“Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complex; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is simultaneously rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.” – Arnold Palmer
This quote from one of golf’s greatest players is reminiscent of Bitcoin’s journey in many ways. At first glance, these two inventions may seem completely unrelated, but they share intriguing parallels. The principles of golf can provide valuable insights into Bitcoin, and understanding Bitcoin can shed light on the complexities of golf.
In both cases, reaching a certain threshold of time and understanding is like gaining entry into an exclusive club. Up until that point, it can be extremely frustrating and seemingly pointless; and after that, it can be as rewarding as it is maddening to be a part of. But whether it’s money or a game, both are without a doubt the best that mankind has ever invented.
Most amateur golfers know how hard it is to consistently play well. It takes hard work, longevity, perseverance, and mental toughness that can only be forged through years of dedication. For many, it’s a lifelong journey. There’s no substitute for grinding out ball after ball on the driving range. The parallels to a personal bitcoin journey are stark. Success in golf and bitcoin is a product of low time bias, proof of work, and minimizing mistakes.
A low time preference is essential
Golf is a tough journey. One that requires patience, discipline and perseverance. Playing the game is not about the destination, but about the process along the way. That process can teach us as much about ourselves as it can teach us the importance of taking care of ourselves in the future.
Understanding the importance of Bitcoin is not for the faint of heart. Learning what money is, what the problem with money is today, and why Bitcoin solves that problem takes time. But the fact that it is hard makes it worth doing. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
Valuable challenges come with obstacles, and this couldn’t be better illustrated in either Bitcoin or golf. There are false peaks of understanding where good judgment is lacking and assumptions are made. There are snake oil salesmen who offer shortcuts or “get rich quick” schemes along the way. And no matter how you look at it, ego is just another handicap.
Golf and Bitcoin are incredibly humbling endeavors. Those who inevitably experience the pitfalls along the way learn that in both cases, the destination is not the point, and they may never have one. But that journey can be incredibly rewarding in itself.
Once I understood Bitcoin, the power I gained from using it as my primary form of saving trickled down into other parts of my life. I suddenly became more interested in improving other parts of my life, like my health and my relationships with friends and family. I simply became happier and generally more optimistic about the future. It’s a sentiment that reminds me of a quote from Bobby Jones, one of the greatest golfers to ever play the game,
“The most important shot in golf is the next shot.”
Golf is different from most other sports in that you can play it for almost your entire life. Some sports are top-priority in the sense that they are optimized for a short period of time, usually a few years, or even a single competition. Golfers know when they step onto the practice range or off the first tee that the goal is not to hit the longest drive or get their best score. Instead, it is to get a little better each time. The confidence that comes from this approach is fundamental to the belief that you need to not only survive, but thrive when the going gets tough…and it will get tough!
In Ben Hogan’s book, “Five Lessons,” which I would compare to “Mastering Bitcoin” but for the game of golf, he describes a shot he made on the 72nd hole of a 1950 tournament at Merion Golf Club. The shot was a 5 iron from 200 yards up a steep hill onto a sloping green. The ball landed close enough to the pin to force a playoff and ultimately led to him winning the championship.
“I mention this incident not to relish the sweetness of a ‘major moment,’ but because I have discovered in many conversations that the view I take of this photograph (and others like it) is markedly different from the view most observers seem to have. They tend to glorify the actual photograph because it was taken in a stressful situation. They see it as something unique in itself, something almost inspired, you might say, because the photograph was exactly what the occasion demanded. I don’t see it that way at all. I didn’t take that photograph then, that late afternoon in Merion. I had been practicing that photograph since I was twelve.”
Both golf and Bitcoin reward individuals with a low time preference. Understanding and embracing this principle is essential to achieving better scores and greater enjoyment of the game. Faking a good golf swing is about as likely as faking a Bitcoin transaction, it just can’t be done. This is why developing a strong golf game requires the same crucial element as sound money: proof of work.
There is no substitute for proof of employment
The importance of proof of work in bitcoin, and in money in general, cannot be overstated. Money must be tied to the universal truth that nothing in this world is free. Success in golf is no different.
Becoming a professional golfer may be out of reach for most of us, but we can still take a low-time bias approach to improving our skills. Whether you want to go pro or just break 90, consistent effort is key. There’s no substitute for hitting hundreds or thousands of balls on the driving range, with every swing focused on perfecting your stroke.
Developing a good golf game is like solving a puzzle. You have to persevere, swing by swing, tweaking it a little at a time until you find the solution, at least for that one swing or that one day. The challenge is that each new day brings different variables. You might be struggling with an injury or the weather might create different playing conditions. These changes require small adjustments to your game and you have to solve the puzzle again.
Bitcoin mining is often described as solving a complex puzzle. Each block template is unique, and miners must repeatedly adjust the nonce until they find the right input to hit the target. Doing so unlocks huge rewards, but only if you can prove to the network that you’ve done the required work. This process ties Bitcoin’s ledger to real-world energy usage, protecting transaction history with an unforgeable preciousness. The result of that work—a valid cryptographic hash under the difficulty target—can be easily verified by other players in the game. Getting a low score on a round of golf is hard, but it’s easy for your playing partner to attest to your scorecard.
If you look at the average Saturday morning hacker, it’s clear that the level of work required to compete at the highest level has not been achieved. The pros make it look easy, but to reach that level of skill requires a significant investment over a long period of time. Winning a golf tournament requires a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck, just like bitcoin mining.
Golf, like Bitcoin, is a game that can only be mastered through proof of work. With a low time preference and a huge amount of work put into it, there is another key concept to consistently achieving lower golf scores: don’t make mistakes!
Make no mistakes
“Golf is a game of minimizing errors.” – Ben Hogan
Launch your drive anywhere on the fairway, hit your approach shot anywhere on the green, and get the ball into the hole in two putts… a successful par. Like hitting par on 18 holes, holding bitcoin is simple in concept but not easy in practice. Both require avoiding mistakes rather than achieving perfection. The key to success in bitcoin and golf is simple: don’t make mistakes.
Most golf fairways are between 25 and 65 yards wide. This means that you don’t have to hit a perfect shot to hit the fairway. In fact, you have a fairly wide range of shots that you can hit, and it would still put you in a good enough spot to hit the green on your next shot. The same goes for a putting green. Although it varies from course to course, the typical width of a putting green is around 25 yards. Again, this means that you don’t have to hit a perfect approach shot to hit the green. A wide range of shots will suffice. For both driving and approach shots, you don’t have to hit a perfect shot. You just don’t have to hit a bad shot.
Various elements can cause mistakes or accidents on the golf course, such as wind, water, sand, rough, trees and many other hazards. Success in any round of golf depends on a well-thought-out approach. Course management and keeping your mistakes small so that you can easily recover from them are crucial to achieving a low score. Perfection is not required, but tolerance for mistakes is.
The same goes for your Bitcoin journey. Dangers come in the form of market volatility, waves of acceptance, and phishing attacks. Bitcoin “yield” products will tempt you to “outperform your driver” for a little extra distance, and the trading gurus make it look easy to go for the well-protected flag.
But your only job when it comes to owning bitcoins is to avoid making mistakes that will cause you to lose them.
The foundation of your bitcoin course management is to store your own private keys in a fault-tolerant manner and create a succession plan. Don’t try to time the market, trade bitcoin volatility, or look for a few extra points of return. These are all near-surefire ways to shoot the proverbial BTC ball into the woods. All you need to do is store your bitcoin safely and keep your private keys private.
Final thoughts
The parallels between golf and Bitcoin offer valuable lessons for those embarking on either journey. They are both long-term goals that should be approached with a low time bias. The proof of work concept is central to both, emphasizing that consistent effort and dedication are the only paths to success. Finally, the importance of minimizing mistakes in both domains cannot be overstated. Adopt the mindset of a seasoned golfer on your Bitcoin journey and ensure you always play from the fairway.
PS If you’re a golfer who loves bitcoin, come to the first Bitcoin Golf Championship on July 24th in Nashville!
https://bitcoingolfchampionship.com/
This is a guest post by Rocky Wold, Joe Burnett, and Trey Sellers. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.