Archery & Golf
December 9th 2006 -
Excellent bit of shooting this morning at archery. Despite getting very tired and shaky by the end of it, I posted a score of 715/900 for a “Darwin” round. I did the same set last week and got 700/900, and I was pretty pleased then – this is a big improvement! I think my arms are finally beginning to adjust. Two weeks ago I was missing the target every so often (albeit at different ranges and target sizes.) Last week and this week, my lowest individual score was 4.
I took off for golf straight after archery, hoping vaguely that they used different muscles, because if they didn’t I was going to have a pretty bad afternoon. Good news! Archery and golf use completely different muscles (or, more precisely, the muscles that were very tired from archery weren’t vital to making good shots in golf.) Richard A. started playing recently – he’s the friend who became a professional Beer Baron – and he joined Owen and me for this round. He’s good! Disturblingly good for someone with just a few month’s practice behind him.
I discovered an important new thing about my golf: I’m no longer getting frustrated with bad shots. My archery experience has made me much more calm about such things; every shot is separate, no shot needs to make up for another shot being poor, preparing in precisely the same way for every single shot is a good thing, and there is great enjoyment to be gained from being very deeply in the moment. I beat Owen and Richard by a point, and had a very consistant round, though there was nothing spectacular (Oh! Except for that pitch that almost went into the hole. That was pretty cool.) What really made the round notable, though, was that I didn’t get frustrated and sulky. I didn’t rush through shots that I knew were going to suck; I gave them the same attention as other shots, and sometimes they didn’t suck.
Papa Says:
December 9th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
Aw. Jees. It’s terrific to hear you have discovered the great secret ot golf .. it’s only a game .. or was it only life???? I keep forgetting. Obviously I’m gonna have to practice up for the next GREAT MATCH. AND, I’ve now had a couple of games of badmington, so no more ‘take that sucker’ for me!!
Claire Says:
December 12th, 2006 at 6:18 am
Wot – you don’t get frustrated any more? No more clubs in the lake? Wasn’t that the whole point of your game? the fun of it? What would I have to look forward to in playing against you?
admin Says:
December 12th, 2006 at 6:43 am
Aw, you’re so sweet! I’ll try and throw some don la lake just pour tous. Your clubs, mind, but I’m sure it’ll be just as funny.
Also – looks like I’ll have to escalate the whole badminton thing, eh?