36. The weather

8th July 2012

Dear John,

Conditions

Last Saturday (30th June), your tee shot off the first tee was a shanked 3-iron. Speaking to you on the phone afterwards you mentioned arriving too late to be able to warm up. You also mentioned the windy conditions. In your comments about the recent prolonged spell of bad weather it came across to me that the weather was starting to get on your nerves: and who can blame you!

However, it did get me thinking about the way that we use weather and the conditions that it produces to “add context” to the retrospective appraisal of our performances that is so much part of playing games.

One of the many aspects of my theory about “timing” that I like is the way that it can help to make sense of our sometimes irrational behaviour as players. For example, we know that to give ourselves the best chance of a successful outcome to a shot we need to locate our “timing”. To give ourselves the best chance of locating our “timing” we need to consciously give our subconscious two things: freedom to get on with the job without interference, and information (visualisation).

For our conscious brain to be able to help our subconscious in this specific way it needs to be able to focus, to concentrate, to be “in the zone” free from all other concerns. In our correspondence I have often talked about the sorts of concerns that invade our conscious brain when we are faced with hitting a golf ball from Position A to desired Position B, and how these concerns take up the space and time we need to undertake the difficult task of locating our “timing”. Almost anything in our life – from the last conversation with one’s wife to the crass decisions of the greens committee – can end up as a concern that, at the crucial moment, prevents us from fully engaging with the task of locating our “timing”.

The weather is another such concern; but because it is a concern shared and, importantly, understood by the other players, it is the one that is most often cited by players when appraising their performance. But in talking (usually moaning) about the weather when appraising one’s performance, it is very easy to start to view the weather as a reason for the performance, that is, as an excuse. And even though it is seemingly obvious that the weather has a strong influence on the performance of players, using the weather as an excuse is, for two reasons, unjustifiable and therefore unhelpful in the long run.

Firstly, weather affects all players in the same way. An exception, obviously, is a strokeplay event during which the weather changes dramatically and influences the result of the competition: yet another reason why I think strokeplay is not actually sport. But even under these conditions playing partners in that event will experience the same weather. In matchplay, which is true golf, the weather is never an influence on the result.

However, although the weather affects all players equally, there is the matter of luck. As I explained in my e-mail about your round on Saturday, I believe that a well “timed” shot (leaving out the considerations of altitude) will only be blown off course by a gust, and that a gust can be considered in the same way as a bad bounce: an uncontrollable, unpredictable influence on the outcome of the shot. In one round of golf it is imaginable that an individual has suffered more bad bounces and gusts than everybody else and that this bad luck has influenced the result: it is imaginable but impossible to prove. It is more likely that in a limited event such as one round of golf, bad luck in the guise of gusts and bounces will even itself out enough to not influence the result. (Going back to my e-mail about Saturday’s round, I pointed out that a well ”timed” shot hit high in windy conditions is more likely to get hit by a gust: that scenario is not bad luck it is bad judgement. Real bad luck is having a member of the judiciary pick up your ball and not mention it!)

Being aware that weather affects everybody equally should for any “thinking” golfer take weather as a factor out of any analysis of performance because performance is always relative to one’s opponents, and one’s opponents would have suffered equally from the vicissitudes of the inclement conditions.  However, even for golfers thus enlightened it is difficult not to mention the effect of bad weather because of the unremittingly critical gaze of “par”.

“Par” is “par” whatever the weather; and even though one might convince oneself before going out that a course is playing over par on any particular day, it is very difficult hole-by-hole, in real time, to calculate what the actual par for that hole is on that day, particularly as it is likely to not be a whole number. And even retrospectively, in a strokeplay event it is impossible to see where exactly you played worse than the field in general and the winners in particular. So, naturally, when it comes to assessing your performance against par in a strokeplay event (and sometimes in a matchplay) it is very, very tempting because of the lack of useful comparisons to simply blame the weather.

Secondly, although it is undeniable that the weather can make life physically uncomfortable and this can become a significant distraction and thereby steal valuable conscious resources, this affects all players equally too (unless you are the only one who forgot your coat!), and, therefore, cannot be justifiably used as an excuse for performance.

Using weather as an excuse for performance distracts one from useful analysis and prevents the player from facing up to their real failings. This in turn means that the player does not take responsibility for the failings or for doing anything about them – the destructive effect of making excuses.

For example, let’s say that you are at home playing in a matchplay against a park-course player, and the wind is a bit blowy. You will probably be pleased because it is a condition that gives you an advantage. Take exactly the same level of “blowiness” in a Club Monthly Medal, and let a gust take your excellent and perfectly on-line shot to the first green into a bunker, and before you can say Michael Fish there are opinions about the wind forming in your brain, which in turn inform full-blown and “reasonable” excuses for the 5 you are about to inflict on your card.

Or, you (not you in particular but golfers in general) start to get annoyed about the squally showers, the grips getting wet, the constant feel of the wind in your face etc, etc. These concerns start to spoil your concentration and a couple of poor-ish shots result from a slight loss of “timing”. The dropped shots worsen your mood still further and your brain soon becomes completely distracted by the “appalling” weather, and your “timing” (and score) goes AWOL.

What actually happened was that the poor shots were the result of a loss of concentration brought on by a not unreasonable concern about the rubbish weather. Although you know that clearing your conscious brain is critical to the chances of a successful outcome, you failed to clear your conscious brain of this concern about the weather before undertaking the task of getting the ball from Position A to desired Position B.

To lessen the chances of this happening so often that it lessens your chances of winning (the whole point of bothering to hit a little white ball with an awkwardly shaped stick), you could spend the time before your next shot reminding yourself of how lucky you are to be healthy enough, rich enough and have enough time to indulge this pastime in what is normally a fantastic location and amongst people whose company you enjoy. These thoughts (and others like them) would have the effect of putting the irritations of poor weather into perspective, thereby reducing their ability to steal your concentration, and therefore increase your chances of locating the wonderful, magical thing that is “timing”.

Or, you could think to yourself, as you wait your turn, that bad weather often spoils the concentration of your opponents to the detriment of their game. Therefore, because you know how to prevent this happening (see above), bad weather actually gives you a material advantage over your opponents; just as it does in the case of playing a parkland course player at home when the wind is blowing.

To summarise:

• If the weather is bad enough to cause so much bad luck (gusts, bounces) that the luck is unlikely to even itself out over the course of an event, then don’t moan and don’t analyse either, it’s not worth it.
• If the weather is just poor then accept that it is the same for everyone and try to use it to your advantage.
• If golfers feel themselves getting annoyed by the weather (and this is a general point about golfers NOT about you in particular), then either they should take up stamp collecting or they should visit their local hospice (sorry, but sometimes brutality is necessary).

To moan is completely human and utterly understandable. To understand that blaming the weather is irrational and unproductive is helpful. To turn that understanding to your advantage is also helpful, and might be the little bit of difference that counts at the end of a round.

Regards,

Colin

12th July 2012

Dear John,

I’d like some feedback from you about my various musings about the second at RPGC.

In summary my thoughts go like this:

• The second is Stroke Index 2 (?) and therefore its actual par, as measured by the number of shots taken in competition over a sufficient amount of time, is likely to be “four point something”.
• When the wind is coming in off the sea then its actual par is likely to be nearly five.
• Being the second hole in the round adds to its difficulty.
• Having a 200+ yard carry to the fairway limits the options off the tee.
• The tee shot can sometimes be the first drive of the round
• You currently have a “shot” on the hole and so par is 5 but given my comments above, actual par for you is much nearer 6.
• A “6” would only get you only one point but I’m assuming that that would be acceptable on a windy day (and I’m fairly certain that on a windy day a “6” would be acceptable in a medal round too).
• If on a windy day a “6” is acceptable, then a tee shot that reaches the fairway leaves you three more shots to get to the green.

So the question is: if you agree with the reasoning that a “6” is acceptable on a windy day; and if you are happy to take off the tee whatever club maximises your chances of reaching the fairway; then would knowing that you had three more shots to get to the green change your choice of shot for the next two shots?

Regards,

Colin