I’m 49 years old (the exact age of actor Wilford Brimley in the movie Capsule) which means I have had plenty of time to either gain wisdom or cultivate bad habits. Mainly, the latter. Stealing cutlery from my friends’ houses, dotting the “i” in my signature with a small penis, twirling my hands at the start of my backflip…these are all flaws that are deeply ingrained. They are hard to shake.
In addition to my hard-won bad habits, I’ve also collected a lifetime of sports injuries. It’s like I’m starting a new relationship with golf, but all the baggage from my previous relationships is weighing me down. Does this mean golf and I are doomed before we even start? Should we be in couples therapy already?
Maybe. But let’s dig into some of the baggage that is affecting my golf game.
I have dislocated my left shoulder twice while mountain biking. This is baggage. I have a broken baseball elbow that never healed properly, so being able to straighten my left arm isn’t always a guarantee. More baggage. A back injury in high school left me crooked (literally) for decades. At this point, the trunk is full of luggage. And perhaps most importantly, I have a few moves etched into my muscle memory from decades of baseball. We are strapping the trunk on top of the car now.
The main thing I brought from baseball is an incredible food inside. There is no going back in America’s past. You start the swing with the club over your back shoulder, so my natural golf swing works to get the club to my shoulder as quickly as possible. I roll my hands and drive the club away from the ball on a rough inside path that results in an open face throughout the swing. With that open face, a fair ball path is entirely up to me to time my club release perfectly at impact.
It’s a difficult way to start your movement, unless you like to hunt for balls in the woods. If you like that part of golf, I highly recommend the indoor food.
I’ve spent the last few weeks working hard on that pickup, trying to keep my head out of my hands as I drive the club away from the ball. I’ve been practicing a lot of quarter swings in my backyard and watching myself on video. I’ve also been doing the “two-ball” drill where you line up a second ball behind the ball you’re hitting and push it straight back with the back of your club on the delivery.
Other than getting food in, I tend to execute the swing entirely with my shoulders. There’s no real twist in my natural swing, so I’ve been trying to exaggerate some feel like using my core to initiate my swing and sink into my back hip. These two “feels” help me create a legitimate swing and get the club on the right plane at the start of my swing.
It’s working. It’s a constant battle, but I’m seeing progress. When I’m playing a round, I’m quick to revert to my old inside feed and have to consciously tell myself to keep the club out of my hands. “Engage the core” is also a constant mantra now. Golf has become a repetitive and conscious practice.
My coach, Sam Hahn, says I may always have to fight my natural instincts and the baggage I’ve brought from other sports.
“Your shoulder mobility and some of the ingrained baseball movements are there to stay,” Hahn says. “We’re not going to mold you like Robert Rock (the British pro known for his picture-perfect swing). The trick is to understand what we can handle and what we need to leave alone. Focusing on a few fundamentals, like grip and forehand, will allow success across the bag.”
I know I won’t be able to develop a perfect swing. I will never swing the club like Rock or Ludvig Aberg. My body doesn’t move like that anymore. I’m not sure that ever happened. But the new movement is working. Keeping the club out of my hands and starting the swing with my core is paying off. It’s been a few weeks and the job isn’t done, but the new move is resulting in better contact and more distance. After weeks of trying, I’m starting to see good results.
People will tell you many things about middle age. They say it’s harder to learn new things as you get older. I’m sure you’ve heard the tired saying “old dog, new tricks”. There is little science to this. Studies show that our brains slow down in our 30s and 40s. Something about plasticity and processing speed. Cold. They say golfers start losing swing speed and distance at my age. Wonderful. I’ll delve into the issue of movement speed in a future article, but, for now, let me just say that the rumors are true – aging has its challenges. But all this work about losing a step mentally and physically isn’t true…at least, it’s not the whole truth.
I’m not saying that mental and physical declines don’t happen with age. They do. I can’t run as fast or jump as high as I could when I was 17. But the decline with age that studies are quick to point out is relative. A person’s foundation should be considered as a factor and, more importantly, a person’s lifestyle can delay and minimize that decline. I’m even willing to say that you can get better with age.
This is where a lifetime of other sports can help me in my quest for the scratch. My day job as an adventure journalist is physically demanding. I’m constantly trying to keep up with professional athletes half my age, so I have to stay in good shape. If I’m not biking, skiing, or climbing for work, I’m in the gym trying to make sure I can keep doing those things. I’m not an Olympic athlete, but as a result of this lifestyle, I’m stronger at 49 than I was at 39 or 29 or even 19. My mobility is actually better now than when I was a teenager. Why have I gotten stronger and more mobile with age? Because I work on it constantly.
I’m not saying that being good at mountain biking or basketball will make me a great golfer. Skills don’t translate. But I’m saying that I have a good distance from my clubs because I’ve paid a lot of attention to fitness over the years and fitness is a big part of golf.
There is another advantage that age gives me over my younger self: I am no longer a good case. You know those guys who throw tantrums because they break a wedge and then that one bad shot leads to more because of their attitude? The internet seems to be full of those guys (why is it always guys?). I used to be that guy. But now I’m old and wise and I’ve learned a few things over the years: 1) how to draw a small penis and 2) a broken wedge doesn’t matter. It’s just a single hit on the scoreboard. Life goes on. Golf continues. This is easier to understand now because I have had almost five decades of experience that tells me that mistakes are not the end of the world. A bad result is not the end of the world. It’s just a bad result. Carry on like an adult and keep playing the game as you like. I didn’t have that perspective before. I was an idiot. I’m less of an idiot now.
So yes, there is baggage I’m bringing to golf from a long life of other sports, but some of that baggage is good. I’m going to continue to work on some of my bad baggage as I try to get better at golf and I’m going to use some of my good baggage to give me an edge as I continue to work my way to zero.
