Ignore The Obstacles

When I first started learning to play golf, eager to progress, I asked an instructor how long it would take to reach a single-digit handicap. After he stopped laughing, he said, “If you do, it will take 10–15 years.” I didn’t accept that it would take that long or that I couldn’t do it. So, I just kept moving toward my goals and ignored his belief.

I also didn’t buy into the idea that you need to spend all your time practicing and playing to improve. I worked full time, but I never saw that as a barrier. I learned to be hyper-focused and intentional when I practiced. Every shot mattered. I spent a lot of time mentally processing my swing and focusing on what I needed to adjust. That way, when I got to the range, I knew exactly what to work on. I reached a +2 handicap within six years of taking up the game—while working full time.

As a physical therapist, I see golf as a game of physics. It’s all about body mechanics, leverage, momentum, dynamic balance, energy transfer, and applying force. I understood that these laws of physics were always at play and needed to be managed and manipulated in the golf swing. It’s no different from teaching a patient to walk again. If they can execute a coordinated movement pattern properly once, they can do it again. The golf swing works the same way.

In my mind, I knew I just needed to find it once. Then the task would be to find my way back to that same pattern on purpose. So why would it take 10–15 years if I was taught the motor skill and practiced it properly?

I remember when I was playing at a 5 handicap, I asked an instructor to help me with uneven lies on the course. He told me I wasn’t ready to learn that. I had just returned from playing in a US Women’s Mid-Am, yet he still believed I wasn’t ready to handle uneven lies. So, I found a different coach.

Starting golf in my early 40s, I felt like I didn’t have time to waste. I needed to figure things out quickly. I was told many times that those who play at the elite level all started young—and that it was impossible to reach that level if you hadn’t been playing your whole life.

When preparing for tournaments, I’ll choose the tee box that matches the yardage of the upcoming event, which usually isn’t the forward tees. More than once, a starter has told me I needed to move up to the “ladies' tees”.

Imagine if I had accepted that I might never reach a single-digit handicap or that it would take years and years. What if I had listened to that instructor who said I wasn’t ready to handle uneven lies and stopped trying to learn more? What if I had let the pressure from the starters keep me from playing the tees that matched my skill level? What if I had listened to people who said it couldn’t be done at my age?

Golf is full of obstacles—literally and figuratively. What really matters is that you believe you can do it and figure out a way to reach your goals. Sometimes, you just need to ignore the things that stand in your way.

If there’s a will, there’s a way. What perceived obstacles do you think are holding you back?

Ignore the naysayers.
Ignore the obstacles.
Ask, why not?