Strong Emotions

Here’s an aspect of the game that I find particularly fascinating…..

 

THE STRONG EMOTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GAME WE CALL GOLF!

Before I started becoming a fan of golf, I always wondered how a game that looked so bland….and at times, DOWN RIGHT COMATOSE….

That seemed to take boredom to a whole new level,…..could possibly have ANY emotional appeal.

 

DOES THIS GAME ACTUALLY HAVE A PULSE!?

I mean,….what could be simpler?….Put the ball in the whole, right?
How could THAT produce such strong emotions? (Both on and off the green?)

I see now that it’s not just competing to be the best against others, and to better our own game. But that the game APPEARS to be so deceptively simple…..

Could THAT be the source of this ‘emotional turmoil’?

This emotional roller coaster ride (that we golfers just can’t seem to get off?)
Remember when you first began? How you may have experienced difficulty just gripping the club handle properly? (Or just being allowed to join the golf club?)……
But you still managed to put the ball in the hole. (A typical case of beginner’s luck). You probably thought to yourself, “This isn’t so bad….
Piece of cake!”

But then after a while, all the realities of what could possibly go wrong between the tee and the hole COME CRASHING DOWN ON
YOUR HEAD ! (That your instructor was so gracious to point out to you, by the way).
Wind direction…contour of the land….sand traps…bunkers….the ruff
….other players watching….etc.

That TEMPORARY NIRVANA OF IGNORANT BLISS that you once lived in was shattered to pieces at the next hole.

 

Now,….instead of 4 or 5 strokes,…..it takes 7 or 8. Then 9 or 10……

 

Then the number 15 becomes your new ‘constant companion’…..

You begin to over-think everything.
Something that once easily flowed…..now becomes mechanical and forced.
Your smile and upbeat attitude are gone. (now replaced with embarrassment,
….nervousness…..irritability.

And finally,….THE DREADED FRUSTRATION SETS IN! To quit seems more and more like a good idea. (I mean, who needs the aggravation right?)

But you don’t quit, do you? The game is now like a ‘drug’ to you after several weeks. There’s something deep within the subconscious of we humans, that enjoys facing down a challenge….even if it’s a sport.
There’s a drive to conquer in all of us. Even to the point of conquering our own weaknesses, and seeming lack of ability.

Just keep punching, and that mountain’s gonna crumble and fall!

We know that true skill is a diamond ‘in the ruff’, (just couldn’t resist), that can only be refined through hard work and practice. (And the challenge, is just too tempting to resist…..it’s like trying to eat JUST ONE potato chip……

NOT GONNA HAPPEN! We gotta have more and more and more! It’s….

 

AN ADDICTION! Almost beyond our ability to control!

So,….there you have it….
We’ve looked at this issue of ‘golf emotions’, and I’ve come to the conclusion that underneath the bland exterior of this sport, there beats the heart of a raging torent of emotions that often carries golfers along with it to new heights of skillfulness and delight!

So it DOES have a pulse! (And a massive, powerful one at that!)

 

I’m really glad we looked at this issue. So on that note…… Keep drivin’, fellow golfer! Keep drivin’! He’s no eager to reveal his handicap, Around the truth, he’d often tap!