By Jim Corbett
It has long been observed by many aficionados of the game of golf that golf and life are a lot alike. It has been asserted that many of the lessons of life can be learned from studying and playing the game of golf. This concept is, of course, very interesting. However, it is rare for anyone postulating such a claim, to take the next, and more important step, and actually say what those life lessons are.
Sure, there is occasionally a reference to the fact that “one must dig deep within one’s self” in order to be successful; but what does that really mean and how does one apply that kind of platitude where the rubber of wisdom meets the road of life?
In reality, golf is like life in three very specific ways. And if we understand the similarities between the game of golf and the game of life, it may be easier for us to participate and succeed in both.
Similarity Number One:
Even though we know what to do and we know, more of less, how to do it, it is still very easy to screw it up. Let’s face it, in its essence, golf is a very easy game. You simply hit the ball, which is sitting quite still on the ground, and you advance it closer to the hole until such time that you get it very close, and then you simply scoot it in. There is no one who is preventing you from taking your turn or from doing your best. And there are thousands of sources of information to tell you how to do it most effectively and efficiently.
Why, then, do so many people have so much of a problem getting the job done? Well, the answer, of course, is in the implementation. It’s one thing to know what to do and how to do it, but executing on the plan can be a problem for many people. For instance, I know that I am supposed to keep my left arm straight when I swing; and I know that when I work really hard at it, and I succeed at keeping my left arm straight, my shot works out much better than when I don’t. But sometimes I don’t do it well, and my shot goes completely haywire — I slice the ball, I hook the ball, I hack the ball. Why? Because my swing lacks discipline, and I sometimes allow myself to believe I am doing it correctly when I am really doing it all wrong.
It’s just like life. We all know that “honesty is the best policy,” and that “crime doesn’t pay,” but then we read in our newspapers and news magazines that America is filled with people who lie, cheat and steal on a regular basis. Why would we give such thorough lip-service to integrity and then allow ourselves to fall so short of the mark? Because we want to believe that we are basically good and that we are doing it right, but then we let ourselves slip into our bad habits and to take the path of least resistance.
Similarity Number Two:
We keep making the same mistakes over and over. Not only do we keep making the same mistakes over and over, but we actually practice doing all the wrong stuff. All you have to do is take a brief trip to any driving range or the first tee at any public links and you’ll see countless displays of people who are working very hard at doing it all wrong.
Have you ever seen this guy at the driving range? He doesn’t just bend his left arm when he swings, he almost folds it; he sways backwards on his backswing and he lifts the club straight up in back. He is stiff and awkward and clumsy and he wears really tacky clothes, and when he hits the ball it doesn’t go anywhere near where he’s aiming. Of course you’ve seen him, he frequents every driving range that has ever been built.
The thing that is most amazing about him is that he never changes. It never seems to occur to him that, since the method he is using is clearly not working, perhaps a different method would work better. Could he possibly be thinking that what he is doing is okay? Could he really be thinking, “Well, this is the way Freddie Couples looks when he does it, so I guess I have to just keep working at it.” I don’t think so.
It’s just like in life. It is sometimes difficult to separate what it feels like from what is actually happening. Could the Unabomber really have been thinking, “Well, I’m sure having a big impact on society. They’re making significant changes in the way they run government and business based on my campaign of bombing, death and destruction.” There was obviously no reason for him to think that, yet he kept doing the same dumb thing over and over.
But even on a more sane and normal level, haven’t you ever met a person who keeps picking the wrong kind of partner for a relationship? Someone who has a long history of getting together with losers? Every time it ends in the same disaster, yet they go back to do it again, over and over.
It appears as though they just can’t learn — or they think that what they’re doing is the right way to do it. Obviously, they need to look at things like the person at the driving range and make the simple changes that will allow them to see some improvement in their game.
Similarity Number Three:
It’s easier to see the mistakes that other people are making than it is to see the ones that you are making. Lesson number three is most easily proven by reading over the material in lessons number one and two. It’s very easy to look at all of those people at the driving range that are getting it all wrong and say, “At least I don’t hit the ball like them,” and then get up and make your own unique set of mistakes that end up sending the ball to the same horrible place that everyone else sent it.
In the end, the fact remains that, in both golf and life mistakes are made on a regular basis. From the top pros on the tour to the lowliest hacker on the links, no one escapes; from the highest echelons of society to the simple faces in the crowd, no one is immune. The best lesson that we can take from golf and apply to our lives is that it is only when we learn from our mistakes that we will see any improvement at all.