The meticulous individual is one who displays “extreme or excessive care in the consideration or treatment of details.” In watching Camilo Villegas triumphantly not win the Buick Invitational over the weekend, this term was in the forefront of my dim-witted consciousness.
Villegas, himself, no doubt, is a meticulous player. This first became apparent to me a few years ago while I was watching a Nationwide Tour event on television.
Villegas had missed the green with his tee shot on a par three and found himself a few yards off the fringe. As I recall, the ball was in such a position that it looked like it would be relatively easy to fluff. Camilo took an inordinate amount of time assessing his options, picking out where he wanted to land the ball, settling on a trajectory and choosing the appropriate club to create that shot.
The bottom line is that it was a relatively simple up and down for a Tour professional, but Villegas was leaving nothing to chance. He played a low bump shot with a pitching wedge or 9-iron which followed the contour of the green, settling a few inches from the hole. Needless to say, he made the putt for par and moved on.
All this by way of saying that the Colombian strikes me as a meticulous and disciplined individual/golfer. There’s really no possibility of being one without the other, given the quality of play on Tour today and the demands of tournament life. It seems that his spider-man routine, which really, we the golfing populous ought to be over by now, is indicative of this mindset more than anything. The way in which he starts his backswing – a one-piece takeaway sliding the club slowly into position – also represents a man focused on the minutia of the game of golf.
In no way do I think Villegas is representative of this outlook, certainly I doubt that he brings a chalk board into his hotel room the night before a round to plot every shot, as Hogan lore tells us the most meticulous professional golfer of all time did, but it seems to be an important ingredient in Camilo’s recent success.
Typifying the meticulous outlook, of course, is Tiger Woods. The most significant facet of his game, the thing which consistently allows him to win tournaments is not something vague or metaphysical, it’s not some talent bestowed upon him alone, it’s not prodigious physical ability or the product of hours of practice, it’s Woods ability to grind better than anyone else that makes him the best.
What is this grinding, then? Certainly it’s a term which is thrown around quite a bit in golfing circles and on television. I don’t think it’s synonymous with the activity immortalized in R. Kelly’s classic Bump and Grind, and since the aforementioned artist may have given the term a bad name, I’ll offer three suggestions of constituent parts.
Situation/Shot Centric Focus
The rational mind is inherently a divisive agent. We’re always, as humans, differentiating this from that, directing our focus. Obviously, there are endless opportunities on the golf course to focus on irrelevant and negative details. An essential component of grinding is the effort towards a complete focus on the specific shot one is about to hit and the context into which that shot fits. Anything beyond this must be ignored as it is not relevant to the task at hand. Golf may be a game of leisure and relaxation and the best grinders are able to step in and out of this mode, but ultimately, during a round of competitive golf, nothing except the work to be done (and it is work), as the sole object of powerful focus, is significant.
Management of Thoughts and Emotions
A component of this focus, as mentioned previously is the management of thoughts. More specifically, it is the complete disregard for unwanted and unnecessary blips in one’s consciousness and the engagement in thought processes which are conducive to, in short, hitting the best shots possible and placing a premium on strokes used.
The grinder is able to both empty his mind of the trivial and engage, in a linear and disciplined way, a present-centric analysis of how to accomplish the task at hand. Additionally, there is a mandatory freedom from extreme vacillations in emotion within the mind of the grinder, with a premium placed on balance. It’s ok to pump one’s fist in celebration or curse poor execution as long as that fire burns out quickly and is succeeded by an equal period of tranquility and calm, thus restoring the even keel which is the essential platform for going about one’s business.
Attention to Detail/ The Discipline and Confidence to “Let Go”
This last point may seem counterintuitive, please bear with me. On the golf course, the grinder must be able to process a tremendous amount of information in a relatively short period of time: Wind? Shot shape? Club? Swing speed? Swing thoughts? Am I tense, loose? Need a birdie? Course conditions? Adrenaline? Elevation? Today’s miss? Where to miss? Target? Alignment point? etc. This stream of input is funneled into a coherent picture of the swing and shot at hand.
Jack Nicklaus is quoted as having said that before every shot he “goes to the movies” seeing in his head a clear picture of the swing, then the ball flight and finally it’s path after touching the ground. The grinder may not do this specifically, but it is clear that the focus on every conceivable detail of a shot is essential and that after all variables have been analyzed, the process must abruptly come to a stop and the conclusions reached/ agreed upon course of action must be embraced wholeheartedly.
This activity, then, is the process of “letting-go” in which the grinder trusts that his/ her calculations are correct, that the picture in his/ her mind can and will be made a reality and all that’s left to do now is to metaphorically lobomotmize the rational/linguistic mind for the time being and allow the body to execute. Without this final step, a “paralysis by analysis” situation is likely to occur and the grinder will, inevitably, simply grind away chances of playing well and any semblance of enjoyment of the game.
I welcome any further suggestions or commentary on this golfing archetype.
Photo Credits: © 2007 The Sand Trap.com.
how old are those pictures of CV? Talk about “Attention to Detail”!!
Both are from The Memorial in 2007.
Good article. One thing though; when does meticulous become plain slow?? This is now the bane of many a round at a typical club.
He may be meticulous, but he’s slow as well. There are however other young players that make hon look fast in comparison.
J.B. Holmes is painfully slow and I can’t stand watching him live. He makes for a good highlight reel but those gazillion practice swings and hesitating walk up to the ball usually makes me change the station !
Camilo Villegas has been playing some wonderful golf but for his great looks and quality play, there seems to be a school of thought that the kid is quite good and no better. Talking to a top level golf coach sometime last week, it was interesting to note his observations on Villegas’ game. While he went to great lengths to express admiration for his game but he also sound a note of caution saying that although the Columbian is winning tournaments he does not have what it takes to go to the very top and win multiple majors.
The interesting bit in it is the part, where most people believe that within a year or so he can contend regularly at the Majors, the coach in this case believes he could not possibly go on to win multiple Majors.
But then who would have that Kenny Perry would find such great form so late in his career.And his being meticulous is perhaps his greatest quality and I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if he goes on to win his first major sometime in 2010. I just feel this is going to be the year when he will multiple times on the PGA Tour, perhaps serve a notice by winning on the European Tour and then he could seriously consider a Major next year.
Cheers