Attaining Wisdom Through Golf: Accuracy Over Distance

It's Billy's turn, he steps up to the ball, gets into his zone and then POW!

Nice shot!

That beautiful metallic ping sound as the driver connects, a perfect sweet spot shot. Look at that baby soar.

Now Michael steps up, he's a very quick player (too quick in my opinion). He just bought a new driver and is itching to test it out.

THWACK!

Oh lordy lordy! Look at that ball fly, wow those are big hits. My turn now. . .

Hmmmm, tempted to get out the driver, even though I'm hopeless with it . . . Ummm, okay, I'll go for my rescue club, I can really get some distance on that . . .

I don't want to be left behind!

Huh? What did you say? Damn you little voice in my head speak up!

Oh yeah, that's right, before I got onto the course today I said that I would sacrifice distance for accuracy. Better to hit the ball 150 yards and it land in a nice position on the fairway, than 220 yards and it's buried in the long grass.

Soooo, get out your 7 iron. Oh man, if I hit it perfectly it will go 160-170 yards. So best case scenario I'm around 50-60 yards behind these guys.

Yes, but that's not the point remember? Accuracy over distance. Control first, power later. Ahh, oh well, here goes.

Thwwwiccck!

Okay, not the prettiest shot, but it was straight and finding it won't be a problem, neither will my second shot be.

Accuracy Over Distance

So as you can tell from reading above, the other day I went to play golf with my two friends. It is one of the larger courses I play and so you are often standing far enough away not to be able to see the green.

I do not play enough to be able to hit my woods (bigger clubs that allow the ball to travel further), so I tend to stick with my irons. There is nothing amazing about this approach, I realise my limitations and so play within them.

This is great in theory, however throw a bit of competition into the mix along with some good old fashioned testosterone and male pride, and my conservative game plan goes flying out the window.

In case you didn't know, when you play golf, the person who has the shortest shot, gets to play the next shot first. While this is cool if you're only a few yards behind them, it is a bit lame if you're say fifty or one hundred yards behind. So if my playing partner(s) hit a big shot, then goddamn it I want to hit a big shot!

The problem with taking this macho attitude, is it means that my ball rarely lands in a nice position. It is usually in the ruff (short and tufty, or long grass), meaning that my second shot is really difficult and won't go as far as it would have done, if it was sitting pretty on the fairway (short grass).

So before my game, I said that I would only play with my short irons, because I'm good with those. Plus I only had a few balls and didn't want to lose any and have to borrow from my playing partners.

Anyway, I actually managed to do it this time, I ignored the fact that my friends were both booming shots into the blue beyond. I just stuck to my game plan and for the most part it worked.

The Lesson

As is so often the case, golf gives us a life lesson without us even realising it.

Whilst it is always good to try and improve your game, the time to do that isn't on the actual golf course during a match. Any improvements should be worked on in practice. Rather like learning to drive whilst the instructor is giving you lessons, as opposed to trying to learn during your test.

By understanding exactly what you are capable of does two things. First, it helps you to perform at a level which will produce favourable results. Second, it shows you what you have to improve on.

As I went round the course that day, it was I who was always taking the second shot first, because my friends tended to be anywhere from 50 to 100 yards ahead of me. However they were always taking their shots from difficult positions.

By the time we got to the end of the particular hole, we had almost always played roughly the same amount of shots to get there.

In other words, the extra distance I sacrificed in order to be more accurate, worked.

Slow But Steady Is Sure To Win

When we heard the story of the hare and the tortoise as youngsters. The moral we were meant to pick up was that the fast flashy ones, are often overtaken by the slower more ponderous individuals.

However most of us just wanted to be a less foolish hare, we wanted to be fast, but we would take fewer naps. The problem is that the naps come with the territory.

Instead we should ponder our moves in life, consider the times when we have a choice between being loud and flashy and attempting a 330 yard drive. Or instead being a bit more understated and hitting a 150 yard arrow straight shot.

When doing so, you may find that things start to go right for you a lot more than they go wrong.

By the way, I won the game by one shot.

ARE YOU A HARE OR A TORTOISE? WHAT AREAS OF YOUR LIFE DO YOU THINK YOU COULD DIAL IT BACK A BIT IN ORDER TO GET BETTER RESULTS? OR PERHAPS YOU'RE A GOLFER AND HAVE REALISED THE ZEN LESSONS THE GAME TEACHES YOU?

AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!

Title image: Christoph Keil on Unsplash

Cryptogee