Play Through Challenges With Confidence

Now, I am not what one would consider me as a great golfer. Most of the time, I’m not even a good golfer. Some of my friends might tell you I’m more of a ‘golf assassin’ than a practitioner. But, there are valuable life lessons that can be learned from the pastime.

You get to know a lot about a person just by playing eighteen holes of golf with them. In many ways, golf is like a window into a person’s character. The way an individual manages a round of golf is often a reflection of they would act in different circumstances. The same can be said for your own benefit if you pay attention to the signs.

I used to play almost exclusively with a small group of friends who rotated to make up a foursome. The best golfer of the group by far was an interesting fellow named Chuck. He was what many would call a natural, an athlete at his core but by the time he reached his mid-forties, well let’s say the body did not keep up.

I enjoyed partnering with Chuck because playing with better players, I believe, makes you better in the long run. What always amazed me about Chuck was his uncanny ability to keep his ball-playing even with his worst swing. Chuck was also quick with a comment or two, but some resonate more than others.

Watching and learning while trying to keep up, I gradually became more confident in my own game. Well, that was until one day when we were playing a lovely mature tree-lined course just outside the city where I live.

Stepping onto the tee-box of a difficult hole, I sent an errant drive straight into the woods. Being a dogleg, which in golf terms means the fairway bends either right or left before reaching the green, the placement of my shot put me in a difficult predicament.

Chuck and I rode up to the ball together, and I hopped out of the cart to scope out my options. Seasoned players generally know that when you’re in this kind of territory, the wisest course of action is to find the clearest path back into the fairway, even if that means going backward. Even a good General knows when to retreat.

Brimming with confidence in my new-found skills, I looked over the situation and saw there was a narrow sightline between a clump of evergreens straight up the fairway. I pronounced to my friend, “I think I can make it.”

Without a second’s hesitation, Chuck quipped back,

“If you could make that shot, you wouldn’t be here in the first place.”

Doesn’t that sum up some of life’s pitfalls for you?

Naturally, I screwed up the hole and took a score I’d rather not mention publically. Lesson learned, and on we went to finish the round.

One other important aspect of golf I learned from Chuck was the art of getting out of the sand. For you non-golfers out there, sandplay is one of the most challenging skills to master for most amateur players. For Chuck, getting his ball out of the sand and safely onto the putting green seemed effortless.

Over the course of a season, I took instruction from him on the art of escaping the dreaded sandtrap. Ultimately, it came down to practising the fundamentals, opening your clubface, and hitting behind the ball a couple of inches with enough force to push the orb airborne and out of harm’s way.

Most casual players make the same error when trying to play out of the sand. Rather than striking through the ball with the necessary force, they tend to slap at it haphazardly.

It’s kind of like trying to fill a swimming pool with a small bottle of water. You might get there eventually, but with a concentrated effort, it‘s going to take all day.

It’s worth noting here that the casual golfer will call it a ‘sandtrap’? The connotation alone of a trap is enough to send shivers up the spine of any hacker.

On the other hand, professionals refer to it as a bunker, a place of relative safety. In fact, given the choice of options, there are times when a pro feels more comfortable playing out of the sand than some other calamity that awaits them.

Chuck taught me a remedy for playing out of sand that I will never forget, and it applies to most things in life when you think about it. Among all the fundamentals that go into a good golf swing, the one factor that stands paramount in moments such as these is to commit to the process. That means putting the full force of your weight into the stroke and, most importantly, following through with conviction.

You may not make the perfect shot, but if you commit to the follow-through, you’ll be out of the sand almost every time.

Golf provides several metaphors for our journey through everyday life. Making prudent choices are paramount, but once you have confidence in the path you’ve chosen, be sure to apply maximum commitment.

This story originally appeared on Medium by Stuart Englander

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