The unexamined shot is not worth hitting.
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Modern golfers seem to have adopted a similar maxim: “The unexamined shot is not worth hitting.”
Other sports aren’t off the hook, either. How about the unexamined pitch in baseball, serve in tennis, or foul shot in basketball? I suspect that bowlers and pool players have also slowed down, compared to the sharks of yesteryear.
Any examination takes time. Consider your annual medical visit — all the questions, diagnostic tests and forms to fill out.
Curiously, golfers ask themselves questions, too: How far am I from the green? What is the safest angle to take? Then they do diagnostic tests, like throwing up blades of grass to test the wind, taking a practice swing to test the turf. And, of course, that all-important form to fill out — the scorecard.
Two-time U.S. Open winner, Julius Boros, said, “By the time you get to your ball, if you don’t know what to do with it, try another sport.”
This is really applicable to golf, since a player has so much time to think while approaching the next shot. But similarly in tennis, you have time to think after a rally, before your next serve. The thinking doesn’t have to wait until you have positioned yourself on the baseline.
Lee Trevino had another instructive quip: “Miss it quick.” In other words, if you are hacker and are missing shots anyway, why not do it quickly and move the game along?
Sadly, slow play might have begun with The King, himself —Arnold Palmer — who would walk ahead on approach shots to get a closer look, followed by extensive surveying of each green. All of this drama made him famous and a fan favorite; but it also slowed down the game at times.
Jack Nicklaus then added his own brand of slowness with analytical yardage books. Jack also hunched over putts for a long time, allegedly to allow negative thoughts to pass through his mind, until he could latch onto a positive one.
Might Arnie and Jack have done just as well without all these time-consuming behaviors? We’ll never know. But I bet they did fine without them in their junior days, when they just walked up and hit the ball.
So whether you are a pitcher, tennis player, bowler or golfer, ask yourself: “Are there things I am doing in my routine that are overly time-consuming, and maybe unnecessary? Are there parts of my routine that I can do while others are playing, in order to be prepared and ready when it is my turn? Do I really play better when I play slow, compared to if I were to play faster?”
Do an inventory, experiment and test yourself. See if you can speed up without losing any effectiveness.
Dr. Tom Dorsel is Professor Emeritus of Psychology and a clinical/sport psychologist on Hilton Head Island. His best-selling book is “GOLF: The Mental Game.” He can be reached on Facebook or tom@dorsel.com.
