It is a great article and I know that I for one suffer from Ridiculous Expectations. I printed it out and will laminate the 4 points listed at the end of the article and carry them in my bag for the remainder of my golfing days.
Now only if I was 21 again and could marry 1980’s Heather Locklear all would be right in my world.
Oh wait, I have to work on ridiculous expectations. 😉
Peter Thompson ( from Australia ) used to say ” aim for the center of the green and sometimes the green-keeper will put the hole close to your ball ” Incidently for those who don’t know he won 5 British Opens.
Monte, If you are so smart and an expert at the golf swing, why did you fail at professional golf? You spend your days now writing in cyberspace and talking about the good old days? How many wins did you have in your career? them that can, do. Them that cant, teach. Get a life.
Well mister ray of sunshine, let’s see if I can address your questions.
I did have several wins at the professional level, just not on the PGA Tour. I also had several top finishes on what’s now the web.com tour.
I may not be Tiger Woods, but my playing resume is better than most of the top teachers.
I made many mistakes with my swing and many top name instructors made mistakes in what they told me. I am trying to help others learn from my mistakes.
I give you a lot of credit for this answer. It would have been natural to delete that guy’s post, or insult him for probably accomplishing nothing himself.
Having been torpedoed by gurus yourself, I believe that you really want to see people get better.
Release from the top, strong abs, swing in sync…you’re already better than all known gurus.
Monte, I for one am grateful for your contributions and your desire to want to help us all learn and improve.
Your story of listening to wrong or bad advice is a tale of woe shared by many good pros who could have been much better.
And no one can take away your Long Drive Championship. You are a World Champion and I have even seen your swing referred to in other teaching posts on the web.
Remember that it is better to learn from history then to repeat it and if you can help one person avoid a mistake you made and they can improve their game along the way, well sir, you will have done us all proud!
Monte still has a world title in long driving.
Duane? Not so much right?
Those that cant teach or play golf and have no life come to online forums and whine about others who can play and teach a lot.
Never understood why people post about their own life so much?
The point of you know get a life?
I see golf as I see poker. It’s all about making the moves that will give you a positive expected value. If that means purposely hitting over the green because you have 40% chance to land in the river, then overshoot it. In the long run, it will save you more shots than it will win you. Kind of like chasing that gutshot straight draw when someone keeps betting the pot. Sometimes you luck out and win big, but usually run back home with your tail between your legs.
Difference between pros and mere mortals is their average landing area is smaller and can aim at dangerous landing areas.
This article makes me feel a lot better. I have way too high of expectations for the amount that I play/practice. I think my expectations come from the way that I’ve played before. I don’t play or practice much in the winter, so I kind of lose my swing and have to “get it back” when the season starts. this article has made me realize that I need to be happy even if my ball didn’t land within 5 feet of the pin when that’s where I aimed. I’ll definitely now be more grateful for just landing on the green. Thanks, Monte. Keep up the good work.
Monte Scheinblum's Blog 
Posted by Brett on April 25, 2013 at 5:30 am
Great article.
Posted by Cyd on April 25, 2013 at 5:38 am
It is a great article and I know that I for one suffer from Ridiculous Expectations. I printed it out and will laminate the 4 points listed at the end of the article and carry them in my bag for the remainder of my golfing days.
Now only if I was 21 again and could marry 1980’s Heather Locklear all would be right in my world.
Oh wait, I have to work on ridiculous expectations. 😉
Posted by Chris on April 25, 2013 at 4:51 pm
Great read, I’m guilty of many of the things you mention..
Posted by allen lane on April 25, 2013 at 4:55 pm
Peter Thompson ( from Australia ) used to say ” aim for the center of the green and sometimes the green-keeper will put the hole close to your ball ” Incidently for those who don’t know he won 5 British Opens.
Posted by Duane on April 26, 2013 at 12:24 am
Monte, If you are so smart and an expert at the golf swing, why did you fail at professional golf? You spend your days now writing in cyberspace and talking about the good old days? How many wins did you have in your career? them that can, do. Them that cant, teach. Get a life.
Posted by Monte Scheinblum on April 26, 2013 at 7:15 am
Well mister ray of sunshine, let’s see if I can address your questions.
I did have several wins at the professional level, just not on the PGA Tour. I also had several top finishes on what’s now the web.com tour.
I may not be Tiger Woods, but my playing resume is better than most of the top teachers.
I made many mistakes with my swing and many top name instructors made mistakes in what they told me. I am trying to help others learn from my mistakes.
How’s that?
Posted by woody on April 26, 2013 at 9:23 am
I give you a lot of credit for this answer. It would have been natural to delete that guy’s post, or insult him for probably accomplishing nothing himself.
Having been torpedoed by gurus yourself, I believe that you really want to see people get better.
Release from the top, strong abs, swing in sync…you’re already better than all known gurus.
Posted by Cyd on April 26, 2013 at 12:10 pm
Monte, I for one am grateful for your contributions and your desire to want to help us all learn and improve.
Your story of listening to wrong or bad advice is a tale of woe shared by many good pros who could have been much better.
And no one can take away your Long Drive Championship. You are a World Champion and I have even seen your swing referred to in other teaching posts on the web.
Remember that it is better to learn from history then to repeat it and if you can help one person avoid a mistake you made and they can improve their game along the way, well sir, you will have done us all proud!
Keep up the good work!
Posted by bobs34 on April 30, 2013 at 8:06 am
That reply was as good as the original article. Well done sir!
Posted by Robert Johansson on April 26, 2013 at 11:44 am
Monte still has a world title in long driving.
Duane? Not so much right?
Those that cant teach or play golf and have no life come to online forums and whine about others who can play and teach a lot.
Never understood why people post about their own life so much?
The point of you know get a life?
Posted by jaybee on April 26, 2013 at 7:57 am
Very good and oh so true. A long time ago, a golfer carried out an appraisal of his game and arrived at the following inescapable conclusions:
“1. I must be prepared for the making of mistakes.
2. I must try always to select the shot to be played and the manner of playing it so as to provide the widest possible margin for error.
3. I must expect to have to do some scrambling and not be discouraged if the amount of it happens to be more than normal.”
The golfer went on to have his really big wins thereafter.
His name was Bobby Jones.
Posted by David on April 26, 2013 at 8:35 am
Wise words.
I see golf as I see poker. It’s all about making the moves that will give you a positive expected value. If that means purposely hitting over the green because you have 40% chance to land in the river, then overshoot it. In the long run, it will save you more shots than it will win you. Kind of like chasing that gutshot straight draw when someone keeps betting the pot. Sometimes you luck out and win big, but usually run back home with your tail between your legs.
Difference between pros and mere mortals is their average landing area is smaller and can aim at dangerous landing areas.
Posted by Josh on May 8, 2013 at 8:27 pm
This article makes me feel a lot better. I have way too high of expectations for the amount that I play/practice. I think my expectations come from the way that I’ve played before. I don’t play or practice much in the winter, so I kind of lose my swing and have to “get it back” when the season starts. this article has made me realize that I need to be happy even if my ball didn’t land within 5 feet of the pin when that’s where I aimed. I’ll definitely now be more grateful for just landing on the green. Thanks, Monte. Keep up the good work.