One Swing Philosophy — What Golf Taught Me About Life

Until yesterday, my golf swing was a complete mess. I had a really frustrating time at the driving range. But today, I went to Raon Country Club for a round of golf. On my way there, I decided to let everything go. “Don’t think about distance today. Just make a light swing and get the ball up in the air.” That was my entire strategy. I didn’t say much before my first tee shot. I don’t like making excuses or giving a long explanation before I even hit a ball. Let’s just play first and see what happens. And strangely enough, my driver was flying beautifully today. I also didn’t lose a single ball. Yesterday, I had put two extra balls in my little golf ball pouch, just in case I lost some today. Both came home with me. 😍😂 Then, on the third hole, I made par. That was when I finally started telling my younger playing partner everything about yesterday. I had been extremely busy last week with interpreting work and my students’ midterm exams, which ended today. And yesterday, I had anothe...

After playing golf for a long time, I think every golfer has had this thought at least once: “I think I've finally figured out my swing.” I did, too. For a while, I was playing pretty well even without practicing much. My shots were good, my swing felt comfortable, and I started to become a little too confident. At one point, I honestly thought: “Maybe I've conquered my golf swing.” Now that I think about it, that's hilarious. 😂 I mean, I'm an amateur golfer! If Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, or Adam Scott had heard me say, “I think I've conquered golf,” I wonder what they would have thought. They might have looked at each other and said, “You conquered golf?” 😳 And then quietly thought, “This woman must be joking.” 😂😂😂 The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it sounds. But that ridiculous thought taught me something important. Golf is not an easy sport to conquer. When I stopped practicing regularly, my shots slowly became less consisten...