Just to check out whether you golfing traders â trade like you golf and vice versa
Iâve just come back from whacking 150 golf balls senseless at my local driving range, and I was thinking how close the âmind gameâ challenges are in my trading and my golf game.
For example,
1. At the driving range I probably hit 80% of my drives pretty much flush, but when on that first tee with your mates and a few others watching the initial drive, turns into a life & death experienceâ¦.This to me is like the emotional gulf between Sim trading and live trading.
2. Good rounds that turn into bad rounds usually result from either:
a) me scoring great at first then start thinking about scores rather than just the next swing or course management decision
b) a really crap hole where you score 7, 8 etc and then you let it ruin the rest of your roundâ¦.
To me that translates in trading into â a) donât think $$$$ just think of the next signal & next exit period â b) a loser (bad hole) is just going to happen â get over it - probability says it will happen
3. My best round ever was when I was so laid back with some mates â cracking jokes all the way around â it was almost like the golf was a distraction⦠I think this is the zone that applies to trading and golf â where you are acting on auto pilot
4. When you start golf its 90% technique (finding a swing) and 10% mental (getting motivated to practice). Once you find a swing you're comfortable with it switches to 90% mental / 10% technque. That sums up finding a system to trade with then getting some emotional control.
5. Once you have a swing you can have golf lessons - but I've found that you must know your own swing and be able to fix problems my sheer persistence rather than rely on the golf pro. It needs to be your swing and you need to live with it. Again some people try to get signal services or just adopt somebody elses system without any real thought.
6. The more you practice the luckier you get in golf â¦.. and probably in trading too !!
Obviously there are no financial implications in my golfing life, so thatâs where any parallels clearly stop. But I get nervous watching some of the tour players putt from 6-10 feet for par on the last hole to win the US Open or Masters etc. I get even more nervous for the lowly tour guys just trying to keep their cards.
Iâve just come back from whacking 150 golf balls senseless at my local driving range, and I was thinking how close the âmind gameâ challenges are in my trading and my golf game.
For example,
1. At the driving range I probably hit 80% of my drives pretty much flush, but when on that first tee with your mates and a few others watching the initial drive, turns into a life & death experienceâ¦.This to me is like the emotional gulf between Sim trading and live trading.
2. Good rounds that turn into bad rounds usually result from either:
a) me scoring great at first then start thinking about scores rather than just the next swing or course management decision
b) a really crap hole where you score 7, 8 etc and then you let it ruin the rest of your roundâ¦.
To me that translates in trading into â a) donât think $$$$ just think of the next signal & next exit period â b) a loser (bad hole) is just going to happen â get over it - probability says it will happen
3. My best round ever was when I was so laid back with some mates â cracking jokes all the way around â it was almost like the golf was a distraction⦠I think this is the zone that applies to trading and golf â where you are acting on auto pilot
4. When you start golf its 90% technique (finding a swing) and 10% mental (getting motivated to practice). Once you find a swing you're comfortable with it switches to 90% mental / 10% technque. That sums up finding a system to trade with then getting some emotional control.
5. Once you have a swing you can have golf lessons - but I've found that you must know your own swing and be able to fix problems my sheer persistence rather than rely on the golf pro. It needs to be your swing and you need to live with it. Again some people try to get signal services or just adopt somebody elses system without any real thought.
6. The more you practice the luckier you get in golf â¦.. and probably in trading too !!
Obviously there are no financial implications in my golfing life, so thatâs where any parallels clearly stop. But I get nervous watching some of the tour players putt from 6-10 feet for par on the last hole to win the US Open or Masters etc. I get even more nervous for the lowly tour guys just trying to keep their cards.