Perceiving skill instead of luck is, for many, a path to developing their skills.

Consider a golfer. He has a club in his hands and tries to move a ball from A to B. He does so by creating a shot that picks up the ball at point A and moves it to another place on the golf course.

Those watching will only look at the way the ball flies, or maybe even only where it ends up. They’ll judge the shot by its result.

The one playing the ball will have a slightly different approach as he is aware of his intention. But beyond this, he will assess the shot he created, the way the ball flew, the direction it took, where it landed, and how far it continued from there. In using different lenses to evaluate his shot, he allows himself to connect his skills with the shot he created. The details that didn’t happen as planned may then be attributed to a lack of skill whereas what happened as planned will be considered as skill.

How close the result was to the player’s intention becomes seen as skill. The distance between the player’s intention and the result will be considered through the lens of luck or its absence.

It’s a way to look at it.

However, knowing golf, I would suggest considering a shot as a combination of skill and luck. There is always a bit of luck, and there is always some skill that is involved.

This isn’t to negate the existing skill. It is to align with reality as well as the ups and downs a golfer will always experience. Part of these ups and downs result from the belief that one has mastered the game to then be confronted with a reminder that golf is a game that cannot be mastered.

By acknowledging the contribution of luck to a result, it becomes easier to observe oneself and one’s own contribution to the shot. One’s skill becomes more apparent, and there is less necessity of identifying with the result.

It’s applicable beyond golf.