“Empty your mind

Be formless, shapeless, like water

You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup

Put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot

Water can flow or creep or drip or crash

Be water my friend” – Bruce Lee

Post written by Ian Hardie

I came across the quote above from Bruce Lee the other day

It is apparently his most famous quote

Once which conveys his most important fighting philosophy

Adaptability

His belief was that a great fighter must be ready to adapt to whatever situation he faces

To flow like water around and through an opponent

If one way doesn’t work, a fighter should be prepared

To adapt and find a way that does

And before you start to wonder why I am writing a golf post using a quote about fighting

Read the quote again and think about how it could be adapted to golf

I think there are two areas where using his advice

Can help all of us with our golf

The first of which is when you have hit your tee shot into trouble

(For that one time a year that it happens of course)

Most often when you find your ball

There is something in the way of your line to the flag

Generally something high

Like a tree or two

Maybe a hill or even a building

Most golfers when faced with this situation

Instantly lean towards taking the heroic option

By hitting their ball over the obstacle

Whether they have the ability or not

Large and round ruining scores are generally the result

A lot of shots and therefore rounds could be saved

By considering the following line of the quote;

“Be shapeless like water, water can either flow or creep or drip or crash”

I interpret that to mean that if an obstacle is in front of water (as the rock is in the photo)

And there is a lower path available

The water will always go around

So should you most of the time

Unless you are 95% sure you can negotiate the obstacle easily

When in trouble take the path of least resistance

Instead of trying to go over the obstacle

Play out to the safest place

Then continue towards the hole

“Play like water”

Which brings me to the second area that I think we can borrow from water

Water always pools in the lowest point

Now I am sure that’s due to gravity or whatever other science is controlling it

But as golfers

We should learn to think like water on the golf course

And go for the lowest points

What do I mean by that?

We all know it is easier to hit putts and chip shots uphill

Than it is to hit them downhill

As it allows us to accelerate well and generally have more control over the shot

And yet how often as a golfer do you just aim straight at the hole

With the resulting shot or putt finishing past the hole

Leaving the next one to be a downhill shot

Which we all really enjoy – right?

So when considering your chip shot or putt

Or more correctly where the shot or putt may finish

Consider where water would pool if it was flowing in the direction you’re going

Then aim your shot or putt for a point below the hole

A point where the water would go

As opposed to knocking it past the hole

And playing your next shot from where water would flow

“Play like water”

Play well