Tiger, Scott Excel At Causing Opponent's Mistakes
Congratulations to Kelly Scott's rink for winning the Scott Tournament of Hearts. Scott scored a last rock victory over defending champion Jennifer Jones. Scott will now play in the women's world championship in Grand Prairie, Alberta starting March 18th.
Congratulations too to Tiger Woods for his victory at Doral. Tiger has already won 3 times in 5 starts. He withdrew at the LA Open with the flu, and lost in the 3rd round of the WGCMP to Chad Campbell. What a tremendous start! Who knows, maybe we're seeing yet another record-breaking year in the making.
I noticed there was one thing these wins had in common. Both victors played steady the whole day. They were so consistent, in fact, they forced their opponents to try exceptional shots. These opponents (Jones and David Toms) felt they weren't going to have the title handed to them because Scott and Woods were playing so mistake-free. As a result, when they did take a big chance, and didn't succeed, Scott and Woods only had to make consistent shots to win, instead of brilliant ones.
I saw first-hand in curling last night how this consistency works. We were playing a higher ranked team. After 6 ends of an 8 end game, we were tied. There were some ends where we could only take 1, but other ends where we forced the opponents to 1.
In the 7th end, we were lying 3, with the opposing skip having to play a hit-and-roll to count 1. He was inside all the way, just ticked our rock, and rolled out, leaving us with 3 counters. I'm convinced if he was ahead by 2 or more he would've made the shot no problem, as he'd already made harder ones. But because we were even, and had showed no signs of making a big mistake, the pressure was on.
What would've happened if Toms had 2 putted the 18th Sunday? Would Tiger have had a tougher time making a par to win?
What would've happened if Jones had been able to get her last rock inside the rings? Would Scott have drawn the 4-foot?
We'll never know the answers, because Scott and Tiger made them academic.
Stay consistent when you play. Your ability to hang in there will be noticed by your opponents.
Regards,
Steve
Congratulations too to Tiger Woods for his victory at Doral. Tiger has already won 3 times in 5 starts. He withdrew at the LA Open with the flu, and lost in the 3rd round of the WGCMP to Chad Campbell. What a tremendous start! Who knows, maybe we're seeing yet another record-breaking year in the making.
I noticed there was one thing these wins had in common. Both victors played steady the whole day. They were so consistent, in fact, they forced their opponents to try exceptional shots. These opponents (Jones and David Toms) felt they weren't going to have the title handed to them because Scott and Woods were playing so mistake-free. As a result, when they did take a big chance, and didn't succeed, Scott and Woods only had to make consistent shots to win, instead of brilliant ones.
I saw first-hand in curling last night how this consistency works. We were playing a higher ranked team. After 6 ends of an 8 end game, we were tied. There were some ends where we could only take 1, but other ends where we forced the opponents to 1.
In the 7th end, we were lying 3, with the opposing skip having to play a hit-and-roll to count 1. He was inside all the way, just ticked our rock, and rolled out, leaving us with 3 counters. I'm convinced if he was ahead by 2 or more he would've made the shot no problem, as he'd already made harder ones. But because we were even, and had showed no signs of making a big mistake, the pressure was on.
What would've happened if Toms had 2 putted the 18th Sunday? Would Tiger have had a tougher time making a par to win?
What would've happened if Jones had been able to get her last rock inside the rings? Would Scott have drawn the 4-foot?
We'll never know the answers, because Scott and Tiger made them academic.
Stay consistent when you play. Your ability to hang in there will be noticed by your opponents.
Regards,
Steve
posted by Irrelevant at 1:08 PM
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