Good Doesn’t Have to be Perfect

Greetings Golfers,

We’ve all heard that saying “Practice makes perfect”.

And that other saying “Perfect practice makes perfect” attributed to Vince Lombardi. 

But … does that work for golf? Does that work for a recreational player?

The other day I played on one of the local courses … it was cold for here (50 degrees) so I was the only one on the course. My thought for the round was to play every shot as casually as I could. No pre-shot routine … just walk up to it … and swing. And … swing with zero intensity … no swing thoughts … just react. 

Why?

Because I don’t want to have to play “perfect” to play well or even decent.

I can walk without trying. I can throw a ball at a target without going through a routine.

I want to play golf that casually. 

So, I have to risk playing that casually … in a “practice” round … and also when practicing anywhere.

Think about putting. I don’t want to need to make a perfect stroke to make a putt. It’s just rolling a ball into a hole. I want to be able to make a putt with a poor stroke. 

We’re making it too hard.

Good doesn’t have to be perfect.

My goal is to make golf “easy” not “perfect”.

And by easy … I still mean good. No one wants to play bad golf. 

But perfect isn’t my goal. And I think perfect makes me worse … and it certainly takes away my fun factor.

I know a guy who tried to play with a different group every week. One week it was with a group where something always went wrong so it never happened. Well, this time it was on no matter what! But, this time, the guy’s neck went out. Fortunately, one of the guys was a doc, so he fed him pain pills … and the other guys fed him beers. These other guys swear that this fellow shot way under par. Is this a true story? Probably - these guys still talk about it. The player himself doesn’t really remember the round.

Maybe that story isn’t a great example. However, it does make a point:

“Golf is more fun … and better … when it’s easy”.

And:

“Good golf doesn’t have to be perfect”.

Cheers!

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com