What soccer can teach us about golf

I was watching the US-England match in the World Cup today and I realized how much you can learn about golf from soccer. Golf is a sport and golfers are athletes. As a result, golfers can and should learn things from other athletes. Anyway back to the point. I was watching the game and watching the teams play near the midfield line and it was a thing of beauty. Passing between holes, judging the speed of defenders, and their intended target; it was very cool. They didn't kick the ball with "perfect mechanics," but instead did what got the job done. This is much like putting.

This took me back to when I watched the PGA Championship at Hazeltine on the Wednesday practice round. An amigo and I watched Adam Scott on the putting green. He was putting very poorly and he was with his coach correcting his back angle and checking his hands for their perfect spot. He struggled to make many putts. He was very rigid over the ball and looked a Thwomp ready to be pounded by a Mario jumping somersault. He was never going to make any putts. Why you ask. Well, it is simple he was not playing soccer. Yeah, I said it.

Putting is like soccer near the midfield line. You have to be loose and thinking about your moves. They have to have purpose and you can't be tentative. You need to pick your target and go for it. You can also lose those "perfect mechanics" that Adam Scott was working on and simply do what gets the job done. Sometimes we fail to remember that golf is not about the strokes you take, but rather the number of strokes you take.

As Jack Nickolaus once said, Golf is 90% mental. Golf is not about being mechanically correct. It is about being mentally capable of winning. Bear gave us a great example of that in the last post. But, I am going to take it one step further. You need to focus on what you want the ball to do before you hit it. There needs to be a purpose and reason for hitting it, otherwise don't hit it. Let this reason be the guide for your next shot, not mechanics. Because as an athlete you should react.

So, going back to soccer. Pick your target (who you want to pass to) and pick a hole and kick it. Let that be the guide. Don't kick the ball down the field with perfect accuracy and power, if no one on your team is there! What is the point? So, the more you watch the World Cup, watch the players pass the ball near the midfield line. Use what you see there on the golf course and know knows, maybe you will get a lucky goal too.

~ Hogie