Romo--its the golf

[ROMOSAPIEN9]

It's all about muscle memory.

 

[SmashFactorGolf]

As an avid golfer, I have to think the fact that Romo is such an accomplished golfer has to be of incredible benefit.
You watch professional golfers and there is no other sport that requires total and complete concentration and focus. When you see these guys tee off with both sides of the fairway lined with fans all staring at you, you have to admire that they never just snap hook one 10 yards off the tee and take about 20 fans out.
It is absolutely necessary to block out any extraneous factors that affect your focus; make a decision (as to what club and kind of shot to hit); commit to the decision and visualize the result. Then control all emotions and nerves and execute the shot. Then do it again and again.
Add the pressure of say making or missing a put determining how much money you will take home(and we could be talking millions of dollars) - mere mortals like you and I would be reduced to piles of jello.

Translating to the football field: focus and concentrate on the situation; the play called and executing under threat of extreme physical pressure in the form a blitzing 250 lb linebacker is much the same. Add pressure in the form of a needed drive to win the game in the fourth quarter and I think you can see why Romo is even better in the second half of the games--case in point, the tying and winning drives against the Colts as well as how he put the 'boys in position to win against the skins

As a comparison--imagine Bledsoe standing over an 8 foot put to qualify for the US OPEN. I think he would blank out

......Most Pro Golfers and sport phyc's agree that it is the golfers ability to turn the concentration on and off is what is important.......The assesment is that there is no way they would want to or could concentrate for a full 18 hole round of golf.........You see many golfers chatting, eating or sipping a drink while walking down the fairway.........but.....in that span between visuallizing a shot, the entire pre-shot routine and the actual shot.......it is absolute concentration........alot of good golfers use a simple key such as the ripping sound of the velcro on back of thier golf glove to "trigger" absolute concentration levels.......

Romo's abiltiy to do this in both sports is easy to see....as he tends to have fun, smile and work with teammates inbetween plays and series.

On mechanics------a fine golfer totally trusts his entire swing, has repeated it to a point where there is full trust. He doesnt think at all about his mechanics, if he does he is dust.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

You see many golfers chatting, eating or sipping a drink while walking down the fairway.........but.....in that span between visuallizing a shot, the entire pre-shot routine and the actual shot.......it is absolute concentration........alot of good golfers use a simple key such as the ripping sound of the velcro on back of thier golf glove to "trigger" absolute concentration levels.......

Romo's abiltiy to do this in both sports is easy to see....as he tends to have fun, smile and work with teammates inbetween plays and series.

On mechanics------a fine golfer totally trusts his entire swing, has repeated it to a point where there is full trust. He doesnt think at all about his mechanics, if he does he is dust.

Interesting info!!!!!!!!

 

[Redball Express]

Several attributes that also would help Romo is:

1) Golfers must be able to take instructions from coaches and other sources and use it to improve.

2) Golfers must be very good at self-analyzing and correcting things quickly that are not working, whether they get it from other players, a paid instructor or thru watching other pros play,etc.

Often, these corrections have to take place during the middle of a round of competition and knowing your strengths and weaknesses in golf is extremely important..meaning that a golfer must play within himself and not try to hit shots he's not capable of doing and minimizing risk at all times until the percentages say go for it.

It's also been mentioned that Testaverde and Bledsoe have had a very positive influence on Romo in game preparation, film study and practicing.

This translates well into football. Romo has shown me so far that he knows the game, is a student of the game, practices well, plays within himself and obviously knows what to do to correct mistakes.

My 2 cents.

parcellswaterboy

 

[vicjagger]

Excellent post. I agree 100%.

And for all you non-golfers out there, now you know...

 

[dogberry]

Will he try for the US Open in 2007?

 

[Redball Express]

I would think he might.

John Brodie, an excellent QB for SF years ago, was also an excellent golfer who played as an amateur for years and eventually turned pro after his playing days...

..and played well on the Senior Tour for awhile.

I can see Romo continuing to try to qualify for future US Opens.

There is no conflict really.

parcellswaterboy

 

[JaiRiid]

I've considered this idea for awhile... here's my thoughts: I'm only in a beginning golf class in college, but my professor was talking about how there has to be about 20 things going correctly for a good swing to occur and most golfers spend weeks or months maybe working to correct two or three of those factors... Getting to a point when someone can make a swing and have a number of the 'right things' happening takes a ton of preparation and detailed analysis of the intricacies (sp?) of the game...

While of course a good golfer doesn't translate to a good QB, I think some of the skills in work ethic and observation (and of course other things previously mentioned) have somewhat translated to Romo's work as a QB

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

This reminds me of an interview I once heard on the radio with Tommy Lasorda where someone dared to challenge him that golf is just as tough as the big four sports. (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL)

Lasorda went on a rant..... "You're telling me that this game where everyone is kind enough to shut up, where the ball is absolutely still, you're telling me that it's tougher than facing Randy Johnson in front of 60,000 screaming fans, knowing that his 100mph ball could kill you if it hit your unprotected face, and you've got to somehow watch that ball and hit it with a bat?!!" :

So anyways... yeah, I'm sure the fact that Romo is talented enough to excel at another sport makes him that much of a better athlete, but don't give me this stuff that a game in which silent claps are encouraged and the course is known beforehand requires more focus than a poor QB facing down 6'5" giants who can run like track stars and could snap the back of any PGA player, where anywhere from 3 to 9 of the world's most intimidating athletes are charging you as fast as they can, meanwhile Romo has to find the open man in a defense that can change from play to play.

Golfers. :