The Golf Gypsy Gets Derailed

It is no fun to write about golf when the game plays havoc with the body, or perhaps it is the body that plays havoc with the game and the mind.

“The first thing golf teaches us is humility.”

spoken by every man and woman

Last spring my right shoulder gave out, teaching me to comb my hair, eat my food, and stir the cookie batter left-handed.  I tore my rotator cuff two decades ago, and yet thanks to therapy and perseverance I survived without surgery, and continued to play competitive and social golf.

This time the pain sent me to a doctor first (good idea!). When she explained that I needed rotator cuff surgery, and continued to explain in detail what it would involve and that the outcome might be limiting to my golf swing, I shed tears.  "NO," was all I could say. "I do not know how many more years I can play and I want to play well." 

"Then go to the gym and see if you can strengthen it. Know, that no matter how much you strengthen your shoulders, you will have lost distance because of the tear, and the years of overuse."

A vague memory crept forth through the brain fog, and I saw a young woman carrying a leather bag on her right shoulder through high school and college, and even well into her thirties. No wonder the doctor used the term “overuse.”

Within the week I was in the gym and found a trainer who worked specifically with me on my shoulders and core. Amazingly enough it worked. By May I felt sore but happy to be playing golf. The doctor was right. I have lost 20 yards and sometimes more with each club in my bag. (And I don’t like it one bit.)

Worse yet, the inconsistency I experience with my swing builds frustration in my soul. Water holes at The Trails Golf Club became my nemesis. Strength training gave me the ability to swing. Core training kept me turning. But confidence let me down and suddenly, water holes, trees, and Pampas grass derailed my thinking. 

I felt myself top the ball into the water; hit the ball high and watch it drop short of the bank; shank the ball into the Pampas grass; and scuzz the ball over my left toe and hit a tree that wasn’t in my line of sight. Still I persevered because I love the challenge of the game and the friends I meet. 

This course will take a bit out of you. 

When a lady at a golf tournament this fall asked me why I wasn't writing about my golf, it was easy to reply," because I'm not playing good golf." 

She laughed and replied, "Then that's a story in itself. I certainly don't play good golf every time I want to either." 

Point made.

"Have more humility. Remember you don't know the limits of your own abilities. Successful or not, if you keep pushing beyond yourself, you will enrich your own life--and maybe even please a few strangers."  A.L. Kennedy 

 

This last two months I have finally been able to generate some speed through the ball thanks to working with a trainer in the gym from March until August.  But I wasn't satisfied. I felt like something was still missing.

I turned to my good friend Dr. Beth Brown from SupHER Power Golf and have been shouting with joy and playing steadier golf since I heard her metaphor and followed her swing advice. 

"Keep the engine going through the swing. If the 

hips stop turning the arms collapse." 

Dr. Beth Brown 

Dr. Beth’s suggestions grounded me and reminded me of what I already knew but had lost.

One: Swing with the intention of swinging out to the target.

Two: Place a tee in the ground a few inches in front of the ball when practicing and swing the club through the ball and touch the tee. (On the golf course visualize this happening.)

Three: Create a smaller swing. (This worked better for me than to think about shortening my swing.)

Four: Keep the engine going. (Not as easy as it sounds when the body over takes us, but it is the goal with every shot.)

My husband and I enjoy watching college football. An article in the Boydstreet Magazine (October 2021, Issue 10, Vol.20) on Gabe Brkic, OU football kicker and current hero, caught my attention. The interview shares how Brkic enjoys playing golf in his free time. Brkic explains,

“I can translate some things from golf into kicking field goals and punting. In golf, I’ll pick a target line and make sure my club swing goes through my target line, same as with field goals. I’ll pick a target in the stands and as long as my leg swings straight through that I’ll hit a good ball.”

Gabe Brkic, kicker, pg. 46
Boydstreet Oct. 21

 How simple the game can be when it takes on a visual meaning that is attainable and visceral. Practice is necessary and it is one part of the sport I enjoy.

Now the Golf Gypsy is back on the tracks and moving through the ball.

 

** Dr. Beth Brown is now writing children's books with her favorite characters, Divot and Swish. If you have children or grandchildren please consider going to her website to learn more about the Confidence Divot and Swish learn through sports. Look for her second book to come out in December.  

The Adventures of Divot and Swish