Jon Sherman is the owner of Practical Golf, a website that is dedicated to helping the everyday golfer. Along with this, Jon has written multiple books, including The Four Foundations of Golf and 101 Mistakes All Golfers Make. Today, Jon regularly competes in amateur tournaments in the New York metro area.
Jon’s book The Four Foundations of Golf covers some of the big topics that help everyone play better golf, including expectation management. Jon said that he considers expectation management to be the foundation of all the foundations. Generally, golfers get angry because golf is not a game of perfect and they feel like they should be performing much better, especially given what they see on TV. By understanding the baseline statistics, golfers will realize that a lot of their shots are good shots (like hitting it to 20 feet from 100 yards), which will give them confidence as they play more.
Beyond managing scoring expectations, Jon also pointed out that golf is not a game of perfect golf swing. Instead, golf is about creating certain impact conditions and making those repeatable. So when he practices, he worries much less about technique and focuses more on what the ball is doing. Using ball flight laws, he has been able to manage his swing and develop into a plus-handicap with very few lessons.
For more information, listen to the episode here https://rss.com/podcasts/thetournamentcode/