Golf, which is arguably the most counterintuitive athletic endeavor — swing easy to hit far, swing down to fly the ball up, rely more on your hips than your arms — is rife with instructional tips that experts repeat over and over like mantras to help hackers like me refine our swings, reduce our errant shots, improve our course management and lower our scores.
But one trope stands out above the others because, even though it pertains to golf, it’s a core principle of every sport: concentrate, focus and keep your emotions in check.
“Talk when you walk,” the entreaty goes. In other words, kibitz while you’re walking between shots and holes, but shut up when it’s time to think about the next swing, chip shot or putt, and try to get into the zone: Calculate the distance to the hole and gauge the wind to choose the right club, or the break on the green to plan the putt, mentally recite the key swing mechanics and then — the hardest part — execute.
I’ve been thinking about all of the above lately because it’s summer and I’m a semiretired, 73-year-old geezer who loves to visit our nearby no-frills Michigan golf course as often as possible, alone or with friends, to enjoy the exercise, the flora and fauna, the tranquillity, and my occasional ability to hit as many good as bad shots every round.
I’m also thinking about those core principles in the evening as I watch my beloved overachieving White Sox play a baseball game.
No one can predict where the injury-decimated White Sox will end up, but first place nearing the halfway point is impressive.
And that brings me back to my earlier theme about the mental aspect of sports, and Exhibit A: White Sox rookie Yermin Mercedes.
As any Chicago-area sports fan knows, Mercedes set the league on fire with off-the-charts slugging in April and part of May.
But then, in a blowout game in Minnesota on May 18, he ignored the “take” sign on a 3-and-0 pitch from a position player-turned-pitcher and hit a slow blooper pitch half a mile.
That upset the Sox’ old-school manager, 76-year-old Tony LaRussa, who ripped Mercedes publicly for ignoring a sign and an unwritten rule against ostentatiously piling on in a blowout game.
Some of Mercedes’ teammates defended him, but the damage was done. The rookie phenom was shattered, an emotional wreck who apparently saw his long climb to the Major Leagues — he’s an old-for-a-rookie 28 — heading for an early demotion to the minors.
Since then he hasn’t hit a lick, swinging at bad pitches and either striking out or going out on grounders and fly balls. No power, no snap, no success.
Why? Because, in my humble opinion, he hasn’t been able to concentrate, focus or relax with the menacing LaRussa albatross hanging around his neck.
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It’s an emotional issue, Dr. Freud, isn’t it?
Squaring up on pitches that come in at 95 miles an hour or break down and in or out like they’re on a puppeteer’s string is hard enough when you’re comfortable.
And when you’re not? Fuggedaboutit!
I’m no shrink, but I have a suggestion for Tony that might get the “Yerminator” out of his funk and reignite the recently struggling Sox:
Hold a news conference with Mercedes to announce that all is forgiven and it’s time to let bygones be bygones. Maybe even throw in a hug.
That could help Mercedes relax and regain his focus and concentration. His teammates would also appreciate and benefit from Tony’s magnanimous gesture.
It would also make me feel good enough to relax, focus and concentrate more on the golf course.
I might even par a few holes, and the “Yerminator” might start hitting ’em where they ain’t.
Andy Shaw covered politics and government for WLS-Ch. 7 and ran the Better Government Association. He now serves on nonprofit good government reform boards.
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