Good news for those who can’t hit picture-perfect drives on the golf course: Stanford researchers claim the problem is a natural byproduct of evolution.

The Washington Post reports that a study published in the Dec. 21 issue of the journal Neuron found that the brain plans and processes a movement differently every repetition — regardless of the amount of practice.

Stanford researchers, including postdoctoral student Mark Churchland, trained rhesus monkeys to reach quickly for a red spot and slowly for a green spot. They found, however, that the animals rarely reached for the same-colored spots at the same speed, and further discovered that the monkeys’ brain activity levels varied for each attempt.

One possible explanation for the observation is that evolution favored predators who could improvise, as they never face an identical situation twice when hunting prey.

“The nervous system was not designed to do the same thing over and over,” said Churchland, a co-author of the study, to the Washington Post. “The nervous system was designed to be flexible. You typically find yourself doing things you’ve never done before.”