I would say that's a pretty interesting question despite the lack of responses. As a bit of background, I took up golf and trading around the same time, approx 2 - 3 years ago. Struggled with both intitially as neither is easy for beginners and most give up initially or refuse to take them seriously and go on to something else. I am reasonably proficient at both now but still a long way to go before I would say I am really good at either of them.
I also enjoy playing poker and have sometimes wondered, what is the common thread between all of these endeavours that makes them appealing. Firstly and foremost it's a matter of the challenge. Golf is extremely difficult when you start but you start hitting a few good shots and feel that you could potentially master it if you put enough effort in, undertsand the dynamics of the swing and figure out the root of your problems. There is also realtime feedback where you know exaclty how you are geting on or progressing in terms of your score. The score never lies and leaves no shades of grey unless you cheat and delude yourself.
Similarly in trading, a beginning trader will make a few good trades when he starts, experience that initial euphoria and feel that if he just learns enough about the markets, learns technical analuysis, becomes informed about the fundamentals, he will be able to cut down on losing trades and be a consistent winner. The acore i.e. your account balance leaves no shades of grey as to how you are getting on and progressing and it is harder to cheat or delude yourself
It hurts more to lose hard cash than a few golf balls....
Both of these fields offer endless amounts of information you can delve into in terms of analysis and learning more about the "game". There are millions of guys out there who will offer to teack you the "secrets" in exchange for your hard earned cash - some will be good but in many cases the old cliche, "if you can't do, teach" will be applicable.
Although a degree of athleticism is required to be a good golfer, the other qualities to be a successful trader or golfer are very similar. Firstly, in both, you need to have an honest appraisal of yourself and your capabilities in order to be proficient. If you are a beginner in golf trying to take on shots Tiger Woods would find difficult, you are leaving yourself open for a lot of stress and lost balls. In trading, if you over leverage and try to hit "home runs" all the time, you will soon suffer a lot of stress, and most likely lose a lot of money. In both fields you have to "play within yourself".
Both fields also require you to play the percentages, which to an extent is playing within yourself. If you do not hit shots that have a good likelihood of being successful your score will consistently reflect this. If you make trades that are more of a "punt" instead of having a very good chance of success your account balance will consistently reflect this.
Once you have mastered the basic skills in both fields a lot of it is down to your own personal psychology. The amount of positive reviews I have seen on here regarding "Trading In The Zone" by Mark Douglas validates that the majority of successul traders appreciate that there is a huge psychological aspect to being a successful trader and the same is in golf with the majority of top tour pros having full time sports psychologists to keep them on the right track mentally the majority of the time, and to help realign them when they are going through a bad patch.
Both fields also require discipline, practise and dedication to becoming better if positive results are to be seen. If this is achieved it also brings kudos, is good for the ego and makes you feel like a "winner" if that sort of thing makes you feel good. Better than feeling like a loser in my humble opinion
To summarise, I would say that if someone has the skills to become a good golfer they may have a good likelihood of becoming a good trader. Watching the top tour pros and the way they conduct themselves and go about their business, I would say that many would have the right mindset in terms of psychological makeup, intelligence and social skills to become good traders if being taight in the right way by already successful traders.
If I was hiring someone for a trading position and there were two candidates who made the final list and were equal in terms of education, qualifications, experience and fit for the culture of the firm, if one was a very good golfer, say 5 handicap or less, I would give them the job every time as they would already have mastered a lot of the psychological skills required to be a good trader and would probably also be a gentleman and a good sport, which is something golf tends to promote when people have been around the game for a while.
So in summary I am not sure if golf in and of itself makes you a better trader, but I would say a good golfer has more potential to be a good trader than a poor golfer, assuming they are of equal athletic ability.
I also enjoy playing poker and have sometimes wondered, what is the common thread between all of these endeavours that makes them appealing. Firstly and foremost it's a matter of the challenge. Golf is extremely difficult when you start but you start hitting a few good shots and feel that you could potentially master it if you put enough effort in, undertsand the dynamics of the swing and figure out the root of your problems. There is also realtime feedback where you know exaclty how you are geting on or progressing in terms of your score. The score never lies and leaves no shades of grey unless you cheat and delude yourself.
Similarly in trading, a beginning trader will make a few good trades when he starts, experience that initial euphoria and feel that if he just learns enough about the markets, learns technical analuysis, becomes informed about the fundamentals, he will be able to cut down on losing trades and be a consistent winner. The acore i.e. your account balance leaves no shades of grey as to how you are getting on and progressing and it is harder to cheat or delude yourself
It hurts more to lose hard cash than a few golf balls....Both of these fields offer endless amounts of information you can delve into in terms of analysis and learning more about the "game". There are millions of guys out there who will offer to teack you the "secrets" in exchange for your hard earned cash - some will be good but in many cases the old cliche, "if you can't do, teach" will be applicable.
Although a degree of athleticism is required to be a good golfer, the other qualities to be a successful trader or golfer are very similar. Firstly, in both, you need to have an honest appraisal of yourself and your capabilities in order to be proficient. If you are a beginner in golf trying to take on shots Tiger Woods would find difficult, you are leaving yourself open for a lot of stress and lost balls. In trading, if you over leverage and try to hit "home runs" all the time, you will soon suffer a lot of stress, and most likely lose a lot of money. In both fields you have to "play within yourself".
Both fields also require you to play the percentages, which to an extent is playing within yourself. If you do not hit shots that have a good likelihood of being successful your score will consistently reflect this. If you make trades that are more of a "punt" instead of having a very good chance of success your account balance will consistently reflect this.
Once you have mastered the basic skills in both fields a lot of it is down to your own personal psychology. The amount of positive reviews I have seen on here regarding "Trading In The Zone" by Mark Douglas validates that the majority of successul traders appreciate that there is a huge psychological aspect to being a successful trader and the same is in golf with the majority of top tour pros having full time sports psychologists to keep them on the right track mentally the majority of the time, and to help realign them when they are going through a bad patch.
Both fields also require discipline, practise and dedication to becoming better if positive results are to be seen. If this is achieved it also brings kudos, is good for the ego and makes you feel like a "winner" if that sort of thing makes you feel good. Better than feeling like a loser in my humble opinion
To summarise, I would say that if someone has the skills to become a good golfer they may have a good likelihood of becoming a good trader. Watching the top tour pros and the way they conduct themselves and go about their business, I would say that many would have the right mindset in terms of psychological makeup, intelligence and social skills to become good traders if being taight in the right way by already successful traders.
If I was hiring someone for a trading position and there were two candidates who made the final list and were equal in terms of education, qualifications, experience and fit for the culture of the firm, if one was a very good golfer, say 5 handicap or less, I would give them the job every time as they would already have mastered a lot of the psychological skills required to be a good trader and would probably also be a gentleman and a good sport, which is something golf tends to promote when people have been around the game for a while.
So in summary I am not sure if golf in and of itself makes you a better trader, but I would say a good golfer has more potential to be a good trader than a poor golfer, assuming they are of equal athletic ability.
rathcoole_exile
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golf is a great leveller, a humbler, a humiliator.
Just what you need to bring you back to earth after a run of successful trades.
Golf reinforces the notion that humans are fallible and prone to failure, something a few good quick winning trades might make you temporarily forget as you bask in the glow of your own genius
Just what you need to bring you back to earth after a run of successful trades.
Golf reinforces the notion that humans are fallible and prone to failure, something a few good quick winning trades might make you temporarily forget as you bask in the glow of your own genius
shadowninja
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I play Battlefield2 on a laggy server. It's a bit like golf but you play it indoors.
shadowninja
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I know I shouldn't... but...
squall321
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