Golf in the park with a dog

I like playing golf in the park with the dog.

The dog hounds about making friends with other dogs and chases ducks he will never catch.

I hit a sand wedge. Then walk across to the ball and hit it back again.

Right now, I’m a crap golfer. There was a lot of golf played the last time they let me on a course. That 104 was, believe it or not, an improvement on the previous week’s 106. At least the score is moving in the right direction.

The weird thing about golfers is that those who shoot in the high 90s or worse spend a lot of time telling other bad golfers how to swing a golf club. Those who regularly shoot in the 80s or better, tend to say nothing unless you ask.

“Don’t try and hit the cover off the ball,” you will be told by someone who can’t hit a six iron over a pond. “Arm straight, keep your head down and follow trough,” by another who threatens to “give up golf” every time they play a bad round. The same people never seem to take their own threat to “see a pro” seriously enough to do it.

All this “advice” can turn a beginner into an idiot wreck of nerves long before they even approach a tee box.

I’ve found that this is what happens when you follow their “advice”:

Since apparently you don’t want to hit the cover off the ball you don’t commit to much of a back swing. And since you are so busy concentrating on keeping your left arm straight you don’t really have any fluidness in your swing on the way back down.

You soon realise that it’s not possible to have a full follow-through on your swing if you can’t bend your left arm at the end of the swing. The same people who advise you to keep your left arm straight are never good enough to tell you that you must break at the elbow to complete the follow through.

The results are pitiful. The ball tends to go anywhere except where it is supposed to and your swing never feels right.

Today in the park, I hit the cover off the ball.

Again and again the ball flew further, straighter and truer than any other shots I’ve hit all year.

Walking between shots it dawned on me that when you commit to a shot you hold the club at the top of the shaft and take a full, healthy back swing. By taking a full back swing and committing to really hitting the ball you naturally keep your left arm straight.

On the way down your commitment to really hitting the ball enables to the wrists to close at the right time, further increasing club head speed. For some reason, when you commit to the shot the club seems to connect the ball at the right point in space and time.

Because you are committed to really hitting the ball, the increased inertia of the club head naturally results in a perfect follow through. It all happens so quickly, naturally and without thought.

There is very little thinking going on. Like breathing.

Then the dog got lost.

He tends to do that when we are at the park and I hit golf balls. He runs off and does his doggy thing and doesn’t really bother to return for a while.

Today, this left time to think about the perfect golf swing and photography:

Only losers take pussy back swings. Winners trust in their swing, themselves and their chosen club enough to commit to a big shot.

Every pro on TV really hits the ball.

I remember a forum photographer whining about how Annie Leibovitz just relied on big Hollywood set up artists to create and light her work for her – only arriving at the last minute to snap off the pictures and take all the glory.

Now I wonder why we don’t all do the same thing! What’s wrong with committing in your shoot preparation to go big. Spend some money on the set-up. Really commit to a major, over the top, all fires lit, afterburner of a creative photo session. Surely anyone who has accomplished any work of merit has committed like Woods or Els to a big photographic back swing.

The dog appeared in the river. Retreiver ears bouncing up and down. Wet fur. Tongue out.

And I thought that maybe excellence only accepts the invitation when preparations are made for her arrival.

Tags: commitment, Golf, Photography