Ben Hogan once stated, “golf is not a game of good shots, it’s a game of bad shots.”
If you really want to play consistent golf, manage your game by managing your mistakes. After each round, you should look at your statistics a bit deeper than your typical fairways or greens hit, but not as deep as strokes gained putting, that gets too be too much in my opinion. But hey, if that type of over-analyzing works for you, go at it.
2012 US Open champion, Webb Simpson, and his caddy, Paul Tesori, have a specific system that examine their own play. It’s quite simple; they look at four statistics that show where they are making mistakes….They know that the person who makes the fewest mistakes usually wins.
After every tournament, they look at the following four statistics:
1) Three-putts
2) Bogeying any par-five
3) Bogey from the fairway <8 iron
4) Double bogey
They have deemed that any of these mistakes is like giving 2 shots back to the field that they cannot afford to make. Assessing their play in this fashion also helps direct their practice, and/or game strategy.
If the goal is consistency, are you managing mistakes in your own game?
Dr. Rob Bell is the author of Mental Toughness Training for Golf, an AASP certified Sport Psychology consultant, and caddy on tour. He consults with athletes, coaches, and teams at all levels helping build and enhance their own mental toughness. His website is www.drrobbell.com and you can find him on Twitter @drrobbell,
