Badge of Honor

Recently we were sitting at our golf course pub, having a few beers when I looked out the window and there, framed in a 4’x 6’ window, was a middle aged man, hitting balls on the driving range.  Due to the size of the window and the angle of our view, we were only able to see the man in his stall and a wooden bench behind the stall, but were unable to track his ball flight.  Time after time, the middle aged man made a rhythmic practice swing, bringing his club virtually parallel to the ground, however his actual swing was vastly different, far quicker, bringing his club back only to the vertical position.

Based on his reactions, things weren’t going well.  After eight to ten swings, he would toss his club to the ground and retreat to the bench in disgust.  The man in the window would then pick himself up, brush himself off and climb back into his stall.  This situation repeated itself a half dozen times.

As we watched his trials and tribulations, I reflected on the countless hours I have spent on the range, completely frustrated, tinkering, attempting to fix problems without a tool belt.  If doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results is the definition of insanity; I have been downright loopy for the past 40 years.

I have always been committed to improving my game, more than willing to invest the time and energy to hit ball after ball, after ball, after ball, however at the end of each day, there was never any “Certainty”.  I consider myself to be of moderate intelligence however hitting ball after ball without certainty and without meaningful instruction is beyond idiotic.  There are few, if any, scenarios in life where taking this independent approach to an activity or a profession without teachers, coaches and/or mentors works out well!

So, was I stubborn? Did I believe I had the answers? Did my occasional encouraging round give me the confidence to continue down this dark path? Was I too cheap to invest in my golf game? Or, was there some perverse “badge of honor” in being able to say, “I’ve never taken a lesson”?  Apparently all of the above!

If not for the recent kindness of Francis (Francis We Just Met) and John, their passion, their knowledge, their wit and their willingness to share, there is no reason to believe I would not be in the exact same place as the middle aged man, framed in the window.  Granted, I am in the absolute infancy of my new golfing journey however I am confident the majority of my issues have been identified and I am confident I have been given the guidance/drills/encouragement to address those issues, even if I can’t quite seem to make it happen as of yet!  I remain optimistic.

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The back nine can only get better!