Even though I snapped-out-of-it and rediscovered my passion for golf, others don’t. Why?

Golf is too Hard
Perhaps the most common reason is that golf is simply too hard. But is it too hard or are they just too lazy? Last year, I penned a guest post for a popular golf blog in which I asked if we’re too lazy to get better at golf. Here’s an excerpt:

Practice makes perfect…Or so the saying goes. What that little phrase fails to articulate is how much practice it actually takes to make things perfect. Throw in an impossibly difficult sport like golf and attaining perfection becomes perfectly ridiculous. Now don’t get me wrong, there are a select few who not only have the raw talent to be great at golf, but also have the drive to spend countless hours on the range or putting green practicing…But I’m not one of them. And I surmise not many of you are either. As far as I’m concerned: I’m just too lazy to work that hard at something I’m never going to make a living at in the first place.

Yeah, golf is hard. And some people have the guts to deal with that reality and enjoy golf anyway, while others don’t.

They Hate Golf
So they tried it and hated it – meh, it happens. But how could you possibly hate a game as great as this? Well, I wrote about that also – in fact, I provided 5 reasons why people hate golf. Enjoy.

A Serious Injury
Let’s face it, you would have to be in a good amount of pain to give up on a sport like golf, but it happens. Be it your back, or knees, or in my case, my foot knocked me out for a couple months – there are reasons people are forced to give up this game. Sometimes the pain makes quitting unavoidable, but other times, it can be downright inspirational. And how a returning Vet who lost a leg can take up golf is both inspirational and remarkable. Makes my foot pain look rather pathetic, actually.

They Stink
This is different than golf being too hard. When people quit because the game is too hard, it’s typically because they’ve recently started playing and realize they don’t have the time or patience to get better. But when people quit because they stink, it’s typically because they are pompous asses.

For example, do you know a golf buddy who can’t stand it that you win all the time? You know – they guy who makes everything a competition, but get him out on the golf course and he’s less than stellar? Not being able to live with the fact that he’s not as good as you at something, he quits golf never to return. Now there’s a guy that takes himself way too seriously – and believe me, those people are out there!

They Lose the Will to Golf
What? Well, if you were reading this blog a couple months ago, you would know all about losing the will to golf. When we dig way down into our psyche, we realize that passions can, for one reason or another, simply burn out. There can be several causes for this. In my case, an extended lack in playing time, coupled with a shift in priorities, triggered the feeling that golf was no longer an important part of my life. While I have since come to my senses, I’m sure there are others (perhaps those who were never really passionate about the game in the first place) who will simply walk away from the sport because golf just doesn’t matter all that much.

I certainly hope you never quit golf – especially because you stink, or because it’s too hard. If we writers of the Golf Stinks Blog accomplish anything, it’s to convey you don’t have to be good at something to love it. And I certainly hope you aren’t forced to give it up due to an injury or perhaps worse, lose the will to play altogether. It’s true that golf is not for everyone…but if you love it, you know what keeps you coming back.