{"id":4577,"date":"2009-02-12T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-12T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/?p=4577"},"modified":"2009-02-17T11:32:59","modified_gmt":"2009-02-17T16:32:59","slug":"meticulousness_the_art_of_the_grind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/thrash_talk\/meticulousness_the_art_of_the_grind","title":{"rendered":"Meticulousness: The Art of the Grind"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ThrashThe meticulous individual is one who displays “extreme or excessive care in the consideration or treatment of details.” In watching Camilo Villegas triumphantly not<\/em> win the Buick Invitational over the weekend, this term was in the forefront of my dim-witted consciousness.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.
\n
\nThe 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Camillo<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Situation\/Shot Centric Focus<\/strong>
\nThe 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<\/em> golf, nothing except the work to be done (and it is work), as the sole object of powerful focus, is significant.<\/p>\n

Management of Thoughts and Emotions<\/strong>
\n\"CamiloA 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Attention to Detail\/ The Discipline and Confidence to “Let Go”<\/strong>
\nThis 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I welcome any further suggestions or commentary on this golfing archetype.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo Credits: © 2007 The Sand Trap.com.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Camilo Villegas: He’s not slow, he’s mastered the art of the grind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thrash_talk"],"yoast_head":"\nMeticulousness: The Art of the Grind (Thrash Talk) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/thrash_talk\/meticulousness_the_art_of_the_grind\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Meticulousness: The Art of the Grind (Thrash Talk) - 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