The Quality of Golf Shots
...Good, better, best ???
Remember the old Sears Roebuck catalogue? Hundreds of pages, packed full of nearly every product in America, from tools, to lawnmowers, to firearms, to musical instruments, to shoes, to women's undergarments. They had a consistent strategy across the board -- Good, Better, Best!
The most inexpensive products were still considered "good" in terms of quality. For a bit more money, you could get one that was "better". And of course the priciest one of all was "best".
What does this have to do with golf?
To golfers, "Good" has to be at the top of the line, quality wise. The other day, one of my golfing buddies hit a terrible shot. "Hit another one," I said. He did, and the result was not great. "Well, that's better, but it's not all the way to good."
"Best" is kind of ambiguous. Again, the other day, I was playing just terrible. I finally got to the 17th tee shot, and hit kind of a weak drive down the middle, that maybe only went 170 yards. "Well, that's the best shot of the day, but I couldn't call it 'good'", I opined.
Don't get me wrong -- "best" can actually be a good shot. "That's the best putt I've hit all day!" after a 20 foot birdie putt curled in at the last. But again, "best" can be ambiguous...
I've never heard a touring professional say, "That's the best round I ever shot!!!" They say things like "I played pretty good today," after winning a couple million after making a birdie on the last hole. They might attribute "best" to one of their opponents: "Tiger played the best and deserved to win.", but never to themselves. Even Annika Sorenstam, after shooting a round of 59, lamented having missed a makeable putt or two.
So, maybe that takes off some of the self-imposed pressure we all feel. "Good" is good enough. You don't have to be "better", or even "best". Just be "good"!
|
