About Me

Becoming a Better Player

“Would you like to come play golf at the range with us this weekend?” Ian wondered. As I was waiting for my tank to fill up at Chevron, he hopped in to my car with his all red supreme outfits from head to toe. Golfing never seemed aggressive enough for me. All I see are people wearing khakis and polo shirts while they are playing sport, it just did not make sense. I insisted on not willing to try because I knew it would be hard to adapt to something new and I was not interested. “Stop being a wuss!” Ian convincing me. He kept on asking me again and again telling me how much fun golfing is, how useful it is and how it is related to business. I knew this was never going to end. “Alright then, I will see you at the range this weekend.” I ended the conversation feeling annoyed. I decided why not, I’ll give it a shot.

“Thack!!!” there goes the golf ball, it went so high up in the air it was like at least a two- hundred-yard hit. I was at the driving range still waiting for my bucket to fill up. Looking at everybody hitting the ball so well, I lost my confidence. I have never played golf before, I did not want to embarrass myself in front of all these people. I was not getting straight shots, sometimes I was not even close to hitting the ball. I felt really embarrassed so I sat down, and I was thinking of giving up. When I sat down, I decided to watch YouTube videos on how to improve my golf swing. In the short ten minutes video I realized what I was doing wrong, so I picked up my iron and gave it another shot. “Tink!!” the ball went flying up high and it was at least a hundred and twenty yards. “Thonk!!!” There goes another one, one hundred and thirty yards. It felt really good, I was proud of myself.

After the session at the driving range I fell deeply in love with golf. The satisfying moment when I hit the sweet spot of the ball, the sound of it is just absolutely incredible. The swing does not have to be hard, if the right impact is created the ball will be up in the sky. I would wake up early in the morning and plan for a couple of hours at the range, so I decided to bring my game to another level. “Do not swing with your arms, it is a body movement.” My coach stated.  I got myself a personal coach just to improve my game. I got better, I knew what I was doing wrong before, getting my correct stands and getting a good impact on the ball, I felt ready.

The next weekend I went on the course with my friends, I was really excited and confident, and I was ready to show off. “Bang!” The ball went out of bound, which took away my confidence. Off to the next hole, same thing happens, I was getting frustrated. I did not know what was happening, the impact on the ball just did not feel right, it was a bad day. It killed me, for a moment I did not want to play golf for the rest of my life. “You are just having a bad day.” Ian cited with a smirk on his face.

I realized I was not getting enough practice, golf is like all other sports, the more you practice the better you get. Looking at other people playing so well motivated me. Every day after school I would go straight to the driving range and practice my swing. After days and weeks of practice, I was getting better, knowing the correct stands and creating a good impact on the golf ball.

“Do you want to come down to the course with us tomorrow morning at the Seattle golf course?” Ian chuckled as he was expecting me to do bad on the course. Since I was still considered as a beginner. “Of course, I would love to.” I answered with modesty. It was a chilly Sunday morning, which is my favorite, I do not like playing under the heat of sun. I was the first to tee off. “Thack!!” the golf ball went flying so high, it went a pretty good two hundred yards. I could see it in his face that he was impressed. I finished the game of par-3 in four strokes, which was not too bad for a beginner.

I was pleased with my results that morning, which built up my confidence and I was motivated even more. I used to wake up and look out the window and sees darkness. I was not living a healthy life at all, but golfing really stepped in. Golf has been something that kept me calm and thinking in the right direction, it brings me the positive vibe, which got me through a lot of unpleasant situations.