028: Chapter 2 of The Green Book
One year into still occasionally writing stuff, new looks, more Adam Grant thoughts, Dan Grieve pitching motions and other stuff.
A recent wave of intellectual stagnation has overcome me, so I am making a small change. But then again, only my parents and my sister read this, so I can do what I want.
I’ve realised that this whole writing project (I refuse to call it a blog) has more potential with a further personal angle to it. Over the last year, I’ve made many efforts to write articles that are well-researched and present a theme of some kind, a thesis if you will. The first handful of these, as is usually the case in any creative endeavour, were easy to write - I had a creative impulse and I quickly poured it out onto the page. Over time, however, this has become more difficult and created a bit of pressure on myself to research and write something of that depth (again, even though only you three read it.) So, the time has come to start a new chapter and present a slightly more informal flurry of thoughts. Here’s chapter 2 of The Green Book.
What I’m Thinking About:
I have been working my way through this Adam Grant book, Hidden Potential. Here’s an extract from a section on practice I really enjoyed:
Hundreds of experiments show that people improve faster when they alternate between different skills. Psychologists call it interleaving, and it works in areas ranging from painting to math, especially when the skills being developed are similar or complex.
Golf might be the prime example for this because a golf swing is both similar and complex. We’re constantly trying to repeat a complex skill in the most similar way possible, trying to create a “repeatable motion”. However, it’s very easy to get lost in that process. As you stand on the range for hours, hitting ball after ball, you might come to find little of it translates into your game on the course. As we know, that’s because golf isn’t that linear - you are constantly being asked to “alternate between skills.” Instead of trying to be a robot, the best way to learn is finding a way to break up practice in different ways. Changing the club, target, shot - whatever that might be - you have to find a way to replicate the game in your practice through some sort of “play”.
This isn’t anything new - coaches and teachers have been preaching this for years now - but it did make me think a little about my own journey in golf and how little time I spent varying my practice. Mostly because I really didn’t practice. In the first few seasons, I must have spent an hour or two on the range during the whole summer, and that was usually only because someone left a few balls behind. At the time, it wasn’t just the financial constraint that held me back, but I saw little benefit in hitting balls on the range, and I would rather play until you couldn’t see the ball anymore. Almost everything I know about golf comes from playing. Even now, when I have the good privilege of not having to pay for range balls and get to practice, I find I am more excited about getting out on the course, where I have to alternate between different skills.
I previously reflected on this after watching Taika Waititi’s film, Next Goal Wins, which tells the story of American Samoa’s football team trying to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Having lost 31-0 in their last qualifier a decade earlier, they bring in a more experienced coach to turn the team around. He ends up getting frustrated at the lack of intensity from the players, and in one later scene, just as he unloads on a room full of dejected players, one of the assistant coaches pulls him aside and says, “that’s just the way it is, coach, we always enjoyed playing more than winning.” I think that sums it nicely for me - I’ve always enjoyed playing more than “practice”.
What I’m Working On:
This pitching motion. I’ve watched a lot of Dan Grieve content, and I still find it hard to release the club off tight lies. It makes me nervous. Anyways, I’m trying to work on keeping the grip pressure really, really light and letting the club flow through that pitching motion. Also, when I say “I’m working on it”, I mean I’m trying it on the course in the evening when no one is around.
What I’m Reading:
I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, The Revenge of the Tipping Point. Man, this guy is good. The human anecdotes, the interviews, the evidence - it’s all very engaging material. I don’t think I read anyone’s books faster.
What I’m Listening To:
This 2020 album from Gerry Cinnamon, The Bonny. Erica and I usually belt out “The Bonny” in the car on the way home from something.