Have you ever swung a golf club and felt the vibration of the shot through your whole body. I know we feel many miss hits in our hands or arms, but a whole body awakening is a rare thing. I have felt a few of these through the years, but only on in 2020. It was in the fall and things were a bit cool, but not overly cold; so, the temperature really did not have anything to do with the shock of my shot. It actually was something different.

Let me set up the shot. I was in the first cut with a good lie. I had about 140 yards from the green and was hitting an smooth 8 iron. There was nothing in my line of sight and the flag was in the middle of the green. Shots like this make me smile with anticipation of a great chance at birdie.

As I stood over my ball, I felt that the ground was a bit soft, but nothing that caused me a great deal of concern. Well looking back, I should have paid more attention to this shot. The main reason I was not overly concerned is because I do not take a deep divot with my 8 iron. This is a perfect shot for my game.

I started my swing and felt a bit of gust of wind. Instead of stopping, I decided to add a bit of power to the shot. What a mistake this was (actually, it is always a mistake) because I was not really set up for an extra hard shot. As I descended into my slot, my left shoulder dipped a few inches more than expect and greatly increase my angle of attack at the ball.

As the club head hit two inches behind the ball, it decided to ack like a spade. My club went at least 4 inches into the ground. I dug so deep, it did not come out of the ground. As you can imagine, the pressure that was exerted on my hands, shoulders, and back was such that I actually let go of the club. As I let go, I felt the vibration of this total mishit down in my legs. My instant fear was that I was going to hurt my wrists.

Fortunately, the club popped out of my hands or I might have really hurt something. As it was, I was a bit tender in the wrist and forearms, but that was it. I count myself lucky that nothing else happened. Also, although this is all mental, I felt a pang of embarrassment for making such a poor shot…..but, that did reside very quickly.

I am not really sure how all the foolishness of this shot came to bare, but it sure did hurt. I hope that I do not experience this type of shot in 2021…..I would hate to see a trend developing.

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