Perception is based on an incredible amount of sensory information, but it is more influenced by opinions of other people — friends, strangers or, in this case, your golf buddies.
I often hear golfers giving advice to other players, such as “keep your left arm straight, bend your knees, keep your head down, etc.” This in turn makes the person being instructed feel as if they aren’t doing anything right and makes their attitude negative toward their own game.
Before every lesson I ask my new students two questions:
1. What are your goals for your golf game? I want to know if their goals are attainable and construct a plan to reach the goals we agree upon.
2. How well do you understand your golf game? I want to find out my students’ perception of their game verses the reality of what their game is.
Reality is the state of things as they actually exist as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them. Many of my students tell me — their perception — that they are bad putters. When I ask why they think this, the most common answer is, “I don’t make as many putts as I should.” I would guess that this would be the opinion of a lot of players.
Let’s go through an example of perception vs. reality together:
Take six large steps from where you’re currently sitting or standing. You are now approximately 20 feet from where you originally started. In 2015, Jordan Spieth led the PGA Tour in putting from this distance.
If the best putter in the world putted from the 20 feet you have stepped off, how many times would he make it out of 10? Keep in mind he is the best putter in the world, at the time ranked No. 1 in the world and is putting on the best greens in the world. Many people say six or seven times out of 10 attempts. The answer? Twice!
The best putter in the world last year only made it two out of 10 times (22 percent to be exact). When I first saw this stat I realized my perception (I should make it six or seven times) versus my reality (one or two times) was not even close! I took this new reality and lowered my expectations and immediately was mentally better on the course after missed putts.
Understanding your perception of your game versus the reality of what should be happening can also help you. Understand your weaknesses on the golf course and maximize your chances to use your strengths. If you are better at uphill putts, then try to chip the ball into a spot that will give you an uphill putt. If you’re good from 80 yards, but not good from 40 yards, then try to leave yourself 80 yards. Play to your strengths and have an understanding of perception vs. reality and you will have more fun and shoot better scores.
Teaching points
Golf is about the next shot. Position yourself to hit the next shot from a spot you are comfortable with.
Be positive. If you tell yourself, “I’m going to miss this putt,” guess what? You’re probably going to miss. Stay positive to give yourself the best chance.
Practice? What’s that? Just like anything in life, the more you try something, the better you will become. Practice, practice, practice.
If you ever have any questions or requests for certain topics to be covered, please feel free to send me an email at cflenniken@tvpoa.org. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to set up a time for us to work on your game. Don’t hesitate to reach out if I can help you at all.
