Hitting the Links

It's Wednesday morning. You might have class, but you might not; and as Mark Twain once said, "Don't let schooling get in the way of your education." You and your friends booked a tee-time at a local golf course and are preparing to hit the links. As all amateur golfers do, you put on the freshest of gear. Some wear visors, some wear pants,  and some wear flamboyant colors. Me, on the other hand, I put on my red dry fit shirt (that happens to have the Nike logo on it) to demonstrate how similar my game is on Wednesday mornings to Tiger Woods' game on Sunday afternoons.

Tiger Woods in his classic "Sunday red." (Photo: Andrew Reddington). 

If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you don't necessarily play any better than you would if you were wearing normal clothing, but it's the thought that counts. Stepping up to the tee box, the pressure overwhelms you. Golf is a game of perfection, and if you can just hit your first drive down the middle of the fairway like the professionals do, your friends will surely be impressed. Low and behold, you commence your backswing, everything feels perfect, and then BAM! You pull up too soon and top the ball, roll your wrists over and hook it into the bunker to the left, or in the worst scenario, miss the ball completely, making some sarcastic comment about how you never saw the ball land, while it's still sitting at your feet.

Golf is tough. The only way to get better is repetition. But who has the time during the week or the weekend to play a four-hour round of golf. You know you should slow down your swing and focus on making better contact with the ball, but the slight chance that you happen to connect with a ball with all of your power behind it inhibits you from perfecting your game. You certainly are not driving the struggle bus in this scenario, considering how few people have actually perfected the game of golf, but you may feel like a passenger on it.

In all honesty, getting better at the sport takes years. Instead of making yourself mad that you can't drive the ball 300 yards down the middle of the fairway, be on the green in two shots, and sink your first put for a birdie, stop at the halfway house and get a sandwich and a gatorade (or maybe a beer or five). Enjoy your time on the golf course with your friends; it is too great of a game to be frustrated at.