This weekend I had the pleasure of playing a round of golf with my son, my brother, and my brother in law. Just an amazing group of guys to spend a few hours with on the golf course.
I played what I considered my first round of “Old Man Golf”.
Here’s the quick backstory: My shoulders are terrible. My orthopedic surgeon told me I needed two complete shoulder replacements and that I have the shoulders of a 70 year old man. He didn’t mince words or pull punches…I like the brutal honesty. But I’m not ready for them yet….I still have a few years left of baseball catches with Mikey before he goes to college and I’ll battle through with Advil and Alcohol for the pain.
Anyhow….back to the links. I discovered that with these horrible shoulders, I can only swing about 50% at best. And I also discovered the joy of Old Man Golf. Every drive was basically straight and all were playable, though not long (maybe 200-225 yards). Nice and easy swing with the irons and having zero pride or ego. I was fine knowing I needed a 7 iron to hit it 125 yards uphill when my 14 year old is reaching with his 9 iron. Whatever…I played the entire round with one ball and there was no frustration at all. Slowing down my swing completely straightened out my shots.
I’m no golf coach or expert by any means….but I wish I slowed my swing down years ago. So what if I’m giving up yardage…I was in the woods behind a tree half the time anyhow. This new Old Man Golf style has completely changed the way I approach the game and I’m finding it more fun already. So here’s my two cents worth: if you rarely find yourself hitting off fairways or making greens in regulation and lose close to a dozen balls a round….SLOW DOWN. Trust me…golf is more fun when you hit it straight. Now if I could only read a green a putt…..
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