In my younger days, I made up for average sports skills with above average agility and quickness. This approach worked best in sports with direct competition, e.g. tennis, football, baseball, etc. As I've gotten older, I've learned there are two downsides to this approach.
- Opponents with significantly superior skills. At my level, I was very competitive medium higher skilled level players. However, my agility and quickness did not overcome the capability of the significantly higher skilled player. As expected, I was consistently beat by players with significantly higher skills, which was personally frustrating.
- Sports without direct interaction with the opponent. In golf, being quicker and more agile than my opponent has no bearing on the outcome of the competition. Good skills and good execution is what helps.
For golf, I knew I could improve since I took 3 lessons 20 years ago that significantly improved my ability to hit the ball long and straight, which I wasn't doing either earlier this year. I was about to sign up for lessons and decided to watch a video called Automatic Golf by Bob Mann, which basically focuses on two things: a correct grip and using the hips and legs in the swing. Within 30 minutes of watching the video, I was hitting a plastic practice ball straight and long. So no lessons needed.
For tennis, I decided to take lessons at a local club. Improving will take more time. I am changing everything: grip, swing and footwork. It will take a lot of practice to be competent again, which is the main downside. However, I'm committed to do it, even though I been able to win using my old style.
The upside is that I will need to get out a practice much more, which means I will likely achieve my goal of exercising three times a week.
For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.
This is not financial or sports advice. Please consult a professional advisor.
Copyright © 2012 Achievement Catalyst, LLC
Subscribe to My Wealth Builder
No comments:
Post a Comment