Golf

As part of a company team building event I got to try golf. I'd always been fascinated by how cleanly a player can strike the ball and wanted to know what it felt like. So a colleague and I signed up. I was hoping I wouldn't be completely hopeless.

We got excellent instructors who started teaching us how to grip a golf club. What I didn't expect was that I'd need to hold it the opposite way from what the instructor assumed. As it happens, I know I grip a hockey stick atypically — for a right-hander. And the same turned out to be true for a golf club. Right then — that was sorted, and the technique was fairly clear from there. But the pendulum motion in putting just didn't come naturally to me. Then again, mini-golf doesn't come naturally either. Most of the time it didn't roll quite straight, which is not what you want.

The driving range was a different story altogether though. You tee up the ball, wind up and — whack. It flies! It's not that hard, it just takes practice to automate the movement and stop dribbling it along the ground. But when you really wind up (club over your head) and connect — that's something else. The ball climbs, flies far. Brilliant! I even started managing a small correction of direction — keeping it straight, or going left or right. With a bit of practice you could maybe even make it look decent.

I tried it and I'm really glad I did. If there's another chance to try it, I'll be there.