Thursday, August 18, 2005

YOU CAN'T CRASH COURSE GOLF

Yesterday I played golf with ex-seminary buddies at the Navy Golf Club. Since I hadn't played golf much less touched a club for over 3 years, I decided to hit some balls on the driving range before we teed off.

As expected I felt like a beginner on my first few shots but once I got my timing and rhythm I was starting to strike some balls cleanly. But it was what happened after practice that shocked me.

I started feeling aches and pains all over my body... my back ached,my arms ached, my legs felt like they were undergoing a cramps attack. It was as if there were muscles in my body that were awakened from their deep slumber and were now in a state of shock!

So going into our golf game I was already handicapped physically. To compound it all, I was starting to get a lot of exercise hitting balls from under trees, from the rough, from the sand so both my mind and body were getting tired though my spirit was still there. As I told my golfing partners, my mind was giving instructions on how to swing at the ball but my body just didn't seem to obey the instructions.

Lucky for me, my pitching around the greens and putting were OK, so I saved several strokes. Then after about 9 holes my game got going until about four or five holes. I drove the ball long, I picked the ball clean and did everything right until I got tired again!

So the moral lesson: Golf is a game that depends on muscle memory. If the muscles have los their memory...don't think you can shock them into remembering by subjecting them to a crash course...because in the end that's what you'll get... a crash! :-)

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