St. Patrick's Day and Comparing Golf to "The Leaper"

Written on 3-17-18.

     Happy Saint Patrick’s Day…to me.  I am no saint, although I used to tease my students that this day was named after me.  B and I are hanging out on the couch, continuing our relaxing day together.  It takes an effort to be so unproductive.  We cut down a bush earlier this afternoon.  We took a walk.  I caught up my log and my field notes while she cleaned the kitchen.  That’s about it for the productive stuff.

     I watched golf while B took two little naps.  Then I took a very rare nap while she made her dinner.  This retirement stuff can be brutal.  All this lazing around is exhausting.  To our credit tonight, though, we are not watching anything on television.  That bumps up the productive feeling.

On to golf…

      When I played at Hidden Valley last, I had some new golf thoughts I wanted to share.  These sound even better when I am...

playing, but they somehow lose their luster when I go to write them in here.  I am not apologizing for my ideas; I would never do that.  I’m just saying they change in stature a bit from there to here.  

After teeing off on #5, I thought about how tough this sport is.  That was one of the original reasons I started writing about golf, to help remember the successes.  Years later, and I’m still writing about it.  

     So, here’s the thought.  I thought that golf was like “The Leaper.”  The Leaper was a torturous exercise machine that we used in high school to help us jump higher for basketball.  I remember Coach Lewis being super excited about it.  It had metal plates where we placed our feet, and it had large, cushioned, c-shaped, pads where you put your shoulders.  The gears, however, were what made it truly special.  They were designed to increase the resistance the harder you pushed against the pads.  I just saw it on YouTube, and what that is called is “isokinetic” resistance.  

     That’s like golf.  The harder you push against golf, the harder it pushes back.  The more you want it, the worse you play.  When playing golf, just like when using The Leaper, a compromise can be reached.  The golfer and golf can actually work together, so that there is less resistance.  It’s better to relax and just “work with it.”