Lessons Learned From the Game of Golf
Majority of people that have never played the game of golf, don’t understand it. One of the main arguments I hear from people who are not familiar with the game: “I just don’t get the idea of hitting a little white ball, chasing it, and hitting it again.”
To someone who’s never played the game, I could see how they might get the impression that golf is simply the process of hitting a little white ball around an open field for 5 hours. With this article, I hope to enlighten a few people to some other aspects of golf that are not obvious to someone who doesn’t play, and may not be obvious to a lot of people that do play. The lessons learned from golf are way outside the grounds of succeeding at a sport, it’s about succeeding in everything you do.
You Must Be Mentally Tough
If you are not mentally tough, golf will tear your mind in two. No matter if you are a beginner to the game or an experienced, it’s a constant struggle inside yourself to turn negative thoughts into positives. All it takes is one bad shot to get your mind racing with negative thoughts and you have to do your best to stay positive and continue to look ahead.
Be Patient and Persistent
It is a game that teaches patience and persistence. You will not be a professional at this game overnight. Unless you are an extremely gifted individual, it could take a lifetime to be good in all aspects of the game. You will have good times and you will have bad times, but you will likely have more bad times than good. You have to be patient when the good times turn bad, and persistent in trying to improve when you feel like you’ll never get any better.
Dedication
Going hand in hand with patience is dedication. Not only do you have to be patient with the game to improve, but you have to be dedicated. If you’re not dedicated to the game you will have a long road ahead to improve, and the less you improve the more your patience will be tested.
Practice the Right Way
With golf, practice won’t make perfect. Golf is an imperfect game, but practice does help you move toward permanent. With golf, you have to practice the right way. You cannot just go to the driving range and hit your driver for two hours and expect to get better. Just like you cannot use FrontPage templates and expect to improve as a web developer. You have to practice the right way to expect to improve. Learn the best techniques and practice those technique to engrain those into your daily routine.
More About the Decisions You Make Than Your Ability
Golf is more about the decisions you make rather than your ability. Don’t get me wrong, you have to have the ability to play, but you could be a very good golfer and make bad decisions and not play to your full potential. Aspects of life such as your job, your passion, or anything else you do are the same. You could be a great web designer, but if you make bad decisions or don’t take advantage golden opportunities when they present themselves, you will have a hard time succeeding.
I Love This Game
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article about one of my other passions. Those that know me, know I’m a complete golf addict. Hopefully someone will read this article and be enlightened to the different lessons that golf has taught me in my 20 years of playing. To anyone that has never played, I challenge you to play the game a few times and just try to not love it.
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Right Deron, hey if you are not into ball golf, and the expenses that go with it…
Reread Deron’s post and anywhere it says ball replace it with the word “Disc” aka Frisbee golf or Disc golf. The word frisbee throws some off, but they immediately relate it to a yard game or something.
There are thousands of Disc Golf courses in the US and worldwide, most of them free in public parks. The aerodynamics are very different from disc go disc, but the mentality is totally the same as ball golf, it’s a great sport for all.
http://pdga.com/ --link to the professional home of the sport, but for recreational players, I recommend just getting out there and having all the fun you can!
Posted on Mon Feb 11, 2008
I’ve tried, on a few occassions, and wanted to like golf. I really did. For me, though, football’s my game (although I’m not sure how long the joints will last playing).
Posted on Tue Feb 12, 2008
I actually tried gold for the very first time in my life this past summer at a company outing. I thought I was hitting the ball pretty well, mostly straight even amazingly. The golf carts had these cool onboard GPS systems that showed the hole almost like it was a video game.
Driving the cart out to where your ball was and it showed just how far you had hit the ball. I was a little dissappointed though when I learned the carts were showing the numbers as if we had been hitting from the pro tees and not the am tees. It was a great day though, twenty bucks even included a steak dinner with the deal.
I mainly concentrated on drawing the club back and bringing it back down right where I pulled it back from, hardly what you would call a golf swing.
There was an experienced golfer in our group, two actually, I over compensated everytime they gave me any hints at all.
The other experienced golfer grew up on a golf course, his folks actually owned one! He has palsy in one arm, so he plays with one arm, a one-armed golfer, and a darn good one. He was amazing to watch, and won tournaments back in high school.
Posted on Tue Feb 12, 2008
I used to play golf, and my parents still are.
I think one of the most important thing in golf is that you play against yourself. This makes it very hard because you cannot blame anything or anyone else.
I remember a manager saying that before hiring someone important, he would take him to golf to see how he would stand against himself.
Posted on Wed Feb 13, 2008
Daravuth KEU:Well, I’m definitely not a rich man, I’ve heard that it’s really expensive in your country. It’s really ashame that it’s so expensive, because it’s a wonderful game. It’s one that you can play all of your life. Around here, it will cost you around $40 for a round of golf and then you obviously need to buy your clubs and balls before hand which will cost you anywhere from 300 - 2000 dollars depending on how much you want to spend.
Ty: I’ve heard of disc golf, but I really have no idea how to play it. I would be willing to give it a shot, but I just think it might be to weird for me having grown up with pretty much every member of my family playing golf and still being an avid golfer now. I think if I played disc golf, I would expect it to be like regular golf and I doubt it is, so I would likely be disappointed.
Yeah, the GPS in the carts is pretty cool. Only downside is that you normally pay more to play the courses that have it. I actually bought my own laser rangefinder last year. I can get distances to any object up to 1500 yards away and it’s accurate +/- one yard. It’s always at my side when I golf. That’s pretty amazing too when you hear about a one armed golfer. I’ve seen a few guys play on TV with one arm but never in person. I’m sure it’s a real experience. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be.
David: I assume you’re talking about what we call soccer of here? That’s one sport that I’ve actually never played. It just never was popular at the high school I attended.
Philippe: Yeah, that’s the great thing about golf. It’s just you. You against the course and you cannot blame bad play on anyone but yourself. That manager is probably a pretty good judge of people I would guess. You could be a very strong person but out on the golf course, it will break you down mentally and physically.
Thanks for stopping by.
Posted on Wed Feb 13, 2008
Yep, football = soccer. Most popular sport in the world. 
Posted on Thu Feb 14, 2008
David: I imagine it’s similar to how people view golf when they watch it on TV. I’ve watched a little soccer, err… I mean football and just couldn’t get into it, but I assume that’s because I really just don’t know what’s going on. I think if I knew the rules and had actually played the game before I would be more interested in it. In the area that I live, soccer is like hockey I guess, it’s not huge like it is in other places.
Posted on Thu Feb 14, 2008
hmm, at first golf for me is a very boring game as I watched it on TV. But, I come to realize that it has something to do with one’s personality. It helps you to have more patience and perseverance to shoot that ball… Just like in life, you don’t have to quit because you fall, but you have to still try and try until you become successful! 
Posted on Sun Feb 24, 2008
Phil: I know what you mean Phil. When I tell someone that doesn’t golf that I love to play golf, I always get weird looks. Everyone does see it as a very boring game. I think a lot of people think like that until they actually play the game and then they enjoy it.
I agree, you have to keep trying until you find success. It takes many people many failed attempts before they make it. One thing is for sure though, if you quit, you will never make it.
Posted on Mon Feb 25, 2008
Nice post. The characteristics mentioned above can also be applied to other fields wherein you wanted to succeed.
Posted on Sat Apr 12, 2008
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My name is Deron Sizemore and I am a web designer, web publisher, blogger and serial internet entrepreneur living in Lexington, Kentucky.
You know what the golf has been called in our country, actually my country for instance; it has been called the game for the rich man
I don’t know how they charge for the club but ; as for me; i think it’s the truth here. That it’s only for the rich here. I used to chat with my friends; When will we be able to catch the golf ball!!! 
Great article!! i hope i am able to test it some time soon..
Posted on Mon Feb 11, 2008