Golf. I know. On a forum dedicated to science fiction why the hell would I start a thread about golf? Why? Because I wanted to share with my homies something that I have recently experienced and find myself thinking about a lot.
I started playing golf about a year ago. I had never played growing up and looked down on the sport with utter disdain. Assholes played golf. Golf was that thing that played on the television all during the day on Sunday that was the most boring thing on the planet. However, based on a number of my friends starting to pick it up as well as my brother and father-in-law encouraging me I reluctantly decided to give it a try.
So on a brisk April morning last year I went to the driving range with a bag of handmedown clubs. I breathed in deep, put out the first ball, swung the driver and hit the ground short of the ball sending a shockwave of pain up my arms and tweaking my back. I swung again and this time I missed everything…the ball, the ground…I nearly lost the club. I swung again and again and nothing seemed to improve. I left frustrated and humiliated thinking to myself, “I was right all along…this is the stupidest sport on the planet.” I thot about those jackass types who make it look so easy, what the hell was I missing?
I took a couple weeks off and then went out and tried again having read some instructional articles about what I should be doing. Full of false confidence I went out and tried again. I actually was worse this time. Everytime I would swing it was a mystery as to where the ball was going to go or why it was doing what it was doing. I took a few lessons, but even those didn’t seem to help. I understood more what I was doing wrong but couldn’t figure out how to make it right.
A few weeks ago I went out and played 18 holes with a good friend. To say I sucked would be an understatement. Everytime I hit the ball it would go in a new and fascinating direction. Thankfully he was patient and I left determined to get better. I left the course that day with a new determination. I started reading and taking lessons again. I started going to the driving range 2 or 3 times a week early in the morning before work practicing and practicing and practicing.
Then, one day last week something really strange happened: I was at the driving range doing my normal thing, swinging the driver a couple of times, getting annoyed at the results and then switching to another club…getting annoyed at those results and then switching to another club only to find nothing was going well with the occasional freak accident of a ball going generally in the right direction. I decided that it was time to take a different approach…I put all my clubs away and took out the pitching wedge. The pitching wedge is basically designed to pop the ball between 50 and 100 feet…it is not a power club, it is purely functional. I breathed in deep and just started hitting that over and over and over. Slowly I began to relax. Slowly I began not thinking about what I was doing and just doing it. Slowly all of my muscles started working together and suddenly I noticed something very odd:
All the balls were landing in basically the same spot time and time again.
I stood there amazed. A wave of emotion washed over me and I will admit I almost started crying. All of the sudden all of my work, all of my pain, all of my frustration was paying off. I thot about how great this would be to go out and play my father-in-law again. With renewed confidence and thinking about playing with my father-in-law I swung the club completely shanking it. I breathed in deep, cleared my mind and swung again and once again the ball landed in the same spot as all of the others.
Now, I am no pro, but I am seeing why there are those that are so passionate about golf. No one told me how hard it is. No one told me how much work goes into it. No one told me how hard you need to concentrate while remaining totally focused and simultaneously relaxed. No one told me that golf isn’t about strength, it is about technique. No one told me golf involves every single muscle in your body including your brain working together seamlessly like an orchestra and if they are all not in perfect unison you will fail.
Maybe I am writing this as a reminder to all of us to not judge something until one has the opportunity to experience it. Perhaps I am writing this about the pleasure of being rewarded for something that you have truly worked hard on. Maybe I want to open your eyes to the fact there is no such thing as someone who picks up a golf club and is good at it naturally…it is something that can only be learned over time with a great deal of practice. In the end, the reason I write this is simple: I have found something new, unexpected and rewarding in something that up until two years ago I would have ridiculed mercilessly. Now I find myself humbled and hopeful.
