I was sitting at my table on the golf course, working through bills, garnishments, payroll, and all sorts of other issues that had little to do with running a golf course. Suddenly Scott sat down with me and wanted to talk about all things personal and family. He lived in Kansas and we hadn’t seen each other for several years. I have had two different views of Scott over the past 40 years. I was a brand new teacher in Kelseyville and he was a member of KHS’s athletically dynamic class of 1982. Some 23 years later, he was my assistant basketball coach when we worked with a talented group of 8th grade boys. His son, Cody, and my son, Nick, were on that team.

One of his first questions was how strong the Kelseyville High School golf team would be this year. I told Scott that we were not going to be as talented as we could be. The top two golfers coming to KHS were also strong baseball players who had played on travel teams over the past few summers. They had strong performances at the recent Lake County Junior Golf Championship, but were still inclined to play high school baseball this year.

In my 40+ years as a golf coach, I’m very familiar with this problem. Think of it this way: You play a high school golf match, you shoot par, and there’s a good chance the other kids will begrudgingly acknowledge your brilliant play. Instead, you hit a walk-off home run at a high school baseball game and are mobbed at home base by your teammates while parents and friends in the stands cheer loudly for your accomplishment. Ultimately, it’s all about camaraderie. In high school baseball, you get immediate feedback, whereas in high school golf, you’re something of a solo act.

My discussion with Scott centered on his experiences in high school sports. He played on a very talented basketball team and was basically the star of the track team in the spring. His track coach was also the cross country coach in the fall and strongly encouraged Scott to compete that season. He told Scott that he would be perfectly capable of earning a cross country scholarship after his four-year high school career. Instead, he chose to be a supporting player on the football team. It all came down to running over hill and dale in the middle of nowhere or playing football under the lights in front of a packed stadium.

All of this got me thinking about the decisions young athletes make when it comes to participating in sports. A big part of that is camaraderie, but a secondary consideration is the ability to improve. For example, let’s say you’re a pretty good pitcher in Little League. In order to put in the time to improve, you need a wingman, or in this case, someone willing to catch for you. If you’re trying to improve your jump shot in basketball, it’s beneficial to have a little brother willing to shag for you. The same goes for tennis. It’s hard to work on your serve and then be on the other end of the court picking up balls and starting over. Some team sports, like soccer, volleyball, and basketball, require some form of group participation to improve. It’s hard to work on your killer crossover when no one else is on the field.

But golf offers countless practice opportunities that require nothing more than a golfer and some practice golf balls. You can really improve your score by getting out on the practice green. You can chip, pitch and run shots, you can work on your wedge game, and you can go into the practice sand bunker and work on your game. Most driving ranges will sell you a bucket of 50 range balls and you can play anything from soft wedges to drivers. You can also play the game alone. You don’t need three other people to go on the golf course with you, and sometimes on a quiet afternoon you can hit multiple shots or give yourself a personal mulligan when you hit an 8-iron across the green.

While we’ve focused on kids and the idea of ​​personal improvement, this mantra obviously applies to the adult world as well. I often speak to 50-year-olds who are frustrated with their subpar short game or inadequate putting stroke. My question is, how often do you coach those weaknesses in your game? Have you ever considered taking a series of lessons with your local PGA golf instructor? You simply won’t get better by playing more golf with your usual Saturday morning foursome. Steph Curry got better by constantly throwing. Aaron Judge spent hours in the batting cage. All greats are hard workers first and foremost. There are no natural talents. Golfers can get better with more practice, and if they really want their scores to go down, then the practice green is the answer to improvement.

Yes, it takes time. But do you really, really, really want to get healthy?