5 Surprising Life Lessons I Learned From Golf

Golf has taught me a lot about myself, especially how quickly things can spiral if I don’t remain present, patient, and relaxed during a round. What I didn’t expect was how many of these lessons that help me so much on the golf course can also be applied to other areas of my life. The more I play and gain experience, the more golf teaches me – and in some ways I wasn’t anticipating at all! Here are the 5 most surprising life lessons I’ve gained from golf.

The Importance Of Self Care

Self care comes in many forms and golf hits a lot of those for me. Taking time away from my kids, work, and daily responsibilities to be active outside for a couple hours is so refreshing, it’s an instant mood booster.

Aside from the mental self care, physically I’m more aware of how easily injuries happen if I don’t take care of my body. Playing 18 holes is taxing and I quickly realized how necessary it was for me to properly stretch and warm up before playing to avoid tightness and pulled muscles. This has been a habit I’ve loved so much that stretching is now part of my everyday routine even if golf isn’t on the schedule.

Setting Small, Attainable Goals Is Very Motivating

Whether it’s working on my weight shift in my swing, following through on short putts, or just playing golf with someone new, working on small, actionable golf goals provides a constant challenge – and is extremely rewarding when I hit them. Those small wins build confidence and keep me motivated to set new, small goals. It’s different from setting a larger goal like breaking a certain score or lowering my handicap.

Don’t get me wrong, I always have those in my mind, too, but keeping a separate list of actionable goals (that might eventually help me get to the large goals) has been particularly motivating for me. There’s always something to strive for, even if it’s simply exhaling before each swing, and that’s what keeps golf – and life – so enriching!

How Much Fun it is to Share a Hobby With My Husband

My husband and I are equally passionate about golf, and it’s been incredibly fun to have a hobby we both love. Golf has become our favorite way to spend time together, and we try to have a weekly 9 hole date. Even if we aren’t playing together, we celebrate our wins and talk through our bad rounds.

In February we played in our first couples tournament together as a team and won! It was a special moment for us to share and is now a new Valentine’s Day tradition for us. Our younger son is learning to play and it’s been fun having an activity we can all do together. I’m already dreaming of future family golf trips.

Confidence Is Everything (And So Is Follow Through)

If you hesitate or hold back on any part of your golf shot, it’s hard to make solid contact. Each time I don’t trust myself, or my nerves get the best of me, I don’t follow through completely on my swing and the outcome is never what I wanted. And this holds true for other aspects of life with parenting, careers, and friendships - you name it. Confidence and following through are necessary for success in any of these areas and in anything you want to accomplish.

Being Able To Recover Well From Setbacks Is Crucial To Improving

Just because I hit my tee shot far to the right doesn’t mean my hole is over. Pop the ball back onto the fairway and set up for a great third shot. It’s discouraging when things don’t go my way on the golf course, but being able to recover from those bad shots is making me a stronger player long-term. It’s similar to how recovering well from setbacks in life makes a stronger person. Bad shots in golf and misfortune in life will happen; it’s how we handle those bumps that keeps us moving forward.

I wasn’t expecting to find such a wide range of takeaways from the golf course, but I’m so glad I did! And I have to say, I’m looking forward to rewriting this piece after a couple more golf years of experience. Who knows what other surprising life lessons I’ll pick up along the fairway.