I was ecstatic to resume golf as the clubs reopened after lockdown.
This happiness came at a price, my game wasn’t the same anymore.
Contrary to my expectations, I returned back to the course with a beginners game, and sometimes, it was even worse than that. I believed that being back there would exhaust the frustration I had compiled within me while being stuck at home. My poor performance as a golfer was adding more to this discontent. My swing was simply not there anymore. This happened for the first time since I began to play. The only source of solace I had is that I was not the only one struggling with my swing, other golfers were going through the same problem on my social media feeds. It means like the COVID-19, the issue of swing loss is also universal.
Golf at times simply disappears on us. It hides within our thoughts and makes us wonder how much worse we can play on the field. There is no limit to how bad we can get at it. I read somewhere that, “Golf is a game where it doesn't matter how bad you play, you still can do worse.”
It dawns on me that it’s not my swing, but my mind that is lost. Golf, like girlfriends, doesn’t like to share us with someone or something else. It wants us to be occupied only with its affairs. Due to the pandemic, I made a habit to travel the world through my mind because I couldn’t do it on foot. Since I am a wanderer my mind often happens to be at multiple places at the same time. Thinking about writing, taking pictures, at the new golf course with new golf buddies, on top of that the stress of business and COVID -19 precautions. It kept diverting my attention recurrently. That led to my golf performance to fall in a ditch of disappointment and deterioration. I knew I had to pull myself back into the game to restore my glory at the fairways.
Humans are a great invention; especially the human mind. It holds an unmeasurable capacity to adapt. It carries skills to compartmentalise different data and varieties of intakes. It can develop resources and resolutions as soon as you set it to the task. It only requires deep determination to resonate and resolve any issues. If you have the will to do it, your brain will make it happen. So I put my mind to the task and it quickly began to spring out results. Finding an answer is one thing and implementation is another.
I am not a coach who can unfold scientific formulas to improve your game. I can only share my humble experience with you. In order to restore ourselves in a game, we should not yield to peer pressure and self degradation. I stopped caring where I was and who was with me in those rounds. I started to play with lower irons as soon as I realised that I had lost my swing. I only concentrated on the shot at hand, ignoring score cards and competition. The next area to pay attention was my posture, grip and placement of the club before the shot. I changed my caddie bringing in a professional one. My concentration and his assistance brought me back in the game. I am not a professional golfer. I play for the heck of it with a handicap of sixteen. I think getting back at that level is sufficient for me and I am happy with it. In short, when hard times strike in life we should align ourselves accordingly. In times of bad patches we can not hesitate to step backwards or downwards as per the demands of the hour. The adjustment according to the given circumstances is the first step towards success.
Credits
By
Ahsan Jamil
Golfer, author, entrepreneur, blogger, poet, wanderer
Email: Golfaij@gmail.com
Website: Golfaij.com
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