Cracking The Code
By Paul Azinger and Dr. Ron Braund

In this Ryder Cup year, it is timely that 2008 US Captain Paul Azinger has released a book detailing his successful team management approach. The “Pods” system that Azinger used has been much discussed and written about, but it’s only in this book that the full story is told.

The US Ryder Cup team, as you will recall, had been through a bit of a drought, having lost three in a row, and eight of the last eleven competitions. (You can thank Jack Nicklaus for that; it was his suggestion that the traditional British team be expanded to include all of Europe). While reasons for the European dominance have never been quite clear, it had long been the suspicion that they were better able to gel as a team than the Americans. (I’m not sure I buy that logic, though).

Operating under the assumption that a lack of Team Spirit was the reason for the losses, Azinger decided to try a novel approach. He was inspired by a television program that he had seen about Navy Seals. The Seals—and indeed other military units—operate not as division, brigades and companies, but in fire teams. Those are small groups of soldiers who eat, sleep, and train together, bonding into small “bands of brothers.” (It’s the same approach used by any number of organizations. The Boy Scouts have the “Patrol Method,” teachers have Professional Learning Communities, etc.).

Azinger’s final distillation of the idea was to forget about forging a 12 man team on short notice. Instead, he would try to build three four-man teams. But there really wasn’t even time for that. So he took a shortcut. With the help of Dr. Ron Braund, Azinger tried to group his players by “personality type.” The theory was that they would bond more quickly if they already were similar. It was a radical approach, in that in the past, Ryder Cup Captains had tried to group players based on playing skills.

The “Pods,” as Azinger called them, would practice and play together, and the groups would never be broken. Every round the players competed would be within their Pod. Even when they went out in singles matches on Sunday, the players went out in groups of four according to their Pods; not, as others Captains have done, in an arrangement based on strong players, or experience or some other criteria.

One final key to Azinger’s Pods—which had not been revealed before the publication of the book—was that the four “Captain’s Picks” that year actually were chosen by the original three members of each pod. After dividing the nine qualifying players into their pods, he gave them a list of players to choose as the fourth member of the group. The Captain’s Picks then knew that they were wanted by the Pod members, and the original Pod members had a say in the way things would go.

Treating the players like professionals and giving them major input into the decisions was another hallmark of Azinger’s tenure. He was absolutely right about in thinking that leaders who create small working groups must trust them to make the correct decisions. Axinger avoided telling the players what to do (with one exception that had poor results), trusting that he had created an good environment in which their skills and professionalism would produce good results.

That’s one bit of advice the leadership of my building and school system have yet to learn. Their idea of small group dynamics (Professional Learning Communities) is to order the teachers into groups and then dictate what the goals, procedures and outcomes will be. And if the PLC outcomes don’t quite match management’s preordained notions, the teachers are sent back to work until they “get it right.” We actually have spent months working on curriculum or testing criteria only to be told at the end that “it’s not what we’re looking for.” Then when we ask what it is they’re looking for, we’re told “this is a teacher led community. You need to develop this on your own.” They’re idiots.

But I digress.

Cracking the Code is not a blow-by-blow of the 2008 Ryder Cup. That book has yet to be written. But Azinger does take the reader through key moments to illustrate how the Pods system worked in practice.

I found Cracking the Code to be a very interesting book and a very quick read. While I’m not entirely convinced (as many are) that Azinger’s system is entirely (or even mostly) responsible for the 2008 US success, it is a very interesting case study in management. In that, I think it could find its way into the hands of many group managers.

Recommended.

I noticed an article in the Ann Arbor News Ann Arbor dot Com news rag about a golfing nun who has written a book of golf prayers, called a Golfer’s Prayer Book: Walking the Fairway with the Master. From the article:

For Sister Dorothy Ederer, a published author, Catholic nun and campus minister at St. Mary Student Parish in Ann Arbor, golf and religion go hand in hand.

“You compare the things that happen in golf to your life, things like sand traps, hooks, slices, and out of bounds shots,” she said. “We set ourselves up for ridicule and shame.”

Handicaps are something that we all have and that we shouldn’t be discouraged by them, Ederer said: “They often provide the push we need.”
Ederer’s book, “The Golfer’s Prayer Book, Walking the Fairway with the Master,” was recently released in hardcover by Paulist Press, and is available at Borders and through Amazon.com. It has been endorsed by a number of professional golfers including Jack Nicklaus, who is quoted in the book as saying, “Golf is a beautiful walk with God and nature. Sister Ederer uses her words to help us approach and understand life in a spiritual and meaningful manner.”

And in case you’re wondering, don’t look for a nun’s habit on local courses. She golfs in skirts or capris.

From JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit:

“Excitable little fellow,” said Gandalf, as they sat down again. “Gets funny queer fits, but he is one of the best, one of the best—as fierce as a dragon in a pinch.”

If you have ever seen a dragon in a pinch, you will realize that this was only poetical exaggeration applied to any hobbit, even to Old Took’s great-granduncle Bull-roarer, who was so huge (for a hobbit) that he could ride a horse. He charged the ranks of the goblins of Mount Gram in the Battle of the Green Fields, and knocked their King Golfimbul’s head clean off with a wooden club. It sailed a hundred yards through the air and sent down a rabbit hole and in this way the battle was won and the game of Golf invented at the same moment.

Golf Sense: Practical Tips On How To Play Golf In The Zone

This is a very unusual golf instruction book, not the least because it was written by a guy who admittedly doesn’t play the game. Indeed, Roy Palmer says, in addition to helping golfers, he’s also coached tennis, horseriding, fencing and basketball—but doesn’t do those sports either.

So how does claim to be able to do this? It turns out that Palmer is a proponent of what’s known as The Alexander Technique for increasing your coordination by increasing your awareness of what you’re doing at any particular moment.

The Technique takes its name from a 19th century Shakespearean actor, F. Matthias Alexander, who had developed hoarseness and breathing techniques. After doctors could find no particular cause, Alexander began observing himself in mirrors, eventually coming to the conclusion that a series of habitual movements was at the root of the problem. He altered those movements, and the throat issues disappeared.

Alexander then went on to write four books and found a series of schools teaching his techniques. At its core is the idea of achieving a level of self awareness that allows you to eliminate detrimental habits.

Palmer begins with a series of exercises designed to make you more aware, such as noticing what you do when you get out of a chair or in folding your arms. The techniques are designed to help you realize that you are doing a lot of things that you don’t realize with every action. And by extension, he says, that goes to the golf course.

Then, Palmer takes you through some exercises designed to “get you in the moment.” He recommends that before taking a shot, you become aware of “Your toes in your socks, the ground under your feet, the touch of your clothes on your skin,” etc. This is all supposed to get you into the “zone.”

Palmer also offers a series of seven exercises such as developing body awareness while lying flat on the ground, facial relaxation techniques, practicing the standard “athletic position,” and working on twisting and twisting.

I found it interesting that one of the things he recommends is paying attention to your body as you walk:

“Walking provides an ideal activity in which to experience effortless movement while releasing tension from the shoulders and lower back. It can also help to remind you of the location of your hip joints. That, in turn, will improve your stance.”

That may explain why I feel as though I play better when I walk rather than ride. If he’s right, I subconsciously work on tension, balance and rhythm while hoofing it around the course.

I think that the techniques described might be most useful in solving a case of the yips with the putter. I’ve always believed that putting is the one aspect of the game that can be continuously, consciously and permanently improved. Since putting is so slow and deliberate in comparison with the rest of the game, being entirely self conscious can really help.

In the end, Golf Sense offers a lot of interesting food for thought, but I think I would be more comfortable with this if it came from someone who actually had used the techniques to improve their own game. Knowing that Palmer is a non-golfer had me thinking throughout the volume that it was all just a bunch of mumbo jumbo packaged to sell to desperate golfers (and we are ALL desperate at one point or another). I don’t know how he can say that it’s valuable to do this- or that- when he doesn’t know exactly what it feels like.

Don’t Choke: A Champion’s Guide to Winning Under Pressure

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: A quick read, but thoughtful

I think that it is safe to say that Gary Player is among the most supremely confident people to ever have lived. If you’ve ever heard him in an interview, or had the good fortune to talk with him—even for a moment—you can see it and feel it. Confidence oozes from his every pore. It is thus no surprise that Player would pen a book of advice called “Don’t Choke: A Champion’s Guide To Winning Under Pressure.” Part memoir and part pep talk, it’s an easy read in which you can clearly hear Player’s voice throughout.

Player is the owner of eighteen Major Championships—nine on the regular tour, and nine on the Senior/Champions Tour—won over five decades of professional golf. Its a record of which he is justifiably proud. Each chapter of the book offers a brief account of one of those Major victories, and then draws from it a lesson.

One of my favorite passages::

It’s a case of dealing with the nerves of realizing a dream for the first time. That can be a major obstacle when you want something so badly and have worked all your life to be at that point. The secret is to focus not on the pressure of the situation but rather on the blessing of being in a position to go for your dream.

That’s a great thought, and it’s just one of many throughout the book. The advice, while primarily about golf, also can be applied to nearly any venture. Player is as confident about his success in life as with his success on the course. Here’s another:

There will be occasions when you wind by a handful of shots and others where you have to grind your way to the smallest margin of victory. Business is all about griding through the difficult stretches, and to use golf speak, keeping your score ticking over. And it’s about never losing focus. It may not feel comfortable, and you may feel completely out of sorts, but as long as you are still in the game and within reach of your goal, then you are on the right track.

and finally, there’s some terrific advice for people experiencing tough times, especially in this Great Recession:

A bad shot must been seen in the light of its ability to force a correction. We learn the most through our mistakes, not our successes. And we grow the most in tough times. If you can get your head around this and see tough times as a chance for growth and deeper meaning, you will arm yourself with the most powerful weapon known to man—optimism.

I liked the book. Recommended.

Postscript:

It’s not an actual part of the book, but it appears on the back of the dust jacket and is prominent on Player’s website and other material he produces. Gary Player’s Ten Commandments “for success in golf, business and life:”
Change is the price of survival.
Everything in business is negotiable, except quality.
A promise made is a debt incurred.
For all we take in life we must pay.
Persistence and common sense are more important than intelligence.
The fox fears not the man who boasts by night but the man who rises early in the morning.
Accept the advice of the man who loves you, though you like it not at present.
Trust instinct to the end, though you cannot render any reason.
The heights of great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but that while their companions slept were toiling upward in the night.
There is no substitute for personal contact.