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!
The Things We Do For Golf
I have a buddy whose wife doesn’t let him play golf on the weekends (I know what you’re thinking…and I had the same reaction). It’s not like this guy loafs around Monday through Friday either – he has a full-time job! But, I try not to judge – there’s always reasons for your particular situation and perhaps his is well-warranted (probably not, but I’ll throw the poor guy a friggin’ bone).
Anyway, to get his golf fix, this guy has to squeeze in 9-holes before work. He had mentioned that to me previously, but I didn’t understand the gravity of the situation until I actually played with him one day. We had to tee off at 6:30AM so he could be at work by 9. On top of that, the course was 20 minutes from my house, which means I had to be up at 5:30AM to get myself dressed, grab some breakfast and get there on time.
Five-thirty in the morning. Some of you may think I’m a wimp, but realize I’m also part of Generation X. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten up at 5:30 in the morning…for anything. My great uncle would get up at 5:30AM every day – this was his routine ever since returning home from WWII. But me? There’s a reason they say “rise and shine” and if the sun ain’t up yet, neither am I.
But there I was, driving to the course still smarting about the hour. Yet, when I arrived, my buddy was as giddy as a school girl. He was so excited about playing with someone else, he was beside himself. And that got me thinking about the things we do for this game we love.
Everyday, golfers everywhere are moving things around on their calendars to make room for golf. Doctors are rescheduling surgeries appointments to make their tee-times; lawyers are cramming into the course parking lot the second court adjourns for the day; and the average Joe…he too is manuvering around his personal life’s responsibilities…just to play the game he loves.
Last year, I posted about how softball was ruining my golf swing. In that post, I declared I was no longer going to worry about what other “swinging” sports will do to my golf game. But for more than a decade, I refused to play softball because I didn’t want to screw up my golf swing. Think about that for a minute. I put-off having fun with my buddies in their Wednesday night softball league so I could continue hacking every weekend on the course. Where is the sense in that? But I did it because I loved golf.
What about clubs and equipment and apparel? We spend oodles. And golf gadgets? Wow. Stinky Golfer Chris and I are currently wearing a bracelet with a hologram on it in hopes of improving our balance on the course. WHY? Because we love golf.
Subscribe to any golf magazines? Ever spend money on lessons from a pro? Ever spend several minutes in Target (or Wal-Mart) trying to figure out which golf balls you should buy when your wife and child are waiting in the car and you were only supposed to be going in for a gallon of milk? We love golf.
And now perhaps the most controversial one: Have you ever spent a ton of money to play an awesome course you felt you really weren’t good enough to be playing in the first place? Ah yes…You love this game. And never be ashamed of playing a top-notch course. It doesn’t matter if your handicap is so high you’re embarrassed to tell people – treat yourself once in a while – you deserve it.
So remember: You don’t have to be good at golf to love it. Want proof? Think about all the things you do just to play it. Ah, the things we do for love golf.
Why Is Everyone at the Driving Range Miserable?
We’re in the midst of little league baseball season for my boys. And while one is excelling all-around, the other is struggling a bit with the bat. So yesterday afternoon, we took a trip to the batting cages.
We worked on some things and, next thing you know, he’s getting around on the ball and even putting a bit of a charge into a few. It was good work, and I’m hoping it carries over into his next game.
But one of the most fun things about going to the cages was getting in them myself. I don’t care how old you are, it’s always fun to get into the cage and see if you can still get around on some of those pitches in the fastball bay.
It wasn’t until I stepped out of the batting cage and looked over at the guys out on the accompanying golf driving range; That’s when I noticed something strange – I’m smiling and having a good time while they look miserable and pissed-off. But you know what, I understand that. I understand how they feel. I’m just going to come out and say it right now…practicing golf sucks.
You can argue with me, but let’s be honest with ourselves. For most golfers, it’s just not fun. As a matter of fact, it’s almost like work, if not worse. Why is that? I mean, I can have a good time at the range (either indoor or outdoor), so why does everyone else at the range look so miserable? The only thing I can think of is that these guys take it too serious.
I can see these guys getting angry with themselves on poor shots…and that makes me laugh. Why? Well, it’s simple really. If you aren’t that great to begin with, then how can you get so angry at yourself when you hit a poor shot…especially at the range? Out on the course, you hit them pretty often. You’re not a PGA pro, so what’s the issue? I understand I’m not Albert Pujols, so I don’t flip out when I swing and miss in the cage or hit a weak ground-out in softball. Same with golf – why would I get so angry about screwing up at the range when I stink out on the course? For the record, I don’t get angry on the course either.
And that, as we have said many times here at GolfStinks, is the problem with so many golfers. They take the game way too serious. Serious to the point where they’re taking all of the fun out of it. Now I’m not saying that we shouldn’t all try to get better. Rather I’m saying we should all remember that it is just a game. You should have fun playing it.
Swing ’til you’re happy!
Maybe What We Need Is Beer-League Golf…
Have you ever met the guy who has no friggin’ idea what his handicap is? You’re having a conversation and golf comes up. You say “So you play, huh? What’s your handicap?” And you get this…”No idea. I usually shoot in the upper-90’s or low 100’s.” And you give him that look like you’re thinking “How the hell does this guy not know what his handicap is?” Don’t you just hate that guy? Well guess what…that guy is me.
The only reason I have some sort of general idea about my handicap is due to Stinky Golfer Greg. He figures it out for me. Otherwise, and for the most part anyway, I’m the guy who makes the above statement.
What I can’t figure out for the life of me is, why people look at me like I have three heads when I tell them I don’t know what my handicap is? Really now…what’s the big deal? If golf is supposed to be this game you play against yourself, then why is everyone so concerned with everyone elses handicap? Do you just want to know if you’re better than me? Here, I’ll make it simple for you…I stink….you’re better….my name is Stinky Golfer Chris for cryin’ out loud! There, do you feel better about your own game now? Glad I could help.
I don’t understand why all these golfers who are not pro players (and I’m sorry to inform them, never will be) have some fascination with this number. I also fail to understand why the simple concept of playing golf just for the fun of it, goes right over the heads of most. I’ll go back to an old analogy I made – I play beer league softball. I know or run into many others who play softball also. However, I have yet to hear one of those players ask me what my batting average is. Truthfully, why would they care? It’s just softball for fun. Don’t get me wrong…we all try to win. But if we don’t…so what? I look at golf in the same light. Why is that so hard for other golfers to understand?
I guess I just don’t understand the concept of spending obscene amounts of money on golf lessons only to take my new and improved game out to my local tracks. Let’s go back to softball for a second. I try to do well when I play…but I’m not about to go take private batting lessons with Walt Hriniak or field grounders with Ozzie Smith. I play for fun! Just like I do with golf! Why is that so hard to understand?
For some reason though, golfers just don’t get that. Most golfers can’t understand that I step onto the course with every intention of having a good time. If I play well, great! If not, great! As long as I played.
See, I think like this: Once I begin to really work at golf (lots of practice, taking lessons, etc…) the game is no longer a game. It’s now work. I don’t ever want a sport that I enjoy to become work. Especially if I’m not going to get paid for it!
Am I the only one who feels this way? Does anyone else not know, or care, what their handicap is? Does anyone else play this sport simply for the fun of it? I can’t be the only one of my kind….can I?
Swing ’til you’re happy! It’s the reason I play!
Softball is Killing My Golf Swing…and I’m Cool With It
My softball team stinks. Seriously, we have just one win on the year compared to 8 losses. Last night, we had our proverbial asses handed to us 22 – 0 by the third-place team in our league. Twenty-two to nothing! How do you not score a run in softball? Mercifully, we were mercy-ruled in the fifth inning.
In the fourth, the other team scored 11 runs (which made it 22 – 0). The second-to-last batter up that inning actually tried to get out on purpose! He lazily swung at the 0-1 offering and tapped it back to our pitcher…who promptly let it slip through his legs.
During that fourth inning, I stood there at shortstop, vaguely aware of the train of players running past me to third and then to home. I was zoning out; my mind elsewhere as a Keystone-Cop routine was unfolding among my teammates around me. While they were chasing, booting and dropping softballs all over the field, I was two days in the future; in the middle of a fairway staring-down a 130-yard approach to a small green and well-positioned pin.
It was a happy daydream…until I took my swing. For some reason, I was using a baseball grip and I lined the ball into the left woods. No doubt it would have been a sharp single in the game I was actually playing, but in my golf dream-sequence, it was OB and a two-stroke penalty.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like softball. But I couldn’t help thinking in that moment; is it worth ruining my golf swing over? I was asked to join this softball team mid-season last year and only played 6 games with them (they were terrible then too). I played baseball as a kid, but stopped after Babe Ruth league so I could join my high school golf team. When I got older, I always avoided playing softball in fear of it screwing up my golf swing (though Stinky Golfer Chris has played softball for years and doesn’t really complain about it messing with his swing).
Anyway, I threw caution to the wind and decided to play a full softball season this year. After all, I hadn’t noticed much of a change on the links at the end of last season, but this year my golf game has really slipped (my average is down about 4 or 5 strokes). I can’t help but wonder if it’s all due to my softball swing? I’ve searched online for an answer and the majority of people say the two swings can have adverse effects on each other (coincidentally, serious softball and baseball players worry that golf will damage their baseball swings).
Here’s the thing though; I’m not sure I care anymore! Sure I want to play better golf, but let’s face it; I’m not qualifying for any tours in the near future. I’ve spent most of my adult life playing one sport; never letting myself indulge in any other sport in fear I may compromise my golf game in some way, shape or form. Well, not anymore. I think I’m just going to have to deal with losing a few strokes off my golf game – or, if it really matters to me, start going to the range more so I can curb the effects from my baseball swing.
I love golf, but we’ve all heard the saying “act your age.” That being said, I think it’s time I started acting like the average hack that I am – which means not taking my flubs and duffs too seriously and for goodness sake, not worring about losing my golf “touch” on the softball diamond (even if my team is the Bad News Bears reincarnated).