What does It Take To Become a Great Golfer?
HINT: It has nothing to do with golf
Goal: Discuss deliberate practice
Many years ago I worked with a guy, Scott, who was a great golfer. He would normally shoot in low 70s and below for an 18 hole course.
This is pro level.
I have never been a great golfer. I used to play a few times a year. My goal was to get under 100 and once I reached that I started playing it even less often.
Golf is just not something that pulls me. If I had a group of buddies to play with regularly then golf might not be a bad sport to socialize and walk.
So I asked Scott, the great golfer, what was his secret. He said that it was very simple. He lived on a large piece of land. One day he decided to become great at gold. He picked up a set of clubs and from it he selected a 7 iron.
He would come home and take the 7 with 100+ balls and go to his backyard. He would place several targets out at different distances and places and he would work on controlling the seven until he can repeatedly hit those cones. Scott was looking to not only get close to those cones but to be in control of his swing and how the ball got there.
In other words he was deliberately practicing NOT just practicing. Practicing would be just hitting the ball and hoping you get a feel for it over time. Scott would set specific targets each day and was deliberate in the swing, distance, height, and speed. He was not just whacking the ball.
Once he mastered the 7 he picked up another club and repeated this practice. Then he moved on to another club.
Seems kind of boring BUT effective. And that is the reason for this article. Maybe a slow and deliberate ways are better? Do the effective ways to accomplish something have to be exciting for us to be excited about doing them?
NO!!!
Getting things done has got nothing to do with sexiness of the task. It is about getting the right thing done effectively and most efficiently.
Imagine a trader that trades a boring position and makes money. Is it better that they switch to a risky trade and loose money? NO!!!! That would be gambling.
The desire to be predictable and control the risk of what you are doing is very important. I can not see one company that would decide that the work that they do has to be riskier and less predictable. It won’t happen.
I believe that the lesson of deliberate practice of one skill/tool is an important concept. In our multi-tasking and rushed world, the idea of deep work and deliberate practice are becoming more and more the key to success.
My seven cents….(this is what I earned from Medium.com for Nov. 2020)
I got to go…my future self alarm went off
Robert Trajkovski is professional with experience in leading people and projects in Steel/ Power, Refining, Chemicals, Industrial Gasses, Software, Consulting and Academia. He has worked for both owners and engineering companies. In addition, he has instructed 73+ courses at several institutions and often offers his courses for free on LinkedIn.
