What don’t people get about the idea that I play golf for fun? When I tell people that I’ve been playing golf as long as I have and I’ve never taken a lesson, they look at me like I have three heads. Maybe it’s just me, but I will never fully understand this.
Recently, I went over this with someone I know. This person happens to be an avid biker (bicycle, not motor). When he heard what I shoot, he questioned why I’ve never taken a lesson. So I asked him if he’s ever paid someone to teach him how to ride his bike. He understood my point. He, like me, participates in his sport because he enjoys it, nothing more.
I’ve made similar comparisons before. I’ve played softball for years, but I’ve never paid a batting coach! I played for fun, not to get on some professional level. Same with basketball. I played pickup games every weekend for who knows how long. But I never hired a coach to help me with my shot.
The thing is, I played all three sports (golf, softball and basketball) for the same reason…fun! Everyone laughs at the coach-hiring jokes for basketball and softball. But why is it that no one can understand why I don’t really care to take a golf lesson?
What is it about golfers that make them take their sport so serious? What is it that makes them pay for lessons? What is it that makes them pay for expensive equipment? What is it that make them buy expensive apparel? Is that expensive new shirt going to help you hit your drive farther?
Someone hiring a swing coach for rec-league softball sounds just plain silly, right? But golfers do it on a regular basis. Someone has to help me understand the draw. Most of these people who pay a pro for lessons are going to go about as far in golf professionally as I will in softball. So again, why?
Is it because you can play golf for longer in life? Is it because you are holding out hope to maybe possibly make the senior tour? Is it just because you want to be the best of your golfing buddies?
Honestly though, I’m not poking fun. I just don’t understand. I’m not a good golfer by any means. But I play a sport I enjoy. I’m happy doing that, just like any other sports I have played. Why are things perceived to be different in golf when, in reality, they are no different than participation in these other sports?
I’m just looking for some answers because, like I said, I just don’t understand.
Swing ’til you’re happy!
Are Kids Sports Becoming Too Demanding?
It’s Saturday morning. I’m up early, I’m showered, I got my stuff together and I’m ready to go. I jump into my car and I’m off. Am I headed out for a round of 18? Nope…not even a round of 9. Instead, I’m headed to my kids soccer games.
That’s right…another season, another sport. In the winter, it’s basketball. For the spring and summer, it’s baseball. Now the fall comes…and it’s soccer.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that my kids want to participate in sports! It’s much better than them sitting around the house everyday playing video games or doing nothing at all. But I wonder to myself if some of these little league sports are going too far. Now I don’t wonder if the kids are going to far. They want to do different things and play different sports, which is great! What I wonder (and worry) about are the sports themselves. Specifically the schedules.
Last year I wondered whether I should get my kids involved in golf due to the opportunity for a college scholarship. But now I’m not so sure. I mean, maybe they can wait until high school before they start playing anything else competitively.
Did you play little league sports? I did. Baseball and basketball. When I got to high school I traded those in for football and track. But it wasn’t until high school that I remember my sports schedule ever being what it is for my kids! When I played little league baseball, I remember playing games on Saturdays and having, maybe, a practice a week…if that. Basketball was the same…a game on Saturday mornings with practice one night per week. But these days? These kids should be getting paid for the amount of time required to participate in these sports. Or maybe the parents should anyway.
The schedule can be bad enough with just one kid, but two or more? Insane. I’ll show you what I mean:
Lets start with basketball. Once again, when I played it was one game on Saturday mornings and practice one night a week. This stays pretty much the same, but with two kids. Therefore, we have practices two nights a week in two different locations and games are again every Saturday. However, the first game can fall anywhere between 8:30-11:30 am, while game two can fall anywhere between 1:30 and 4:30 pm. And of course, the times change every week.
Let’s move on to baseball. Luckily for my wife and I, this is not so bad because our boys played on the same team. But they won’t next year. So we have to enjoy the games on Sunday mornings or afternoons and practices at one location two days per week. Next year, who knows? Practices as much as four days a week and games on Saturdays and Sundays?
That brings me to soccer. Practices are every Monday and Wednesday originally scheduled “from 5:30 until it’s dark.” This has since been revised to end at 7:00. But games are every Saturday AND Sunday! Really? Is it really necessary to play games on Saturdays and Sundays? See, this is why Americans don’t like soccer. Right from the start, it’s just a pain in the rear. Well, that’s not really true. Americans don’t like soccer because it’s boring.
But far and away the worst was, of course, my favorite sport…football. For the entire month of August, practice is every night Monday-Friday. Every night. Once the school year starts, it’s down to three nights per week with games every Saturday morning. What’s worse is, while in all of the other sports the competition is entirely in town, the football games are played against other rival towns. This at times requires travelling up to an hour away to play the game.
Now, I have no idea what a golf schedule for kids is like. I never looked into it. I didn’t play myself when I was a kid. I didn’t even play in high school. But if it’s anything like these other sports, I’m not sure how we would be able to handle it!
But, it’s a fun sport. It’s a safe sport. And it’s a sport you can play for pretty much the rest of your life. So if adding this to the list of sports the kids choose to play is necessary, then my wife and I will do what good parents are supposed to do. We’ll suck it up for the kids and find a way to make it happen. But I gotta tell ya, these little league sports are getting a little bit out of control…
Swing ’til you’re happy…if you can find the time!
Get Some Wings & Beer, The Final Round Is On!
It’s Sunday afternoon and Stinky Golfer Tom and I have just finished watching the Giants blow a huge lead and lose. To that I say…YAY!!!! Tom, a typical fair-weather Giants fan, does not agree with my sentiments.
But as we’re watching the games, I start to realize it’s almost every Sunday that either I have a buddy or two over to watch the football games, or I’m invited somewhere to watch them. Sunday afternoons watching the games by myself are few and far between.
But it’s not like this for other sports. I’ll get together with some friends to watch basketball once in a while. Some of the bigger rivalry baseball games will also call for the occasional gathering. But do you know what sport my buddies and I have never gathered for? Yup, you guessed it…golf. Not the Masters. Not any of the Opens. Not the Championship. Nothing. Why? Well, for me anyway, the answer is simple…because it’s boring!
For non-golfers, it’s easy to say the sport itself is boring and that’s why they don’t play. But we golfers know differently. Once we’re out there on the course, it’s far from boring. But that doesn’t mean it’s not boring on TV. I’m sorry, but it is. Golf as a spectator sport just doesn’t satisfy my appetite for competition. Watching golf live is not bad, but on TV? It’s like gathering your friends around the backyard to watch the grass grow. But what I haven’t quite figured out is, why is it like that?
I enjoy the sport. I participate in the sport. We’re watching the best of the best on the pro tour. So why do I have no interest? Why don’t I call up the guys and say “Where are we watching the final round on Sunday?” I try to think of reasons, but I haven’t come up with many:
Firstly, there’s the commentary. It’s dull. It’s too quiet and reserved. It’s….well…boring! Now I’m not saying I want early 80’s John Madden style commentary. That’s certainly not necessary for golf. But it couldn’t hurt to spice it up a bit. Change up the tone on a great shot. I don’t want to hear words like “useful” and stuff like that. That’s just become more of a joke now. If you want to draw in a younger audience (and lets face it, the current core audience isn’t getting any younger) then you have to make the sport more exciting to watch. Livening up the commentary couldn’t hurt.
Second, and we’ve touched on this before, who the hell are these guys that we’re watching? Most of the players in these tournaments are unknowns to the casual golf fan. If I don’t have a vested interest in the players or a reason to follow them, then why would I care to watch? I’d much rather just go out and play myself!
But that’s about all I can come up with. I don’t get excited to watch a golf tournament on television, whether Tiger is playing or not. At most, I check in just to see what’s going on and who’s leading. I’ll stick around for a few shots, but not much more. Apparently, my golfing buddies all feel the same.
So if I’m a participant in the sport, and my buddies are also, but collectively we just don’t care all that much about watching it, the PGA may have a potential problem on their hands in the future. Because if that’s the situation for me and my buddies, I’m sure there are all too many more like us out there.
Swing ’til you’re happy!