Opinion & Analysis
12 reasons serious golfers don’t realize their potential

What stops serious golfers from realizing their potential? If you are an amateur who wants to get better, a young player trying to achieve more, or a young professional with big dreams, this article is for you.
I’ve made a career out of helping athletes maximize their abilities, golfers in particular. And the things I see young playing professionals doing prior to our work together is often what is holding them back. The reality is that most young players, no matter what their level, have three key problems:
- They’re distracted by what’s not important
- They have no detailed structure and plan to reach the targets they determine are important to them
- They have no formal process to develop mindset and attitude
In the list below, I share what I see working with these young players and some common blind spots.
1. No real plan and steps to achieve targets
Most players do not know how to create a long-term and short-term plan that outlines all steps needed to reach targets. Players should have yearly plans with targets, steps and actions and weekly plans to organize/schedule their time and prioritize key needs.
2. Not focused enough on the object of the game
This goes hand in hand with No. 1. Surprisingly, players seem to forget that the object of the game is get the ball in the hole in the least amount of strokes. Trophies and checks are not issued for the best swing, the best putting stroke or most balls hit.
3. Not enough pressure in practice
Most young players have loose practice. The intensity of feelings between the practice tee and the course are too different. Focus and intensity must be a part of all practice. Add competition and outcomes to sessions so some urgency is created.
4. Too much practice time on full swing
The data is clear — most shots in golf happen from 100 yards and in from the green. If the majority of practice time is not spent on these shorter shots, practice time is wasted.
5. An obsession with the look of the swing
Players are not generally prepared to own their own swings and embrace the differences that make them unique. Obsessing over swing mechanics is a major distraction for many players. Many players convince themselves that if it doesn’t look “good” on their iPhone, their swing won’t get results.
6. No structure with the driver
Since scoring is the main goal, a consistent, reliable shape to each shot is important. My experience has been that if players are trying to go both ways with the driver, that is a sure-fire way to elevate numbers on the card. Pick a shape and eliminate one side of the course. Predictability from the tee increases a player’s confidence to put the ball in the fairway more often, creating more opportunities to score.
7. Expectation that they will hit the ball well everyday
Many players have the unreasonable expectation that they will hit lots of fairways and greens every time they play. This expectation leads to constant disappointment in their game. Knowing that the leading professionals in the game average about 60.6 percent driving accuracy and 11.8 greens in regulation per round should be a good benchmark for the expectations of all players.
8. Trying to be too robotic and precise in putting
Some players get so caught up in the mechanics of putting that their approach becomes too robotic. They become obsessed with precision and being perfect. Feel, flow and instinct have to be a central part of putting. This can get lost in an overly robotic mindset trying to be too precise and perfect.
9. No process for assessment and reflection
Players do not have a formal process for assessing practice or rounds and reflecting on the experience. The right lessons are not consistently taken away to ensure step-by-step improvement. Knowing how to assess practice, play and ask the right questions is key to development.
10. Getting in their own way
The voice inside of most young players’ heads is not helpful for their performance. It’s often a negative, demanding voice that insists on perfection. This voice leads to hesitation, frustration and anger. The voice must be shaped (with practice) into the right “emotional caddie” to support efforts and promote excellence over perfection.
11. A focus on the negative before the positive
A default to the mistakes/flaws in the round before looking at the highlights and what worked. When asked about their round, most players highlight three-putts, penalty shots and any errors before anything else. Emphasis should always be on what went well first. Refection on what needs improvement is second.
12. The blame game
Young players love excuses. Course conditions, weather, coaching and equipment are a few of the areas that are often targets, deflecting responsibility away from the player. Many players do not take full responsibility for their own game and/or careers.
—
I hope this provides some insights on roadblocks that could get in your way on the path to reaching your targets in the game. Whether it’s lowering your handicap, winning a junior tournament, working toward the PGA Tour — or just general improvement — considering these observations might help you shorten the road to get there.
Opinion & Analysis
The 2 primary challenges golf equipment companies face

As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Podcasts
Fore Love of Golf: Introducing a new club concept

Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Opinion & Analysis
On Scottie Scheffler wondering ‘What’s the point of winning?’

Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
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shawn
May 30, 2018 at 12:47 pm
Young serious golfers aspiring to become professionals have low IQ intellect because all they have done is beat balls and seek ‘fun’ playing golf. Their brainlets are underdeveloped from childhood and they are unable to make intellectual decisions and solutions. Basically, they’re immature children.
ogo
May 29, 2018 at 3:05 pm
13. Blame your equipment, not yourself!
Hey, it can’t be you, it’s gotta be your obsolete equipment. Buy a new set of clubs and change balls, shoes and wardrobe. It will help the golf industry too.
Frank
May 7, 2018 at 3:45 pm
How about just one reason: not enough money.
Johnny Penso
May 3, 2018 at 8:42 pm
3. and 4. have always been important to me but even moreso this year. I’m no longer running through clubs in my bag from wedges to woods but sticking with 1 or 2 irons, a hybrid and a driver or wood. Practice hitting targets and creating the shots you need to play well. One of my favourite ways to practice hit the par 4 and par 5 teeshots I have to make on each hole of a course I’m going to play on the weekend. Pressure is on to move it left to right, right to left, high or low, a stinger etc. Just blasting the driver and watching the shot is a waste of time for anything other than warming up. Same with the wedges. Pick some targets and hit shots to the target. 5 to this flag high, then 5 low etc.
Dee Mac
May 3, 2018 at 2:23 am
Whether I win or lose today is important, but not as important as what I’ve learned from the game today that will make me a better golfer tomorrow. In a paradoxical way losing today will do more to help me be a better golfer tomorrow then if I’d won. Losing will expose more opportunities for improvement then if I’d won.
Golf as a “game” is a subset of golf as a “process.”
Thirdy8special
Apr 19, 2018 at 9:27 pm
I agree with what he is saying on shot shape. Know how to hit both but stick with one shot for most, hit the green and 2 putt and everyone will be shooting in the 70s pretty fast.
Nic
Apr 18, 2018 at 11:09 pm
Best article so far this year on this site.
millennial82
Apr 18, 2018 at 6:59 pm
Hi John, this was such a good read.. Could you please write and article about how to make a plan to lower your handicap for different handicaps?
if you could give us a break down on the road to success? I’m sure 30 handicaps- need to practice full swing contact with the ball.. 18’s- short game.. 10 and under- mental/ family/ work lol.
david
Apr 20, 2018 at 10:32 am
Nice effort millennial82, the problem is 98% of readers will NOT follow a plan. I know, I teach golf!
lulu
Apr 20, 2018 at 3:32 pm
‘Commitment’ is not in the vocabulary of most rec golfers …. only ‘fun’ and socializing with your equally decrepit golffing buddies… yo man, great shot …
Frank McChrystal
Apr 18, 2018 at 3:11 pm
The brain science of the past 10 – 15 years confirms the fact that chasing the perfect swing produces a high maintenance motion that actually picks a fight with the body’s will to be well. There are valid reasons why no two swings in the hall of fame are exactly alike. Your personal swing will serve you far better during competition than some perceived “perfect swing” you so brilliantly puppeteer on the range. There is a level of golf you have not experienced yet and it is not because of a lack of effort, it was pre determined by the era in which you were born. An entire generation accepts two or three errant drives and semi accurate approach shots as normal, relying on endless hours of short game practice to salvage scores. This joyless golf is the direct result of the “modern” instruction of the past 30 years. Relaxed concentration is never instinctive when you live the drudge of russian roulette every round, and no amount of “mental game” jargon spawned in the 70’s will ever change that. It is the instinctive beast that rules the athletic world, not the stressed out puppeteer. Do you think it is coincidence that chiropractors and mental game coaches arrived on the scene at about the same time?
John Haime
Apr 18, 2018 at 2:33 pm
Hi Everyone – thank-you for your comments. As a complement to this article, you might be interested in an article I wrote for GolfWRX last month highlighting how we work with a young, up and coming player early in the year and the areas we focus on. The mental/emotional piece is woven through these areas to help them process the game well. Here’s the link – http://www.golfwrx.com/487194/either-plan-for-excellence-or-underachieve/.
Thank-you again for your attention to the articles – great comments.
steve
Apr 18, 2018 at 3:02 pm
Great article on the 12 “roadblocks”, and I’ll just repeat my comment from your previous article here:
Without structure and a customized plan, their careers become a hit-and-hope scenario, potentially leading to long stints on the mini-tours and frivolously throwing sponsor money into the wind.”
This is such a telling comment (from your previous article) on the arrested mentality of most aspiring young players. Unfortunately, most are immature mentally and physically regardless of their playing ability. They cannot discipline themselves because they have a childish approach to the game and career. They play for fun and practice becomes a painful experience. Only those with an obsessive-compulsive mentality and proper mentoring and training can succeed. They are few.
PSG
Apr 18, 2018 at 2:20 pm
Ugh. Not another one of you. Yeah, most shots happen within 100 yards, but most of them have pre-determined outcomes. Unless you are actually advocating that players practice tap-in putts, the average good players round has WAY more shots outside 100 yards (since they miss putts by so little).
The rest of the article was good. The “the data is clear…” part was absolute nonsense.
John Haime
Apr 18, 2018 at 2:46 pm
good comment PSG – agreed that a poor player must focus more on long game. It’s pretty clear that if a player can’t get to 100 yds from the green – there’s not much point in excelling in that area. The better the player the more the short game becomes critical to success and the outcome.
Doug
May 7, 2018 at 4:16 pm
You really need to read Mark Broadie’s “Every Shot Counts.” You’re harboring some misconceptions about the relative importance of the short and long game at all skill levels. It hurts your credibility to be this off in an area.
Michael Riechmann
Apr 18, 2018 at 2:06 pm
Number 6 hurts so bad you don’t even know … And it all started with improving my ability to work it both ways … I’m just scared to play a controlled hook allah Patrick Reed when I hit a fade with every other club in my bag …
Zach
Apr 18, 2018 at 1:08 pm
I agree very much with points 4 and 5. When I am on the range you can look down and notice most people full swinging and trying to mimic swings their body cannot produce.
The only positive, it helps me secure more students.
Sup
Apr 18, 2018 at 1:06 pm
You missed the most important thing:
SUPPORT.
From your family and friends. Without support, there is nothing. You won’t get anywhere by yourself. You need a team with you at all times.
Team to manage your time, to manage your food, to manage your tee times, to manage your practice, to manage your money, to manage your life.
Any decent player has game. But without the support around him/her, you can’t take it to the next level.
Largechris
Apr 18, 2018 at 2:31 pm
Lol nonsense. How much support did Vijay Singh have in the jungles of Borneo as a young pro. Or Sorentram in the snow in Sweden. Or Woosnam living out of a caravan and building power by thousands of hours swinging in long meadow grass. It’s either in you or it’s not.
Sup
Apr 19, 2018 at 11:34 am
Is that why you still can’t play? You know about being alone, huh, you a loner and all, no friends, no family, you know it well lol
Andrew Cooper
Apr 20, 2018 at 8:55 am
If a player is good enough, physically and mentally, he or she will get there regardless of support. In fact the best get there often because they have the inner belief, borderline arrogance, to do it their way, not someone else’s way. They take responsibility, they don’t need someone holding their hand, or someone to blame when they play poorly. Not to criticise the author or this article, which is excellent, but if a young player is relying on a coach to structure their practice routines, or a mental coach to tell them to stay positive etc., then they’ve got a long way to go. Not to say that they can’t improve, but winners are simply cut from different cloth.
Joe
Apr 18, 2018 at 12:39 pm
I agree with many of these points. I know my practice routine is not at all like my rounds. great things to think about.
Steve Patterson
Apr 18, 2018 at 12:36 pm
Great article. Thanks so much for providing this information as I believe every golfer can find at least one aspect of your information to improve upon.
stephenf
Apr 18, 2018 at 12:22 pm
Well, how about that. Every bit of this is actually excellent. #2 through #8 are particularly good, but I hate to single out any of them, really. Worth saving and going back to.
One caveat: There’s some disagreement about #12. Some psychologists see a certain amount of blaming conditions, equipment, lies, weather, etc., as a useful device as a temporary buffer against the erosion of confidence after a tough round. I’m not sure I ever bought this either, but some pretty reputable people do. The idea is that it takes the immediate sting out of the deal, and if the player comes back in a day or two to work on whatever part of it actually _was_ his responsibility, the “blame” thing was never more than just a temporary device. I would think that if you were going to do some real research on the matter, you’d probably find that it depends on whether the blaming was at least partially true, what the specific player’s personality and orientation are like with regard to how well he can handle honest and direct self-evaluation in general, etc.
stephenf
Apr 18, 2018 at 12:28 pm
Also: Golf Digest (or maybe it was Golf Magazine) did an article quite a few years ago — pre-internet, I think — advising players to test and measure progress in practice: pick out a “fairway” on the range (between these two yardage signs, between the sign and the fence, whatever) and see how many out of 20 you could hit; keep track of how many times you were up and down in two from greenside or a practice bunker; how many putts you were making from three feet or six feet in a circle (maybe five balls at a time in a circle) around a hole with slope; etc.
It’s the same kind of thing advocated here with regard to specific goals. Seems so simple that of course anybody interested in actually improving would do it, but almost nobody does.
Bones Mackay
Apr 18, 2018 at 11:24 am
Pretty good overall but I have a couple of issues with 4 and 5.
On #4 – Strokes gained has shown that driving and approach shots are a good predictor of performance over a longer period of time and are much more influential than SG around the green. You may get small gains from improving short game, but it won’t be as big as if you improve off the tee and on your approach shots.
On #5 – Working on swing mechanics (assuming you’re working on the right stuff) can lead to improved ball striking and influence SG off the tee and approach.
2putttom
Apr 18, 2018 at 10:51 am
this is all too much to think about my moto keep it simple.
Miles M.
Apr 18, 2018 at 11:53 am
I think John is right on with this article. I played at a top-ranked DII school and I only found out most of what this article stated much too late in my process. This should be printed and taped above the bed for any young player who is serious and aspires to the PGA Tour.
Tycoo
Apr 18, 2018 at 12:17 pm
I don’t think it’s too much to think about . Players focus too much on how their swing looks as opposed to embracing their swing . Many of these points can be applied to every day life . There are a lot of haters on this site . It gets rediculous reading negative comments on an editor that is trying to help golfers stay positive .
stephenf
Apr 18, 2018 at 12:30 pm
yup.
steve
Apr 19, 2018 at 5:16 pm
When you are swinging a golf club you must not “think”, you must execute automatically. How do you do that? Lots of practice off the golf course.