While I was watching the US Open golf tournament recently there was a lot of talk during the final round about Bubba Watson. If you watch golf at all, you know that Bubba Watson can hit the ball a long way. At the same time he has a tendency to hit the ball with a lack of accuracy. His inaccuracy hurt his chances of winning the US Open in this particular case. One thing one of the commentators said about Watson stuck out to me that Sunday as I was watching. The announcer talked about how Bubba Watson doesn’t use a swing coach. In fact he hasn’t used a coach ever.
Good idea or not?
Watson’s reasoning for not using a coach is that it would diminish his experience with the game. In other words, it wouldn’t be fun anymore. I was shocked to hear a professional athlete talk that way. He even went so far as to be suspended from his golf team at the University of Georgia for refusing to call his coach, “coach”. Bubba watson sees coaching as unnecessary and counterproductive.
Is coaching unnecessary and counterproductive? My first answer would be to define what productive is. In 5 years on tour, Bubba Watson has made a lot of money but has only won one time on tour. If just being able to go out and play at a reasonably high level is productive then I guess Bubba is productive. In sports, overall, the definition of productivity is winning. In that regard, Bubba isn’t as productive as he could be with a coach.
The notion that coaching somehow makes an activity work and therefore not fun is challenged by all of the weekend warriors that play golf as much as they can and use lessons to get better at a game they love to play. For many who play golf, they will do whatever they can to get better as playing better means having more fun not the other way around. This is true for a lot of the games that we play in life whether it be in business or in our hobbies. The more we can attain a deeper understanding of something, the deeper our appreciation level for it and the more engaged we become in that particular realm.
I don’t see coaching being any different in a lot of respects from practicing. It’s widely accepted that practicing is a good thing as well. A coach can help you get better, uncover blind spots and help hold you more accountable. If you are stuck at a performance level and can’t seem to get beyond it, then a coach would be a good fit to help you break through.
What are your thoughts on this? Is Bubba Watson onto something or just foolish? Would you use a coach to make you better at your profession? Doesn’t collecting a check for something you do, already constitute it being a job?