Are You A Team Player?
The Ryder Cup presents a great opportunity for golfers to watch the best players in the world, compete on a grand stage for three days, and multiple formats. When you watch the PGA Tour you typically are subject to watching a stroke play event. Granted there is the occasional match play, but always individual. What I enjoy about the Ryder Cup is being able to watch these great players pair up and compete as a team. No longer are they able to only think about themselves and their individual golf games, but now they must depend on their playing partners to help them around the course.
Do you find that you play better in a team format or individually? Most everyone that plays golf has taken part in some sort of a scramble or best ball tournament, in which your round is made up from multiple players working together for a common good. Personally I find that playing in a team format is good for your personal game. Why you ask? Many times when I play with “partners”, you talk about the shots that you are trying to hit. What are the targets, what the aim points are on the greens when putting. What this does is elevate your thought process when you switch back to playing your own ball.
More often than not, when you go play a round of golf you will find yourself being social, getting distracted by the group behind or in front of you. You lose your focus. If you can take some of that thought process that you use when playing in the team event and translate that into you own game, it will keep you more focused. The result of that focus…better shots and lower scores.