Long Drives and Greens in Regulation are over rated (Part 2) Mastery vs. Ego

Ok, there is no doubt that a long drive can be beneficial in this game. No doubt about it! However, if you don't have the tools like good iron play and scrambling then the long drives are not likely to lower your score.
Hitting more greens in regulation means that on average a golfer will be faced with much longer first putts, which means you better sharper than ever with the putter.
We can compare this player to that player and come up with ideas and stats to argue for the importance of the long drive or against the importance of the long drive all day long and at the end of the day it's not about who is wrong or right because nobody is wrong or right, but more about recognizing the difference between two different mentalities. Mastery Golfer vs. Ego Golfer. (more about that in a minute)

What started me on this topic was Paul a.k.a. Right Sided Coach's story about the student who didn't care about his score, only about keeping up with his friends off the tee.

OK

Dr. Gio Valiante is on of the top mental coaches in golf and works with many PGA Tour players. He wrote a book called "Fearless Golf", and after hearing Dr. Gio speak at a PGA seminar about 5 years ago, then reading "Fearless Golf", I became a better player and a better coach because of what learned. One of the things that I learned was the difference between the Ego oriented golfer and the Mastery oriented golfer which basically discribes golfers who play the game for different reasons.

Ego Golfer
-loves to show off
-tries to appear competent and will often give other golfers the impression that he is better than he really is
-worries about what others think about his game (i say him because i think that women are wired differently than man and the ego is far less of a factor for most women)
-competes against the other golfers

Mastery Golfer
-is motivated by learning and improving
-cares about his golf game, not what others say about his golf game
-competes against the golf course, not the other golfers

The lists can go on and on and of course my simple explainaition doesn't qite cover all of it but it basically comes down to this.
Do you care about playing good or do you care about trying to impress people.

I see it all the time.
Golfer: "I want to hit my 7 iron 150"
Coach: "why?"
Golfer: "because my friend / father / brother can hit his 7 iron 150"

Golfer: "i want to hit my driver farther"
Coach: "why?"
Golfer: "because my friends drive so far ahead of me"

Ego golfer no doubt about it. Doesn't really care about being a better player, only cares about looking better in the eyes of his friend / father / brother / guy next to him on the driving range.
Ego golfer no doubt because he is competing against his friend / father, etc, not competing against the golf course.

The idea of competing against the golf course not the other golfers is huge no matter if you are a tour player or a 22 handicap playing your buddies for $12. A player who understands this mentality and is committed to this mentality will have a huge advantage over someone who does the opposite. Develope a game plan and a strategy on how to play the golf course based on your strengths, and stay committed to that plan.

Watch the guys playing on tour and in particular this week at the British Open. Every one of those guys understands that it is him against the Royal St. Georges golf course, period. Who ever beats the golf course, or par, by the most strokes will win the Championship. That guy will be the guy who does the best job of exicuting his game plan.

Ok, as usual I could go on and on but I my next student just arrived.

Which golfer are you? Mastery Oriented or Ego Oriented?

Enjoy wathcing the final round of the Open Championship tonight. It's gonna be awesome!

Ups for u mate.

It's an interesting read!

I want my driver to hit 200m

why? Because my 3wood also can hit 180m and whats the point of having driver that can hit 180m only when my 3 wood can also do the same? Waste one space in the bag.

the above is true for ppl that are quite serious about the game...how about the majority that just enjoy the game, semi-serious but plays once or at most twice a month, almost never train (range is just for hitting balls).

They are not really ego players, its just the long drive is so much easier to achieve for many ppl with minimal practice while the short game needs lots of continuous regular practice and experience (all the practice at the house mat does not cut it at the green)

Hi Tronos,

To quote you, "the long drive is so much easier to achieve for many ppl with minimal practice"

I have been trying various ways to increase my driving distance over the last year and it does not seem that easy to me to be able to bomb it and still stay in the fairway.

I barely get past 200m and my drives that do not get good contact go anywhere from 170m to 185m.

I respectfully disagree with your view that long driving is easy, but I do agree that a sharp short game needs dedication and practice.