Several months ago, one of my golf students asked me why Asian women dominate the LPGA Tour as they do. They make up 7 of the top 10 players, as well as taking the top 3 spots on the LPGA Tour today. The majority of these Asian stars were born and raised in Asian countries, but some are first or second generation Asian Americans whose parents are still strongly imbued with the Asian culture.
I didn’t find much evidence of state sponsorship for the development of the young aspiring golfers within the Asian countries, but there does seem to be some state funding of golf, even if it is just into the infrastructure of the training facilities. For the most part though, it is the families who foot the bill and decide to get their child into the game in pursuit of a future profession. Some of these young girls are taken out of school and put into a golf academy dedicated to golf full time. In Korea, the parents spend about $4,000 a month on their child’s golf game, so it is something more for the wealthy on the whole.
The Asian girls do most likely spend more time at the game growing up, as they are mandated by their parents to do so, and we all know about the Asian work ethic. That reality, as well as their level of play and success professionally, I believe result from internal differences between the American and Asian cultures. It is the differences within the psyches that I believe account for the better level of play on the golf course by the Asian women.
When Asian parents get their children into golf, it isn’t to see if they like it or want to continue with it, but rather it is chosen as their pursuit in life. The children don’t have a say in the matter, and in following with the timeless virtue of ‘filial piety’, they are unquestioningly obedient to their parents’ choice for them. The children don’t make big decisions for themselves, and don’t voice opinions on the matter. Perhaps there is too much freedom here in America, with too many choices for adolescents and time wasted in their second-guessing and doubting. Over there it is just about the brass tacs of doing and going forward.
Traditional Asian culture has had many influences through their two thousand plus years of survival. One of the most enduring seems to be the “Way of the Samurai”, first cultivated in the 1200’s in Japan. The samurai were knights in feudal Japan under military rule who carried out a code of conduct which included obedience, thinking selflessly, strength, and humility. Although this military type rule was abandoned in the late 1800’s, the men and women who proceeded from it took these virtues with them into burgeoning fields that have made Japan into what it is today. The way of the samurai is all about personal accountability and a code of honor, something we here in America have shrugged off somewhat in favor of deferring responsibility.
You see these honorable traits manifested in the Japanese players on the golf course in their self-control and humble character. This is why American fans sometimes think they are boring to watch as they don’t display a lot of emotion. It is the ‘bushido’ ethic within the samurai code that stresses stoicism in behavior – and stoic is precisely how some would describe their unanimated and level demeanor on the course. However, to only see this as dull and uninteresting to watch, misses the true nature of the situation. It is actually a display of their strength of mind and character ruling over their temporary state of play, so that when they make a double bogey they don’t yell out the ‘F’ word in Japanese. No, they take it on the chin, retain their dignity, and don’t let a game reduce them to childish and irresponsible behavior.
We lack those kinds of rituals and honor codes here in America, as we do whatever feels good at the moment. It starts with the parenting, and here in America these days, parents indulge not only the material appetites of their children, but also their emotional appetites. They allow their kids to whine and have temper tantrums, because it would be too upsetting to their own fragile psyches to actually have to punish them. The American parents often give in to their child’s every whim, doing whatever they can to satisfy and occupy them at all moments.
Unwittingly, this has a negative effect on the grown child when they get on the pro golf scene. They haven’t learned to deal with adversity and haven’t had to accept not getting what they want. Instead, through their upbringing, the young American players are more prone to emotional outbursts on the golf course, more prone to feeling sorry for themselves in the ol’ ‘woe is me’ syndrome, and more prone to giving up when things get tough. They were taught that life would respond just how they wanted, and if it didn’t then all they had to do was complain and whine to get it to go their way. So when they play a few bad holes in a row they start getting down, and not being able to accept their play they look for an escape into their indulgent emotions of feeling sorry for themselves, which leads to more bad shots.
Perhaps our young republic can learn from the ancient and mature Asian culture in this respect. The Asian people have spent thousands and thousands of years seeking for ways to live well, producing many philosophers from Aristotle to Confucius to Buddha, who have passed ideals down throughout the years that have become mainstays of Asian culture. These ideals pertain to the sustainability over time of their way of life as a whole, and the best way to preserve it.
Confucius was China’s foremost philosopher, and his teachings had a big effect in Japan and Korea, as well as China. Within Confucianism, the virtue of social harmony is very important. This means that the greater good of the society is more important than the individual good; running totally counter to our virtue of individual prosperity here in America. In Asian countries, the virtue of social harmony means knowing your place in the social order, playing your part well, and acting appropriately. These players thus plod along on the golf course in a matter of fact way, sensing the bigger picture and their part in it, regardless of the results of their play at the moment. They don’t take things personally, or react to their good or bad shots, because they are playing for more than just themselves and have a task at hand. They play for their family, community, and countrymen, and it is achievement for achievement’s sake, not for personal aggrandizement. They realize in the ever changing landscape of golf and life, that it is how you hold and maintain yourself that counts. For who knows what the moody temperament of that oh so fickle golf ball will be from day to day, as well as that tauntingly, unreceptive hole.
Also along these lines, are the prominent beliefs and teachings of Buddhism throughout much of Asia. Players raised in a culture attached to those ideals, feel themselves as part of a whole entity, not as separate individuals. When someone is acting on behalf of a whole culture rather than just for their own good, they tend to feel more secure and thus their staying power through thick and thin is usually stronger. Here in America we feel we are islands unto ourselves, we don’t live with or even near family much of the time, as we do our own thing and feel we are on our own in this world; thus we live more in a state of fear. To have fear on the golf course is death on the golf course, as many of you have witnessed in the dreaded shanks, having the yips on the putting green, or perhaps not even being able to pull the trigger in a timely manner to take the club back.
The Buddhist concept of mindfulness is lost on us Americans as we only look at the results within the framework of our own individual bubble, rather than being mindful of our hour to hour thoughts, behavior, and effect. Real achievement is found in the process, ritual, and habit. It is not just habit for habit’s sake though, for as Confucius taught, internalization is the main process in ritual as it channels ones desires, and if done in sincerity it leads to doing the right things for the right reasons. To win a golf tournament for self-fulfillment is a small reason with not much impetus or energy behind it. Self-interest of American players needs to step aside to the greater goal of setting an example for those watching, playing for people and reasons outside of ourselves, and for having a lasting effect through right behavior.
America is great, don’t get me wrong. It teaches us to question things, to think for ourselves, and to see endless possibilities. This has lead to much of the quick advancement and wealth in our society today. However, there is something to the experience of proven wisdom, that comes over time. I’d say that Confucius is smiling in his grave right now, knowing that his lasting teachings are being played out by Jiyai Shin, Ai Miyazato, and Na Yeon Choi, as they dominate the LPGA Tour on the links of America today.
