Articles or Books on Grittyness or being a grinder, fighter?

[CaryNCGolfer80]

Was watching Jason Kokrak play and dude just seems like such a grinder and fighter.  
 

wondering if you guys have come across some good reads in Articles or Books that discuss Grinding, Grittiness and Fighting out a round.

 

 

[SNIPERBBB]

This is a larger personality trait thing.

 

I would suggest listening to Team Never Quit podcasts. If you cant grind out a round after listening to an episode two there, you have issues.

[Baitkiller]

The Art of War. Sun Tzu

[MelloYello]

I remember reading Don't Choke by Gary Player. 

 

Basically sums up as, 'Good golf wouldn't be considered impressive if it were easy so buck up, Cowboy!'

 

I do like the message though. I know GP can be self-righteous sometimes but the general spirit of his message is true. When the going gets tough, etc. 

 

When something bad happens, view it as an opportunity to prove your mettle.

 

When the golf gods bean you...charge the mound!

[Gsea]

1 hour ago, CaryNCGolfer80 said:

Was watching Jason Kokrak play and dude just seems like such a grinder and fighter.  
 

wondering if you guys have come across some good reads in Articles or Books that discuss Grinding, Grittiness and Fighting out a round.

 

 

U need to read about it, its not in ur DNA

[Petethreeput]

As a couple of people have noted, I don't believe it is something you learn.  We can improve on approach to the game via Rotella, or whomever the flavor du jour is, but ultimately I believe it comes down to who you are when things go south.

Even in professional sports (all of them) we hear about the pro who "Has all the talent in the world" or the pro who gets their points in mop up time or against a lesser opponent but struggles against the stronger opponent (Phillip Rivers comes to mind).  They are still one of the best in the world at what they do, but the difference between a champion and the guy with all the talent in the world is what you are asking about (again in my opinion).

You don't think Rickie F, Tony F, or any other fantastic talent that doesn't win as much as their talent indicates they should hasn't been asking this same thing?

It is what makes/made Jack, Tiger, Wayne Gretzky, Tom Brady, Messi, Jordan, Annika that much better than the new guy/gal who breaks onto the scene as the "Next Jack, etc."

[bladehunter]

This will sound funny.  And it halfway is. But .... it’s a personality trait that I’m not sure can be learned.  Or at least not without either adverse happenings or a person setting their mind to no quit no matter what.  
 

 

the funny thing I was going to say is. It’s usually a product of someone who’s been kicked in the jewels repeatedly at a young age and through necessity, grew accustomed to using the “goonie doctrine   “ which is goonies never say die.      
 

in my opinion you’re asking to catch a form of psychosis.  they tell you to not tie performance to self worth.  But anyone you see that has the killer instinct , and grinds.  If he’s honest he’s tying his self worth to his performance , at least on some level.  It’s impossible to care enough to not quit , if there’s no consequence for not caring.  Necessity drives everything.  If you don’t care , you won’t refuse to quit.  

 

What you do is bargain with yourself.  As in “ I don’t have my best stuff today.  Or even close. What can I accomplish that will let me off the hook for that today “ and you make that the new goal.  It might be to just play one shot at a time and try hard to focus .  100 % on that one shot in that moment.  Or it maybe a target score.  But it’s a bargain of some sort , that keeps you from beating yourself  up afterwards. Sometimes for me it’s as simple as committing  to each shot , and trying to pure each one.  Sounds dumb.  Or obvious. But if you hit a lot of solid shots and just don’t score , you can live with it.  Any trick to not lose interest.  

Edited May 3, 2021 by bladehunter

[MelloYello]

#1

Try to block out what others are doing. Don't worry that someone's hitting it longer or higher. Focus on your own routine and play to your own rhythm. 

 

#2

Put the last shot behind you and focus on the next one. The next shot is always the most important.

 

#3

Grinders usually excel around the green and often make up ground by making putts. Focus on being able to get it to 5-ft from anywhere around the green and then crush those 5-footers. 

 

#4

Embrace the difficult holes. It's exceedingly hard to beat someone that can turn a 6 into a 5 or even a 5 into a 4. It's hard to beat someone that doesn't beat themselves. 

 

#5

Use the early holes to figure out what kind of day it is. Are you flushing it or fighting it? Adjust as quickly as you can and embrace what's working. If you can't correct it in 1 swing, leave it for the range. 

 

 

[getitdaily]

It absolutely can be learned, but it's not easy.

 

1. Know your swing. Know what happens in your swing when it starts to go a bit sideways.

2. Fix it.mid round. If not, start taking safer clubs and safer targets. When you're a bit off then find a way to manage the course to make pars.

3. The only mindset needed is "find a way to make a par". See #2

4. ALMOST ALWAYS - shorten up or slow down. Things go awry usually because the swing creeps long or fast. See #1.

 

Start learning it now. You don't hit every green. You don't hit every fairway. When you miss a green or fairway badly tell yourself #3. 

 

Pick up books on focus and concentration. They don't have to be golf related. Just do concentration exercises. Train your mind how to quickly get into and out of concentration. 

 

 

[bilbry57]

[naval2006]

4 hours ago, MelloYello said:

#1

Try to block out what others are doing. Don't worry that someone's hitting it longer or higher. Focus on your own routine and play to your own rhythm. 

 

#2

Put the last shot behind you and focus on the next one. The next shot is always the most important.

 

#3

Grinders usually excel around the green and often make up ground by making putts. Focus on being able to get it to 5-ft from anywhere around the green and then crush those 5-footers. 

 

#4

Embrace the difficult holes. It's exceedingly hard to beat someone that can turn a 6 into a 5 or even a 5 into a 4. It's hard to beat someone that doesn't beat themselves. 

 

#5

Use the early holes to figure out what kind of day it is. Are you flushing it or fighting it? Adjust as quickly as you can and embrace what's working. If you can't correct it in 1 swing, leave it for the range. 

 

 

Basically this is what I do in most of my rounds. It never looks loud and flashy but when you add up the scratch kids at least respect you for the grit and determination. 

 

This has not been a trait in me but I’ve developed it through a massive drive to give my best; and the days your game goes south, be a gentleman. My avatar represents me I guess. 

[naval2006]

19 hours ago, CaryNCGolfer80 said:

Was watching Jason Kokrak play and dude just seems like such a grinder and fighter.  
 

wondering if you guys have come across some good reads in Articles or Books that discuss Grinding, Grittiness and Fighting out a round.

 

 

There's a little book that shows the importance of keeping it going in golf no matter what: Bob Rotella's Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect.  I read it in the 90s and back then if there was something I didn't have was grit; aggravated by a very good game.  After this book I did grasp what Nicklaus has said all his life: perfection isn't necessary in a round, it's almost impossible, but be always steady.  

[hammersia]

As others have said, it’s a bit ridiculous to think you can learn to be gritty from a book as such.... however if you want a cracking read about grit the Seve biography by Lauren St John is fantastic.

[johnrobison]

I know you didn't say that you're trying to increase your own resilience, fight, grit. Seems that people got the impression that's your objective. Maybe it is, or maybe you just enjoy stories of and from people who exemplify it. I know I enjoy those stories, myself. Anyway...

 

Perhaps look for books that aren't necessarily about golf and grinding through a round. You can find inspiration and stories of grit in other subjects like business and other sports. For me it's non-fiction military accounts. I've read over 20 in that genre and am always finding new inspiration from people and their stories that I can call on when needed. There are motivational ideas and principles that push warriors forward: "Get comfortable being uncomfortable", "Embrace the suck", "You're never out of the fight", "The mind commands the body", "The only easy day was yesterday", "Go down fighting", etc... that I might draw from in certain situations. Those principles are littered throughout the training, combat, and other stories in the books I like and I would be that they exist in other genres, like business, as well. I'd just encourage you to broaden your search. Maybe you already have and now you want to find golf-specific stories??

 

Despite what others proclaim, grit isn't binary. It's not something you either have or don't have as a personality trait. Instead, it's a spectrum and, yes, you can move along that spectrum. You may not have the same grit or fight in you that another already has, and there might be some levels that you'll never achieve, but you can rise if you truly want to. But I digress... Again, I know you didn't say whether that's your objective.

[naval2006]

4 hours ago, hammersia said:

As others have said, it’s a bit ridiculous to think you can learn to be gritty from a book as such.... however if you want a cracking read about grit the Seve biography by Lauren St John is fantastic.

Absolutely agree. But if you want to play good golf, especially competitive golf, you get to the point that you will feel the lack of mental strength. Perhaps you have something in you but can’t figure it out on your own. Then whatever works as an eye opener is fine, whether it’s a book or a mentor or a scratch buddy you play with.  The rest is determination. 

[MelloYello]

Lotta non-golf responses in this thread, LOL. 

 

The guy's asking for tips on how to better grind out tough rounds... 😉

 

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by MelloYello

[johnrobison]

1 hour ago, MelloYello said:

Lotta non-golf responses in this thread, LOL. 

 

The guy's asking for tips on how to better grind out tough rounds... 😉

 

 

Maybe he is. Though all he requested was reading material on the subject after being impressed with Jason Kokrak. You can infer that it’s because he wants tips but perhaps he just enjoys the subject. In any case, if that is what he wants, those kinds of tips are found in plenty of non-golf sources.

[MelloYello]

If you strip away the silly aesthetic around "being gritty" that might invoke ideas about what kind of facial expressions to make or how to best channel the stoicism on display in some black-and-white of Ben Hogan giving the course his best 1,000-yd stare and you get down to the heart of the question you'll find that improvements in "grinding" can be had with changes to your physical and mental game. 

 

I take grinding to be what's required when you've lost your momentum out on the course. Maybe you've hit the ball into a bad spot or you're just not comfortable with your swing. Maybe you're missing a lot of fairways or missing the expected GIRs or you're just not leaving yourself with easy putts. In other words, golf is starting to take a lot of effort. 

 

Grinding is about how you handle rounds that put excessive strain on your focus and by extension, your emotions. I would not listen to anyone that told you it's impossible to improve upon those things. On the contrary, I think the very game of golf itself is based on the idea that one can continually improve upon how they manage their attitude, focus, emotional reactions, etc. 

 

That said, I don't think "toughing it out" is good advice in golf. That's not useful. On the contrary, you need to see opportunity. Sometimes a par saved is as motivating (or more) than a tap-in birdie. The best grinders I ever met were also the best players and vice versa. There's really no difference in golf. So begin by erasing that distinction. Golf is a grind. That's the whole point of it! 

 

Nothing about golf is easy and disaster lurks in literally every single shot we attempt. 

 

The ability to generate momentum where there is none and to scramble is part of what makes someone good, in fact that's virtually all of what makes them good. The ability to expend more energy focusing and to do it more often is also part of what makes someone good. In this sense golf is not the bench-press, it's an endurance race.

 

How many times has it been said that golf is not about our best shots, but rather our worst? The worst guy in the world can make a hole-in-one, a perfect shot. The best guy in the world is not measured by his best day but rather how good he remains on his worst. 

 

You are your ability to grind. That's golf in a nutshell. 

 

If you watch the best players in the world it's actually not that hard to tell whether they're more excited about making birdie or more angry about making bogey...

 

...it's quite obviously the latter, LOL!

 

Think about what it is to shoot under par. By definition, that entails making more birdies than bogeys. So if you're not motivated to erase bad numbers you definitely should tweak that!

Edited May 5, 2021 by MelloYello

[SNIPERBBB]

I don't think anyone was conflating gritty with becoming the typical Pga tour robot out there that doesn't show emotion. 

 

Grinding is about not giving up or playing PO'd golf. That's why I recommended the Team Never Quit podcasts. One of the main guys is the guy the Lone Survivor movie was about.