Weekly Motivation - Golf and Trading

In this encore presentation of TalkAsia, Sorenstam shares golfing tips with Lorraine Hahn, and discusses new trends in the game on Apr 16 2006.

Born in Stockholm in 1970, Sorenstam discovered her talent for golf in her teens and made her official debut on the LPGA tour in February 1994.

At age 24, she captured the US open title.

Sorenstam continued to dominate the women's game over the year. And in 2003 she made headlines by challenging the men's tour -- the first woman to do so in 58 years.

There are some similarities between professional sports and trading. Here are some of the excerpts from the interview that are very useful in trading as well.

• There is no secret. There are no shortcuts to success, and I really believe that. I try to work out on the road three times a week, at home maybe four to five.

• Well golf is a very mental sport. There's no doubt about it. They say that the longest distance is between your ears. It really is, it's a sport that one day you think you had it, and the next day you wonder where it went. But I also believe that you have to be physically ready, you have to obviously grind on a good technique, and you need to be in good shape. But it's all about getting ball in the hole, and if you don't think positive thoughts it makes it a lot harder.

• Something that I think people don't know is that I do get nervous. I have some butterflies in my stomach, but I really, what I try to do is first of all to think positive, I try to think of shots I've hit in the past that have been good, and then most of all, you've got to trust yourself. It's all about making a decision, and then sticking with it, and I think that's the key.

• Obviously experience is very important, and there are times when I've been in a tournament where I've needed some experience form the past, especially when you come down the stretch, you have a chance to win; you can not finish a tournament without experience, so it really means a lot.

• I'm not superstitious. I have routines, I don't know if you can put that in the same category, but I'm a person. I'm pretty structured, I'm pretty organized. I do mark, you know, my ball on the green with the same coin. I don't know if that's superstitious or if that's just being anal about certain things, but it does have the number 59 on it, which is my lowest score. So I have a few things I stick with, and it seems to work.

• I am very competitive, and I expect a lot from myself, so right now that's not really part of, I mean I enjoy the competition, it's fun in a different way, but I'm not really a social golfer.

• I think golf is as good as its' ever been. I can obviously look at the LPGA and say that the competition is as strong as ever, the level of play is as good as it's ever been.

• I think the technology is obviously very helpful. I think it makes the game a lot more fun. It's a tough game, and why make it harder than it is.

• It's like anything, you need some talent, but mostly you need some hard work and dedication. It's a game that you can't just play maybe once a month or maybe twice a year and think that you can come out and hole every shot and hole every put. But if you have a good attitude, you coming out and just enjoying the scenery, I think it's a great game.

• I always look at my whole game in trying to figure out, well what are my strengths, what are my weaknesses. And then I try to figure out, where do I need to spend time and what parts need to get better. The last few years it's been the short game. My long game is probably my strength, I'm quite consistent, but my short game, I feel like that is my biggest improvement, and it's just, I've just reached a level where the improvements are just very, very small, but you have to be patient and it just takes a long time to change little things, and so it's always something you have to work on. One day I'll think I figured it out, the next day I'll wonder, where did it go.