes it so much fun and exasperating, but, if you can temper your expectations down to reality, the game can be much more fun than exasperating.

As always, be grateful when you play. Be thankful for the privilege and opportunity to play this amazing game. Now, go golf!