When you hit the links, are you being a grateful golfer? Some of you reading todays article have a tee time for later (lucky you). Some of us have to go into our cold garage, start a fire, wait for the temperature to rise, and hit balls into a net. While others, sit at home patiently waiting for the golf courses to open. Regardless of your situation, it is still possible to be a grateful golfer!

During my 5 month off-season, I still try to do things that feed my passion for golf. I am fortunate enough to have the space to create practice areas to address my requirements for the upcoming season. For example, I have two areas to putt. On on a 10 foot putting mat and the other on a 15 foot rug. I work on my short game and dream about hitting my golf ball on grass. The my mind wanders a bit and it is as if I can feel the grass under my feet, the sun on my face and glorious sounds of nature serenading me. I am grateful for those memories and fell happiness as I anticipate hitting the links for the first time in 2021.

Yesterday, I trundled my way out to the garage with the intent of hitting golf balls. After starting a fire and letting it burn for 3 hours, because I could see my breath when I first started, it was time to give it a go. It was still pretty cold, but I was determined. I started with my orange whip to loosen up my back (I had already stretched for 15 minutes). This went very well and I was feeling grateful to be able to freely swing my training aid.

Well, as I stated in previous articles, I am working on creating lag. So, I am teaching myself to hold my wrists at the 90° angle until my hands reach my hips. At the same time, I am trying to open my left hit a bit sooner to create tension in my torso. As you can image, my tempo and sequencing is off. As a result I was miss hitting the ball on almost every shot. After the fifth miss hit in a row, I stopped and put the clubs away.

Now, before you think I was frustrated by my lack of success, I need to stop you right there. Unfortunately, my garage was still cold and every miss hit vibrated up the shaft of the club and shook my hands and arms. It was actually starting to hurt. My garage was still too cold and it accentuated each miss hit! I had to stop because being minus 12° C (10° F) outside and just slightly above 4° C (40° F) inside. It was just too cold to continue.

You want to know a secret; I am grateful for hitting those 20 golf balls. In the past, I would have no chance to even swing my clubs. So, how can I be disappointed! Well I am not! I am grateful for anytime I can work on my game in February. I have to take pleasure in these small victories as I patiently (most of the time) for opening day on 15 April.

Are you a grateful golfer?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!