I remember like it was yesterday, the sound of my debit card sliding through the scanner as I am about to purchase items that would not leave my side to this day. Feeling very confident I walked out of the golf shop with a brand new set up clubs, everything from a putter to a new driver. The great Arnold Palmer once said, “Success in golf depends less on strength of body more on strength of mind and character.” Throughout my life I have used the sport golf, as some people may use meditation. My golf clubs aren’t just expensive graphite sticks; they’re tools that I’ve used to develop emotions, feelings, goals, and ultimately my life. As a young teenager I was very cocky or full of myself as you could say. I was very developed and coordinated to where certain sports and activities came easy for me. Anybody playing the game of golf knows that you’re going to have good days and bad days, sometimes really bad days. I wasn’t able to keep my emotions in tact with any sort of day I had; if I was playing bad I would cuss and slam my clubs on the ground. When I would play well, I would get cocky, hot headed, and sure enough it would come and bite me in the rear before the round was over and I would rage again. I struggled keeping my emotions in tact, this wasn’t just a problem on the golf course either. I used to be a very impatient person and would despise anything I had to do if I wasn’t on board with it. When I first purchased these golf clubs I was sixteen, by the time it was
It took a golf psychology book to teach me how to improve my own thinking which would lead to improving my golf game. When things start going terribly wrong on the course, you should never ever get depressed and down on yourself. You need to develop a mental image that envisions things going right. This imagery has much more power than you might think. It is along the same lines as the power of positive thinking which is a popular yet truthful catch phrase, especially on the golf course. Almost every successful pro prepares himself mentally for the game through this effective visualization technique.
I did not care much about golf before I decided to come to United States, so my score was not good enough for competing. Although I had several achievements during my freshman year, I knew that my scores, usually ranging around 100, were average for my age and not remarkable. After this first season in Tallulah Falls School, I found a new determination for the sport. I practiced hard during the next summer and prepared for my sophomore year. The golf course had become my second home. When the sophomore season started, I was ready to improve my golf skills and also make some great friends. I started loving this sport with my fantastic teammates, who improved a lot-some from knowing nothing about golf to finishing eighteen holes in a match. Refusing to be slack at practices, our team worked hard to continue our path of improvement-even the harshest of weather would not stop our passionate practices. I remember once, right after the snow, we played the next day. Although the snow had melted by the
Relate topic to audience: As we get older, we get less active and many people cannot play physical sports or don’t have that stamina that we have at our age to run around and do whatever. Learning a proper golf swing is the stepping stool in the golf world and the beginning of getting into a game that can teach you patience, manners, and relieve your stress.
Imagine the sun bursting through the trees for the first time of the new day, the smell of freshly cut grass still potent to your nose as you tee the ball up for a round of golf in the cool mist of a spring morning. "That is what brings you back every time, the smell of the air, the coolness of the whether and the beautiful surroundings that make every shot enjoyable." (Suess, PI) This is the game of golf in its finest and most exquisite time to many people and many people it has touched in its long history. Golf is a lifestyle and not just games to people that are avid in playing. The game of golf has a history that is rich in technological advances and personal accomplishments, which through time has shown to shape
Marsden sat down with his swing coach to set up his objectives for his golf career. He realized he had a lot of work to do to reach that goal of winning a Green Jacket. Marsden’s father Jeff, had bought him a membership at Mattaponi Springs, where he would spend countless hours on the range and around the greens. Dyson had a routine he would do every day; he would hit eight perfect shots with each club in his bag. The young man then would move on to the chipping surface, he hit fifty perfect shots that had to land within three feet of the pin. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would be on the range practicing, if he didn’t answer the phone and you needed him he was at the range working. He would put in dedication into his golf game twenty four seven.
It just always seemed like something that I had to do. Ever since I was ten years old I’ve been playing, practicing, and talking about golf. I always have had a love for the game, but I never really thought about how stressful and painful it made my life. Even at ten I thought my future had already been planned for me. I was already thinking of life as a professional golfer. I was certain that I would go play golf for a big college, and instant fame would soon follow. It wasn’t until the last couple of years that life has changed for me.
Looking back on my three previous years playing for Edmond Memorial’s golf team, I realize how great I could have become. This is only because I decided to play safe golf. Hahn warns us of this in the story by saying, “we long for peace and security” (Hahn 91). As the famous quote states, “you miss one-hundred percent of the shots you do not take” (Wayne Gretzky). When I am near a creek or hazard on the golf course I imagine all the bad shots that could occur. This then leads me to hit one of those bad shots, whereas if I had imagined all the good shots I would have performed. Anyone who has golfed before is well aware that golf is more so mental game than a physical game; coincidently similar to life itself. Life and golf present us with two options, “we can recognize and embrace [fear] or act out of [fear]” (Hahn
When people here the word ‘golf’ they often correlate it with a misleading sense of boring, elderly men and women who have nothing better to do. Believe it or not, there is a broader reason why so many retirees indulge in the golf lifestyle. Yes, golf is a lifestyle, not just a sport. Many people, most of whom know absolutely nothing about the sport, do not realize that playing golf regularly can add five years to their life span and also have many other well-being-related benefits (“Health” par. 5). Golf is a great therapeutic activity because it teaches good etiquette, it enriches the mind, and it provides for a healthy lifestyle.
A matter of opinion has separated a variety of sports enthusiasts apart, due to the ongoing debate of whether golf is a sport or simply a skill. Famed golfer Arnold Palmer declared, “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented. (ThinkQuest.com)” These words state what every athlete experiences and feels when he/she is turning a double play, making the game winning three point shot, or throwing a hail mary pass for a touchdown. Golfers are athletes too, they train for that big moment just like any other athlete, but
This presentation has explored the Individual level of Figueroa’s Framework and the values and influences I have endured whilst participating in golf. It has evaluated my values, attitudes, personality and opinions towards golf and how I’ve felt about exploring the sport further. I’ve found that golf isn’t a sport that I would like to play further on, as I don’t possess the skills and commitment that I have in other sports.
When I moved back to Colombia after one year in the states, I knew two things: 1) I wanted to see more of the world and 2) golf was more than just a game; to me, it could be a way of life. So, I got serious. I began preparing myself for tournament play. I golfed every single day. I had gotten a late start, so I had a lot of work to do to catch up to my peers. I either practiced for two hours or played for four. In time, I’ve learned to see golf as a metaphor for how life works. You're always trying to “score” the best you possibly can.
Fourteen clubs - four wedges, six irons, a rescue, a three wood, a driver, and a putter - this is golf. It is one of the most mentally challenging sports in the world. It can fool beginners who are deceived by its simplicity. Golf is often underestimated by those who have never attempted to play the sport. While it has often been known as a “rich man’s” sport, in recent years this perception has begun to change. There are a number of other generalizations made when talking about golf, yet these are most always from those who have never experienced, played, or followed the game. One should question how a critic with no knowledge of the activity could state whether or not golf should be considered a sport. Golf is a sport, regardless of what any critic has to say. Studies and experimentation, along with the experience itself, reveal all of the athletic aspects that make golf better than most sports.
These quotes make it clear of Tiger Woods’ impact on the game of golf and the
Since the age of four, when I was barely old enough to swing a putter, I have loved the game of golf. My dad, passing his love of the game down to me, would take me out every Sunday to Woods Edge Golf Course in Edgewood; he taught me the ins and outs and the dos and don’ts of the sport. One of the earliest memories I have of these trips to Woods Edge is being a mere couple of inches from driving the cart into a pond while dad was teeing off; this would definitely be considered a don’t in the world of golf. I received my first set of clubs for Christmas when I was eight and a year later, a pass to Pin Oak. Boy was I thrilled. I began to golf by myself and learn my own lessons through my experiences on the course. But as I grew as a golfer on my own, my dad was still there tweaking my swing in the back yard and taking trips to Edgewood with me. My dad is a big reason why I have a passion for the game of golf.
Many people take up Golf thinking that it is easy, after all, how hard can it be to hit a little white ball with a stick? This thinking evaporates the first time they step onto a driving range and attempt to hit that little white ball. Golf is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. My experience with golf began in May of 2005 when friends came to stay with us; my wife informed me that I would have to take Roy, her friend’s husband Golfing. I had not been to a driving range (since I was in my teens) and I had never played golf on a course before. It was quite an experience; the weather was cold, rainy and nasty the three times we played while they where here, the game hooked me badly, even with the bad shots and the nasty weather.