Rapid-fire thought

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OLIVER1

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Here's a little something that I have often pondered and have never really got to grips with.

Does anyone think that those who are blessed with rapidity of thought in everyday life have an advantage in the golf swing? Those people who have an instant one-liner ready for seemingly any situation; those people who can do quick mathematics in their head; those who are able to weigh up the pros and cons of a tricky situation and come up with a viable answer at the drop of a hat.

I wonder if those same people have an advantage in processing where their body parts are going to be (to account for lag in thought and deed) and can subconsciously correct in anticipation in the midst of a golf swing.

Does anyone think there is a strong connection, a tenuous one or nothing at all...?
 
johnnymarlboro

johnnymarlboro

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I think that type of person might be good at PLAYING golf, because of the tendency of that personality to be able to make swift decisions AND be confident that their decision was the correct one no matter the outcome. I feel that last bit is very important in a good golfer because it's tough to be confident in your abilities when you're constantly second guessing yourself.

I'm not sure as to how it relates to the actual golf swing.
 
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birly-shirly

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OLIVER1 said:
Here's a little something that I have often pondered and have never really got to grips with.

Does anyone think that those who are blessed with rapidity of thought in everyday life have an advantage in the golf swing? Those people who have an instant one-liner ready for seemingly any situation; those people who can do quick mathematics in their head; those who are able to weigh up the pros and cons of a tricky situation and come up with a viable answer at the drop of a hat.

I wonder if those same people have an advantage in processing where their body parts are going to be (to account for lag in thought and deed) and can subconsciously correct in anticipation in the midst of a golf swing.

Does anyone think there is a strong connection, a tenuous one or nothing at all...?
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you mean...like Freddy Couples?
 
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bluebird

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"rapidity of thought" Might be a blessing but could also be a curse. Adding time and slowing down the process between thoughts and decisions might be dull and boring but usually temper out those first thoughts that are ill conceived. So I would say little to no advantage.
 
Burner

Burner

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Samenesses and differences.

Different strokes for different folks when it comes to thought process and speed of decision making. Each unto his own.

However, speed of reaction, sub-conscious thought, is built in and cannot be changed much, if at all, for anyone.

I don't think my reaction time is too shabby but I struggle to halt the stroke on the back swing if anything goes wrong. That fella Tiger whatsisname is slightly different inasmuch as he can do it on his down stroke - which is far faster than mine!
 
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birly-shirly

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OLIVER1 said:
Oh, dash you, birly. That's where I was going next after seeing a few viewpoints; namely, if rapid thought isn't the answer, would slowness of thought be more useful in the downswing?
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Well, for what it's worth, I think that quickness and slowness of thought, action or reaction are mostly situation, and application, specific. People who have a facility for mental arithmetic aren't necessarily great at telling jokes or debating, whilst lawyers are notoriously innumerate. And isn't there evidence that tennis players with a great return of serve don't actually have especially quick reactions - they're just very, very good at anticipating where the ball is going to arrive?

So I'm in the "no real connection" camp here. I think you'd be more likely to find a correlation between golfing success and personality traits, rather than intellectual faculties.
 
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OLIVER1

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birly-shirly said:
Well, for what it's worth, I think that quickness and slowness of thought, action or reaction are mostly situation, and application, specific. People who have a facility for mental arithmetic aren't necessarily great at telling jokes or debating, whilst lawyers are notoriously innumerate. And isn't there evidence that tennis players with a great return of serve don't actually have especially quick reactions - they're just very, very good at anticipating where the ball is going to arrive?

So I'm in the "no real connection" camp here. I think you'd be more likely to find a correlation between golfing success and personality traits, rather than intellectual faculties.
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Yes, yes. I certainly see what you're saying; however, reeling off one-liners by rote, crafting well-honed debating skills or innumeracy wasn't really what I was after. Moreover, could one say that the speed of anticipation for tennis players, based on what his/her opponent is doing would be more germane?

LIke you say Birly, this could very well be a non-issue, but I was having a fish around to see if anyone had any initial thoughts or first order guesses to throw into the pot...
 
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OLIVER1

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johnnymarlboro said:
I think that type of person might be good at PLAYING golf, because of the tendency of that personality to be able to make swift decisions AND be confident that their decision was the correct one no matter the outcome. I feel that last bit is very important in a good golfer because it's tough to be confident in your abilities when you're constantly second guessing yourself.

I'm not sure as to how it relates to the actual golf swing.
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johnny,
What I was thinking was if a player was slower to respond to a neurological maelstrom then he would be less likely to undermine the quality motion that he already has in place, whereas a person who reacts in a rather more pointed fashion (read rapidity of thought) could well see a dynamic destabilsation as he responds to any/all internal/external stimuli.

On the other hand, I could be talking absolute bollocks...;)
 
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birly-shirly

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OLIVER1 said:
Yes, yes. I certainly see what you're saying; however, reeling off one-liners by rote, crafting well-honed debating skills or innumeracy wasn't really what I was after. Moreover, could one say that the speed of anticipation for tennis players, based on what his/her opponent is doing would be more germane?

LIke you say Birly, this could very well be a non-issue, but I was having a fish around to see if anyone had any initial thoughts or first order guesses to throw into the pot...
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Hi Olly - I think I know what you're driving at. But all I'm trying to do is draw the distinction between innate traits or capacities, and acquired skills. People tend to talk about "quick thinking" as if it's a trait. And if it's a trait, then there's an expectation that it can transfer across different activities. I think, though some people will disagree, that most people who are thought of as "quick" are actually only quick in a particular scenario. There's the story told by an elite table tennis player (ie."quick") who got to play a few points of tennis against Michael Stich. He said, on return of serve, he didn't even see the ball - never mind react.

It's an interesting point you raise though. But if there was something in it, I'd probably side with golfers benefitting more from being methodical rather than mercurial. I think other sports place a far higher premium on the ability to surprise, or to react.
 
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OLIVER1

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birly-shirly said:
Hi Olly - I think I know what you're driving at. But all I'm trying to do is draw the distinction between innate traits or capacities, and acquired skills. People tend to talk about "quick thinking" as if it's a trait. And if it's a trait, then there's an expectation that it can transfer across different activities. I think, though some people will disagree, that most people who are thought of as "quick" are actually only quick in a particular scenario. There's the story told by an elite table tennis player (ie."quick") who got to play a few points of tennis against Michael Stich. He said, on return of serve, he didn't even see the ball - never mind react.

It's an interesting point you raise though. But if there was something in it, I'd probably side with golfers benefitting more from being methodical rather than mercurial. I think other sports place a far higher premium on the ability to surprise, or to react.
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Birly, I wasn't trying to draw a distinction between acquired skills and innateness; rather, I was trying to overlay one on the other. I have a suspicion that my clumsy prose is serving only to muddy the waters here, which is grimly ironic seeing as I started the thread!


To provide a modicum of elucidation, how about if we corral quick/slow thinking and apply it only to the specific situation of swinging a golf club: We have players who think quickly and guys who think relatively slowly. Now, would there be a benefit/drawback of one over the other given a situation of internal stimuli - inate knowledge of something askew with the move (although there may not be,) an undermining of balance (although there may be none) and other factors?

Like I said, I have no real answer (and any gleaned will be qualitative and fail any scientific litmus test, of course) but I'd still be interested in what people think.
 
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dbl

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I'm not sure which rapidity of thought aspect is being considered, but I'd like to enter a thought. I'm becoming convinced the brain is far more capable than we consciously use. I suspect it is monitoring and aware and using its massively parallel processing power during a golf swing. However, as we all know that since neurons fire slowly, the golfer can't control impact in the impact zone. But his brain is aware of all the targeting and face positions that were occurring...and can react by programming in a better swing the next time...once he knows the things which make up impact and delivering the club head on certain trajectories. Over time by developing good shot results etc, his brain can by instinct (ala Fred Couples) select and then cause to execute good shots for many many conditions.
 
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ZAP

ZAP

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I don't know if this applies but I play some of my best golf when I play fast. I mean like 18 holes in two hours or less. It does not give me time to second guess club choices or try to factor in too many variables I guess.

Also I sometimes wonder what slow players think about for so long.
 
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