Are golfers themselves inconsistent or is it simply inconsistent golf scores which create this perception in their minds?
The never-ending search for consistency is by far the most common theme I hear from players when they begin working with me. Using scoring consistency as a measuring stick for your progress is a very slippery slope, filled with unrealistic thinking, frustration and despair.
If you are chasing consistent scoring as a goal, please allow me to reshape your thinking for a moment, or you will struggle in your pursuit of it for eternity. Perspective is everything when working toward your goals.
Consistent scoring is simply not going to happen in the way most players envision it. Yes, you read that correctly. This is not a negative statement, it is a realistic one though.
Consider this: On any given day, a top touring professional will typically card a score somewhere between 64-74. They will have some outlier days which see them shooting between 59-63 or (gulp) sometimes 76-plus.
Day-to-day scoring fluctuations are nothing to panic about. If the best players in the world can see their scores shift as much as 15 or more shots from one tournament to the next, is it reasonable to believe yours won’t?
Why do your scores change so dramatically from day-to-day?
The environment you are performing in plays a big role in that equation. Golf is a rarity in the sporting world, in that the playing conditions themselves constantly change.
Basketball hoops are the same height all the time, hockey nets are the same size all the time, tennis courts are the same length all the time. Inconsistency is simply bred into the game of golf in its design. No two holes, days or courses will ever look the same and your scores quite often will not as well.
When you add constantly evolving weather conditions to the equation, it is hard to imagine how consistent scores can ever be a reasonable measuring tool of progress for a player. You must accept that the playing environment will suit your game more on some days than others.
If you wish to measure your improvement, measure it over extended periods of time rather than individual moments along the way. Monitor the big picture more and the little picture less.
Scoring average is a far better marker of progress than individual round scores ever will be because it is built over a window of time and isn’t about the anomalies — good or bad — in the equation.
If you want to be more consistent as a player, shift your focus from scoring, to planning and preparation. Become more predictable in your approach to the game. Create a consistent approach to things like preparation, focus, visualization, breathing, eating, self-talk, stretching, or any of the numerous other small things which are truly within your control.
Trevor Moore is a PGA of Canada professional and a TPI Certified Golf Fitness Instructor with the Titleist Performance Institute. Based in Medicine Hat, he runs his Advantage Golf Academy out of Cottonwood Coulee Golf Course and coaches the Medicine Hat College Rattlers golf teams. For comments or questions, you can contact him via his website trevormoore.ca or follow him on Twitter @trevormooreinc.
