"SEVENTY PERCENT OF GOLF IS JUST THE MIND"

RANKED AMONGST THE FIFTY MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN INDIA, SADHGURU IS A YOGI, MYSTIC, VISIONARY AND A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR SADHGURU HAS BEEN CONFERRED THE PADMA VIBHUSHAN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IN 2017, THE HIGHEST ANNUAL CIVILIAN AWARD, ACCORDED FOR EXCEPTIONAL AND DISTINGUISHED SERVICE.

- SADHGURU ISHA FOUNDATION

Sadhguru: Golf is a very subtle game. The simplicity of it makes everyone attempt it, but the subtlety of it makes almost everyone get frustrated with it. If you play any other game, the ball is coming at you at different angles, velocities, and spins. But in golf, you just have to hit a sitting ball. You are not playing the game with anyone. It is more about you, the course and the situation — there is simply no other factor involved. But understanding the limitations of being able to hit a sitting ball is not a simple thing.

The thing about golf is, “less is more” - not only with the score but in everything that you do. If you try to do more, you will be all over the place. On a certain day, when you have it all figured out that this is the shot you are going to take, this is the club, etc., not one thing goes right. This is not because the stars are not aligned; this is because that is how your system is.

This is something that I am always conscious of with everything that I do. On certain days I will not take up certain things because I know these things will not go well with me on that day. Golf makes such situations stick out. You don’t need any competition from anyone. Just your own body and mind can play such tricks with you. It takes so much to master that. It is so simple, and if you cannot do it, it leaves you feeling so foolish. Unlike many other competitive games, it does not demand a great sense of physical fitness or agility, but it still gives you all the challenge that you could ever want in a very subtle way.

The ball is just sitting there, but it does not take instructions from you! It goes this way, that way and everywhere else. This is why when someone like Tiger Woods or someone else plays, everyone’s eyeballs pop because he gets the ball to go where he wants. That is all he is doing.