How 1% Growth Beats Chasing Results
The Tortoise Mentality
MPGA at the IOA Championship -Beaumont, California supporting the EPSON Tour Players on the LPGA.
Golf can break you if you chase results too fast.
You hit a few bad shots.
Panic sets in.
You press. You chase. You unravel.
The best players I’ve coached learn something simple but powerful:
The goal is to get a little better each day.
One shot at a time.
One hole at a time.
One round at a time.
It’s what we call the tortoise mindset.
It’s not flashy.
It’s steady.
And it wins.
Why the Tortoise Mindset Works
Angela Duckworth’s research on grit shows that perseverance matters more than natural talent for achieving success. In her study of West Point cadets, spelling bee champions, and corporate salespeople, Duckworth found that those who stuck with their goals—through boredom, failure, and frustration—outperformed those who didn’t. Grit predicted success better than IQ, SAT scores, or physical talent.
Golf is no different.
You don’t have to look far to see grit in action.
Look at the women competing on the Epson Tour this week.
They travel on tight budgets, grind through practice rounds, and fight for every shot—not for fame or headlines, but for a shot at the LPGA.
It’s not flashy.
It’s not fancy.
It’s just golf.
And these players show up every day to play. That’s grit. That’s the tortoise mentality.
A Mental Training Skill: The 1% Rule
In golf and life, success comes from the compound effect of small daily gains.
I teach players to reflect after every round with one simple question:
“Where did I grow 1% today?”
Maybe they stayed calm after a double bogey.
Maybe they trusted their routine over results.
Maybe they played with better focus for three extra holes.
It doesn’t have to be perfect.
It just has to be better.
Those 1% wins stack up over time.
Over 100 days, you become a different golfer.
Over a year, you become a different person.
This mirrors what research on deliberate practice shows:
Small, specific efforts to improve—even when they feel boring—lead to real mastery over time.
Try This:
Start a simple habit at the end of each day:
Write down one thing you did well today.
Write down one small way you’ll improve tomorrow.
This keeps your brain wired toward growth.
It trains you to see progress, not perfection.
Players who journal consistently often notice:
More emotional resilience on the course.
More trust in their process.
Better performance under stress.
Final Thought
The tortoise wins not because he’s faster, but because he doesn’t stop.
Golf—and life—is not about sprinting to quick wins.
It’s about stacking small victories over and over again.
Stop looking for hacks.
Start stacking inches.
The finish line will come—but only if you keep showing up.
Your mental coach,
Dr. Mat