Learn to Trade

Trade up to Par: Golf-Inspired Trading Advice That Works

By Rob on November 20, 2014

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Any golfers out there among us? Well, if you’re serious about playing, then you probably work hard at improving your game, much like we all do with respect to our trading. So how would you like some trading advice that can help you on the course, too?

Believe it or not, there are a lot of ways trading and golf are actually quite similar. Think about it: In both, we continually strive to learn and develop skills; the “mental game” is especially critical to our trading success; and professionals are the foremost authorities!

Indeed, having reached the upper ranks of their respective fields, the pros have already achieved what their students aspire for. That’s why pros are great sources for knowledge and trading advice, and I picked up a great deal of both earlier this week while talking with a veteran golf pro who happens to be a friend of mine.

As we talked about such things as continually learning and improving, performing consistently under pressure, and practicing with a purpose, I took away more than just game-improvement tips. There’s some great trading advice to be had here, too, so what follows are some valuable trading lessons that are just as likely to pay off on the links as well.

Key Takeaways

Find out how golf can teach you to improve your trading

Why everyone can be successful at both

How focus will turn you into a winner

There’s No One “Right Way”to Do it

You know what all golf swings have in common? Not much! That’s because, like fingerprints, each swing is unique to the individual, and what works for one person isn’t necessarily for everybody. Likewise, there’s not just one way to trade the markets, or any particular trading strategy that’s better than all the rest, either. If you examine the golf swings of all the best players from years past, as well as those today, you’ll find that no two are the same. Some are beautiful and carefully crafted, while others are homemade and self-taught. And, you know what, each one is equally effective because it works for the player and can be consistently repeated under pressure!

The same principles apply in the markets, and that’s some powerful trading advice in itself: Choose your trading strategy not because you think it’s the “right way” to trade, or because it works for someone else; do it because it’s your way and it works for you!

See also: Trading Rules No Disciplined Trader Will Break

Make a Living off Your “Bread and Butter”

Perhaps another similarity between golf and trading is the need to measure success using anything but winning percentage! In trading, that’s because fixating on end results often causes harmful trading biases, faulty trade execution, and even missed trades. In golf, though, it’s because the best players who have ever lived only won about 10% of the time! Needless to say, these professions aren’t about being perfect, and in actuality, hall of fame careers in both are made by owning a niche, not by becoming a master of everything. That, too, is some powerful trading advice!

See related: Worthwhile Trading Goals That Have Nothing to Do with Money

Not every great golfer is a long hitter, or a master out of the bunker, and they don’t t have to be in order to achieve success. Instead, they found a niche and stuck to it, whether it was being a supremely accurate iron player, a deft putter, or even just a great competitor. They made their biggest strengths work for them, and traders can do that, too!

Often at their own peril, though, many traders try to excel in all facets of the game all at once, bouncing around between all different kinds of trade set-ups and strategies rather than sticking to what is their true bread and butter, or the set-up(s) with which they’re most confident and proficient.

Sometimes the best trading advice is the simplest, like profit more by doing less. So play to your strengths and don’t try to be a jack of all trades. Both in the markets and on the links, you’ll likely see positive results almost immediately.

The Best of All Links-Inspired Trading Advice

Undeniably, trading habits and golf are both lifelong pursuits, and for as long as we can afford to fund our habits, shall we say, we never really stop trying to learn and get more out of it. In both, however, there’s a time for mindful practice and experimentation and a time to execute, and we can ill afford to get those times mixed up!

You see, practicing with a purpose and never trying stuff out on the course are ways golfers take their games to the next level, and those same items also make for what is perhaps the best trading advice of all: When it’s game time, trade only your proven methods, and don’t go off course or try out new techniques and ideas, even just this once.

Consider demo trading your very own practice tee, where you’re free to try out anything you want, from new methods and strategies, right down to new equipment. When trading live, though, you’re on the course and playing for real, and that’s not the place to improvise. Always get it right on the practice tee first, and take nothing but a well-designed and proven strategy with you on the course each time.

Conclusion

A sense of accomplishment, endless new possibilities, and, of course, the fun and enjoyment is just part of the allure that compels traders and golfers alike. In many ways, though, these aren’t entirely separate professions, especially since a lot of what makes skilled golfers tick can also make for some powerful trading advice.

Whether it’s finding a method and making it our own, being supremely committed to doing what we know best, or practicing and playing with a purpose, many of the principles that drive success in one are very well-suited to the other, too.

That’s what we’ve been exploring here today, and the hope is that it will offer a way to look at the markets and trading that you may not have considered before. For golfers, this may be quite easy to relate to, but even for readers who don’t play golf, try thinking of what breeds success in your other endeavours, and don’t be afraid to consider its merits as trading advice as well.