Golf is Simple

Many people believe golf to be a difficult and expensive game. However this is not the case, or at least it isn´t in the beginning. 

One of the reasons for people not wanting to start playing golf is the perceived difficulty of the sport. This perception is mis-placed as the act of hitting a golf ball with a golf club is easy. Give a golf club to a child and they will naturally learn to hit the golf ball. 

This ease of hitting the golf ball allows for faster development and improvement. However give a golf club to an adult and ask them to hit it and it is a different story. 

If they hit it on the first attempt, then success and this person will generally develop quickly into a competent golfer. Their development will only falter in the future. 

For those that do not make contact on the very first attempt the journey to the golf course will be far different, but eventually they will make it. 

So why the difference, the teaching should be the same, the information received should be personalised for each individual. 

The main difference is EXPECTATION. 

Expectation is the enemy for many golfers, they expect to hit the ball, they expect to be able to repeat the same movements, they expect to improve quickly and maintain the level. 

Unfortunately as with learning anything new, improvement can be slow and frustrating, but for some reason people find this patience to diifficult to find. A child just keeps on going enjoying the challenge of hitting each ball better than the last. Initially they do not  worry about a missed shot, they just grab another ball and try and improve on the previous shot. 

Adults revel in the negativity of a bad shot, they almost want to recreate it, so that they can jusitfy their inability to repeat movements. But with this negativity comes failure and more failure, frustration and for some the harshness of giving up, which further infuriates them. 

If you can arrive at the golf course/lesson/driving range with only one expectation, that is to give 100% to each and every single swing, then you are halfway there. 

Remember that golf is a game that we take up to enjoy. If we improve then that is a bonus, if we win that is even better. But if we can truly enjoy every single game, regardless of result then you have reached the pinnacle of the game.