‘I remember the first thing I wrote down on paper was: golf is what the ball does. That was my breakthrough as a teacher. I look at what the ball is doing and then ask why.” The late John Jacobs, quoted here, was remembered as a great golf coach and teacher, but someone with a disarmingly simple rationale: everything you needed to know about a golf swing and a golfer’s game, you could learn from the flight of the ball. Golf is what the ball does.

A wise old cricket coach of my acquaintance would often stand near the nets with his back to a player. Why? He wanted to hear what kind of sound the ball was making off the bat. Rather than be