Golfers May Just Be Tired of Not Getting Any Better

“Golfers May Just Be Tired of Not Getting Any Better”
By James Ragonnet
[Article Launched: 03/30/2008 08:11:53 AM PDT

New York Times writer Paul Vitello recently reported that more golfers, lacking both time and money, are giving up the game. Vitello is correct on both counts. However, there’s another reason why golfers are giving up the game: Golfers rarely improve.

The simple truth is that most golfers have a flat performance curve. According to statistics from the U.S. Golf Association and The National Golf Foundation, the average 18-hole score of about 100 for recreational golfers has not changed in more than 20 years. Even though American golfers spend approximately $5 billion a year on high-tech equipment - including $500 drivers and $200 putters - they still don’t improve.

PGA Instructor Casey Eberting, who owns and operates several golf schools in Texas Hill Country, states, “Probably less than one out of every thousand golfers has the ability to make significant improvement in their golf game once they’ve reached a certain level.” Many golf instructors, including Eberting, assert that after three years, most golfers reach a point in which they won’t improve no matter what they do. If that’s true, golfers who play for 30 years will spend their last 27 years - or 90 percent of their career - stagnating. My playing, teaching, studying and coaching golf for over four decades confirms this sad reality.

I hope you are sitting down, as I have something shocking to report. My friend, Chuck, who has tracked and recorded the league handicaps of approximately 84 golfers for the past 33 years, recently told me something that sent a jolt through my shorts. Having reviewed the handicap histories of all 84 golfers, Chuck reported that not one golfer lowered his handicap in more than three decades. Not one!

Obviously, golfers do not play just to lower their handicaps. Most golfers play primarily for enjoyment. Well, how can golfers - or anyone else - enjoy themselves if they don’t improve? W.B Yeats wrote, “We are happy when we are growing.” Lacking sufficient improvement to offset the drudgery, golfers (unless they’re masochists) throw in the towel.

Think about it. If you can’t knit a simple hat after years of trying, why continue? If you can’t grow a few healthy tomatoes after years of trying, why continue? It’s the same with golfers. After years of trying, if you can’t lower your score and if you can’t hit more than one or two good shots for every 10 attempts, why continue? What’s the point?

Generally, golfers employ a standard for success - but not a standard for failure. Until golfers employ a yardstick for failure, they won’t assess their lack of improvement. Oblivious to their repeated failures, golfers resemble slot-machine addicts who relish their modest successes, ignore their habitual losses, exhaust their cash supply, and then walk away frustrated and broke.

PGA Instructor Jim Waldron of Balance Point Golf Schools states, “golf has the worst record in all of sports when it comes to students mastering the basic skills of the game.” Mike Pedersen, a PGA Professional Teacher, cites five key reasons why golfers don’t improve: poor fundamentals, lack of fitness, inadequate practice, wrong equipment and poor course strategies. However, there’s a more fundamental reason why golfers don’t improve.

Essentially, golfers don’t improve because they are poor learners. It’s that simple. Golfers can be divided between learners and non-learners. Learners improve - non-learners don’t. Case closed.

Psychiatrist Ronald Heifetz classifies problems into three types. Type One Problem: The problem is clear and the solution is clear. Type Two Problem: The problem is clear but the solution is unclear. Type Three Problem: The problem is unclear and the solution is unclear. Hitting a golf ball straight and far is definitely a Type Three Problem. Thus, golfers must become adroit learners. Accordingly, they must understand basic learning theory. Unless golfers understand precise and scientific concepts like “learning curves” and “feedback loops,” they can’t predict events and achieve positive results.

Also, golfers must understand that learning has two distinct phases: discovery and mastery. This is an important distinction. For golfers, discovery denotes (1) formulating an accurate mental blueprint of the golf swing and (2) acquiring the requisite drills to ingrain the blueprint. Without an accurate golf blueprint, golfers cannot make predictions, form explanations, entertain alternatives, develop comparisons and understand key principles.

On the other hand, mastery denotes gaining the ability to perform effortlessly and expertly. Mastery requires tedious and dedicated practice sessions using a variety of techniques, including slow motion drills, half-speed drills, weighted clubs, training devices, range balls, etc.

Golfers must master technique to forget technique. Mastering golf is like mastering the piano. After constant and tedious practice, pianists and golfers eventually drop technique from their conscious mind. That’s when their subconscious mind takes over.

Theorists have yet to formulate a “Unified Field Theory” - the Holy Grail of Physics - to explain the mysterious forces at work in the universe. Similarly, theorists have yet to formulate a “Unified Field Theory” - the Holy Grail of Golf - to explain the mysterious forces at work in the golf swing. Until someone finally demystifies and simplifies the swing, golfers in their quixotic quest to improve must activate their learning powers. Otherwise they will fumble along until they give up or die - whichever comes first.
[Copyright @2008]

• The author is a Springfield College (Springfield, MA) English professor and a golf coach with an interest in Eastern precepts and practices. His book, “Golf’s Three Noble Truths: The Fine Art of Playing Awake,” was published by New World Library in 2007.