The Ten Commandments have taken a beating in court along with\u00a0endless confrontation by Civil Liberties organizations and schools.\u00a0 They can be inscribed on national buildings but heavens, don’t quote them anywhere.\u00a0 How a country founded on religious freedoms and principles and which has \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 stamped on every dollar bill can eliminate any reference to religion in political circles is indeed a mystery.\u00a0 Regardless, the Ten do make up a framework for great advice on how to live your life \u2013 but did you realize they can also guide your golf game?<\/p>\n
As a parish music director in another part of my life and work,\u00a0I sometimes attend workshops of a spiritual nature.\u00a0 A priest was presenting a seminar on the Ten Commandments and how they would apply\u00a0in\u00a0helping to\u00a0sustain parish life during tough times.\u00a0 This intrigued me enough to attend the presentation.\u00a0 It was a beautiful day and, as usual, I found myself daydreaming about how his words might apply to golf.<\/p>\n
Commandment 1:\u00a0 Maintain Hope.\u00a0 If you consider your golf game doomed to the devil, it will be.\u00a0\u00a0 Remain positive you can improve if you put forth the proper effort.<\/p>\n
Commandment 2:\u00a0 Remain Fearless.\u00a0 Fear paralyzes us into inactivity.\u00a0 Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown, fear of fear.\u00a0\u00a0 Any of these, I fear, do not belong in your head.\u00a0 Eliminating the terror of chili-dips, out-of-bounds, water, skull shots, first-tee jitters etc. would make for much more relaxing golf.\u00a0 When I first began writing professionally, I tried to make every story perfect for fear I might miss some important point.\u00a0 I soon realized that waiting for perfection stalled my efforts and an article \u2013 any article – \u00a0would never get written.<\/p>\n
Commandment 3:\u00a0\u00a0 Be Flexible.\u00a0 Know things rarely go as planned.\u00a0 Remember the old saying that \u2018we plan and God laughs\u2019?\u00a0 Be willing to try something new even if you don\u2019t think it will work.\u00a0\u00a0 One hapless \u2013 and inflexible \u2013 playing partner was a terrible golfer.\u00a0 He asked for my help yet every swing flaw (there were many) pointed out was met with \u201cWell, yes, I know, but I do THAT because of THIS,\u201d\u2026\u2026and proceeded to showcase yet another swing problem.\u00a0 His swing was a collection of wrongs which could never be right because of his unwillingness to change.<\/p>\n
Commandment 4:\u00a0 Keep A Sense of Humor.\u00a0 After all, it is only a game.\u00a0 Go ahead and guffaw about how silly it is.\u00a0 No one will remember the 9 or 10 you took on the tough par-4 or the three shots you hit out of bounds unless you made an idiot out of yourself by throwing temper tantrums or tossing a club.\u00a0 Yes, we who must witness such displays,\u00a0 DO remember them.<\/p>\n
Commandment 5:\u00a0 Be Honest With Yourself.\u00a0 No improvement can be gained without a true assessment of what you need to work on.\u00a0\u00a0A few years ago,\u00a0my chipping had been horrible.\u00a0 Yes, el stinko.\u00a0 Simply going back to basics was the key in finding out how to fix the problem.\u00a0 But I had to admit there was<\/em> a problem\u00a0first.\u00a0\u00a0 Then, it\u2019s time to move on to other parts of the\u00a0game that are lacking and fix those too, if possible.\u00a0 It\u2019s no disgrace to be in a state of transition.<\/p>\n Commandment 6:\u00a0 Act With Integrity.\u00a0 We Americans belong to the world\u2019s largest contingent of golfers.\u00a0 Accept the USGA as the keeper of the rules and the guardian of the game.\u00a0 Practice proper etiquette, obey the rules, and see that others respect and honor the game.\u00a0 If your group decides you should all play in another manner not in accordance with the rules, like winter rules or a\u00a0scramble, say so up front and don\u2019t post your scores for handicap purposes.<\/p>\n Commandment 7:\u00a0 Have an Open Mind.\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t ignore new ideas, development in swing techniques, and technological advances.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t too long ago that purists sniffed at metal woods and alternative shafts\u2026\u2026and that the Reverse C swing otherwise known as \u2018the back killer\u2019 was the form everyone tried to emulate, a la Johnny Miller.\u00a0 Remember gutta percha and featheries were once the rage as well\u2026\u2026not to mention whalebone corsets and long skirts for distaff golfers.\u00a0 And barring them from playing golf on Saturday and Sunday mornings.<\/p>\n Commandment 8:\u00a0 Hold On to Good Ideas.\u00a0\u00a0 Ideas that worked decades ago are not necessarily outdated.\u00a0 Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Babe Zaharias shot some awfully good scores so they must have known something.\u00a0 For example, good old fashioned practice on the rock pile was as important then as it is now.\u00a0 All the technology in the world cannot shortcut proper work habits.<\/p>\n Commandment 9:\u00a0 Learn, Teach, Share.\u00a0\u00a0 There is so much new information on the Internet, in the library, used book stores, club sitting rooms and lounge areas, and from observing other golfers.\u00a0 If you learn a great tip, share it, don\u2019t hoard it.\u00a0 People still have to master it in order to use it against you \u2013 that\u2019s the hard part.\u00a0 If someone doesn’t want any advice, you must respect their wishes too.<\/p>\n Commandment 10:\u00a0 Cooperate With Your Fellow Golfers.\u00a0 Help out the young people taking up the game.\u00a0 How else can they learn?\u00a0 Support the charity outings you\u2019re invited to \u2013 there\u2019ll come a time when you\u2019ll be asking someone to support yours.\u00a0 Are you a man who does the old eye roll when a woman steps up to the tee in front of your group?\u00a0 Embrace it because she is spending money to perpetuate the game YOU love\u2026..plus you can\u2019t assume she\u2019s a poor player.\u00a0 Besides, it could be me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What can the Ten Commandments teach us about golf?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,1494],"tags":[115],"class_list":["post-636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-instruction","category-golf","category-musical-notes","tag-now-we-know-where-all-of-the-moses-and-jesus-golf-jokes-come-from"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":665,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions\/665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}