concordtom said:
Big C said:
concordtom said:
It's great to be able to recall and share our memories.
And I didn't know you were a golfer AND and hoopster as well.
Glory days. Here's to you, and the memories.
Seems like successful putting and free-throw shooting demand a similar skill set.
Seems like it.
But I can say I'm a was an excellent FT shooter and a very poor putter.
Totally different rhythm and muscle set to me.
So, I dunno!
SFC must simply be The Man!
Nah. You're too kind. Actually, I think sinking baskets or putts, (and pocketing billiard balls) has less to do with skills or rhythm, or muscle sets, and more to do with the mind. At the very least, you must have confidence, to know you are going to make this shot, almost seeing the ball into the basket, cup, or pocket. So the simple ideas of practicing the shot over and over, the more you make in practice, the more likely you might make them in competition.
The problem that comes up is pressure. The mind putting pressure on itself you (not you personally, just the person attempting the shot), making you doubt yourself. What happens is that you may be thinking that the upcoming putt is more important than it really is, and you succumb to the pressure, allowing doubts to creep in, into your stroke, and you blow the shot.
There is a solution to this. maybe many solutions. If you like to read, "Golf in the Kingdom" by Michael Murphy is a good one. I was a tennis player in my youth, and my favorite is "Inner Tennis" by Timothy Gallwey, although he wrote it many years after I had retired from tennis. His book tries to get players to focus only on picking up the spin of the moving ball, and following it, and the racket will swing by itself, more or less. He also wrote "Inner Golf". "Match Play and the Spin of the Ball" by the great Bill Tilden is another good read.
In that US Open Putting Championship I wrote about, I was competing in the Northern California sectional qualifying at Harding Park, and I was really feeling the pressure. The putting course was laid out on two putting greens, with 18 holes from 3 feet to 85 feet in length, and the lowest total score won a free trip to Las Vegas for 2 people for 3 days, all expenses paid. I was bumbling my way along through the first 6 or 7 holes, and hadn't made an ace. I noticed that the 85 foot putt was coming up, and the green was really not big enough to accommodate an 85 foot hole. The green was a little less than 90 feet at its widest measurement. Where the tee blocks were was very close to the thick fringe. The cup was sunk into a slippery hill about 3 feet from the thick fringe behind it. If you hit the ball short of the hole, it would roll back down the hill toward you. If you hit the putt past the hole, it would land in the thick fringe. When you tried to putt from there, the ball would not stop, and roll all the way back down the hill. Every player I watched had three-putted or 4-putted the hole. I saw several competitors playing other holes, who were not paying attention, and were walking across my line. Then a tour bus pulled up, and several men got out, obviously a little drunk, looking for the men's room, and were walking on the green.
The night before, I had read Tim Gallway's "Inner Tennis", where his idea is not to focus on the shot you have to make, but instead, focus on the moment. What was happening? As I was getting ready to take my turn, I began to look around. I looked at the sky and the clouds, took notice of the temperature and the wind. I saw a flock of birds fly by. I looked at the lake, and at the trees. I thought of all the things that were taking place in the world at that moment, and that I was only a mere mortal in a golf event, and I would be participating by making a putt with a putter. There would be people nearby walking in front of me and people looking for a men's room.
I was now over my ball and had sized up the putt, thinking all these thoughts, looking at the ball, and then at the hole, and then I looked down, and I saw the head of my putter was already moving! The other competitors seemed to be occupied elsewhere, not crossing my line, and my ball went straight into the cup for an ace! I was in a zone, I guess, or a daze, and I sunk the next 6 putts in a row, ranging from 6-20 feet or so and won the qualifying event.
I saw John Susko soon after that, and I was gushing all over about this experience, and all he said was, "So you had some kind of a Nirvana, huh?" I guess it was some kind of a Zen thing. All I know is, it worked well for me.
SFCityBear