Words Of Encouragement

After I had been playing golf for about a year I went to a demo day. This was a big event with nearly every major club OEM that had a large selection of lefty clubs to try out. At this point, I hadn't really tried to hit hybrid clubs. At one of the tents I found some lefty hybrids and decided to give them a try.

I set up on a mat with a hybrid club and set up. Not really confident of what I was doing I topped the first ball. I tried again with the same result. It was after the second ball I noticed the three gentlemen behind me. Both times I had missed the ball they roared with laughter as if they had just heard the best joke of their lives. When I looked in their direction one grunted, "It's happened to all of us, sweetheart!" I had never met these people nor did I have any previous conversation with them.

Over the weekend I went to try out a new surfboard. This one is shorter and lighter than I normally use. Knowing I would likely wipe out and look a bit kooky at first I chose a less crowded span of beach with smaller waves and a lifeguard on duty. Sure enough, I was wobbly on the new board and spent some time paddling around to orient myself. I only ended up catching one wave and didn't get a full stand going. I did, however, have one pretty big wipe out.

Telling the story about it later was pretty funny. I had misjudged the power of a particular wave when I went to duck under it. I didn't duck as far as I should have and got knocked off and held under a bit. The funny part in the retelling was that it was such a forceful wave that it tangled my hair up into a nest.

When I had finished I went to the car and put my board on the rack before I went into the ladies room to rinse off and change. When I came out a guy that had been on the beach asked me where my board was. I said it was already on the car and he smirked, "Oh, I thought you broke it." I had never met this guy nor did I have any previous conversation with him.

I guess I'll never understand why people make snide remarks to complete strangers. At some point most everyone has been a beginner, changed equipment, or practiced when recovering from an injury. There are a lot of reasons athletes and amateurs make mistakes from time to time. The only way we can improve in a sport is by practice. There will always be someone more skilled than I at whatever sport I try. Simply because some smarty-pants decides to heckle me doesn't change that nor will it stop me from practicing.


You can read about golf etiquette here and surf etiquette here.