3S in Golf: Skill Strategy & Spirit
I am a beginner golf player. I do not have enough experiences to summarize the fundamentals of playing golf. Based on the limited time I have played golf, I have concluded that there are three critical components in playing golf well. I say they are the three-S: skills, strategies, and spirits.
I have checked out the average scores for Tiger Woods. His driving distance is about 300 yards, which is short of the best drivers. His iron playing is not the best. His putting is even far from the best. But I think he is the overall best player in the world. Why is this true in the golf world? It is because the skills are only one of the three components for playing golf well.
Skills are the technical mastering of the physical movements of swings, driving, chipping, pitching, and putting. All these skills are critical. In driving range, around the chipping green, and on the putting green, all golfers have to train themselves these skills.
The second critical component is strategy. Strategies are critical because there are so many variations in any golf courses. They are the overall landscape conditions, slopes of the hills, water ways and water bodies, sand traps or bunkers. Some fairways are long while the others are short. Some fairways are narrow while the others are wide. All these course physical conditions should be optimally combined with the golf players’ skills. At the same spots, the best clubs for the low-handicapped players might be using drivers while for the high-handicapped players might be using irons. So from the teeing-off to the last putt, the golfers should have a strategy for the current step and an overall strategy for the entire hole. It would be disastrous for a high-handicapped player to emulate the masters on strategic bases.
The third component is the spirit of playing golf. I feel that the most critical spirit for playing golf is keeping centered. Any target setting for each hole can be detrimental for playing golf well. With the skill level and the strategy already in mind, the only thing left in the mind is to swing the club as we have done it a thousand times. Too much happiness after playing a hole well can be the cause of the next bad hole. Too much sadness of playing a hole bad can be the cause of the next several bad holes. I feel that the best state of mind is the mind of expecting nothing.
I have checked out the average scores for Tiger Woods. His driving distance is about 300 yards, which is short of the best drivers. His iron playing is not the best. His putting is even far from the best. But I think he is the overall best player in the world. Why is this true in the golf world? It is because the skills are only one of the three components for playing golf well.
Skills are the technical mastering of the physical movements of swings, driving, chipping, pitching, and putting. All these skills are critical. In driving range, around the chipping green, and on the putting green, all golfers have to train themselves these skills.
The second critical component is strategy. Strategies are critical because there are so many variations in any golf courses. They are the overall landscape conditions, slopes of the hills, water ways and water bodies, sand traps or bunkers. Some fairways are long while the others are short. Some fairways are narrow while the others are wide. All these course physical conditions should be optimally combined with the golf players’ skills. At the same spots, the best clubs for the low-handicapped players might be using drivers while for the high-handicapped players might be using irons. So from the teeing-off to the last putt, the golfers should have a strategy for the current step and an overall strategy for the entire hole. It would be disastrous for a high-handicapped player to emulate the masters on strategic bases.
The third component is the spirit of playing golf. I feel that the most critical spirit for playing golf is keeping centered. Any target setting for each hole can be detrimental for playing golf well. With the skill level and the strategy already in mind, the only thing left in the mind is to swing the club as we have done it a thousand times. Too much happiness after playing a hole well can be the cause of the next bad hole. Too much sadness of playing a hole bad can be the cause of the next several bad holes. I feel that the best state of mind is the mind of expecting nothing.
posted by Unknown at 10:19 AM
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