Before You Start Playing………..

Well, here we are in the middle of winter and where I live there is no golf being played today. Snow covers most of the ground with a high of 38 degrees. But I’m dreaming of green fairways and slick greens with the sun beating down. The golf channel is beaming scenes from a satellite from the Hawaiian Islands of the fortunate few who play professionally. Boy, I miss the summertime. I try to keep in shape over the winter and do a lot of stretching. I spend the first 20 minutes of each day on the floor stretching my back and hips. I also catch a yoga class from time to time. About three days a week I incorporate walking on a treadmill and light upper body weight lifting as part of the program as well. I’m not a slave to a regiment schedule but I enjoy the feeling a good workout brings.

            I feel preparation is one of the keys to playing and enjoying good golf. I can always simply go out and play a quick 9 holes without any preparation and enjoy it. However, for me to feel like I have an opportunity to play well, I need to adhere to the principles and fundamentals critical to playing golf well. Too many times I go out to play with false expectations that I will do well when I know that I haven’t done enough preparation for that to happen.  Johnny Miller said you can’t expect to shoot 90 until you are shooting 95 regularly and you can’t expect to shoot 80 until you are shooting 85 regularly and you can’t shoot 70 until you are shooting 75 regularly. It only makes sense that skills are slowly developed. I find my senses are increased when I feel prepared to play and I concentrate better.  My dad was fairly fanatic about preparation.  On a day when we played together he would have cleaned his clubs and shoes the night before.  We would go to the course about 1 ½ hours before the round.  We would eat  breakfast or lunch first.  It was followed by putting for 15 minutes and then off to the driving range. He believed in a nice slow warmup session. The last few swings were always with the driver getting set for the first shot of the day. Then, another 10 minutes on the putting green and we were ready. Of course, then there was the 2 or 3 practice sessions during the week at the driving range. When he retired he played about 200 rounds a year. I remember talking to one of  his friends after a round who was genuinely saddened that he could only play golf six days a week. As a working guy I have never approached that level of, how should I say, commitment. John Wooden, the famous UCLA basketball coach,  always spoke about the game being won or lost before the actual game was played. He also never talked about winning or losing, he just taught his players the importance of following the process. I think it’s true in golf as well. The outcome of a shot is not what to worry about but rather how to execute it. Like juggling, the secret is not in the catch but rather in the throw. If you throw the balls correctly catching them is a natural outcome.

            Of course, in golf finding which techniques are effective for you is difficult. Everyone needs the fundamentals for the grip, stance, posture, etc. that are generally required to hit consistent good golf shots. There are always a few who manage without them, but they are rare.  I remember Art Wall and his famous baseball grip and now we have Jim Furyk and his upright loopy swing. I think understanding how the fundamentals effect your ball flight is what is important to grasp. I recommend whatever it takes for you to do that is what you should do.  For some it is golf lessons from an instructor, others if may be golf books or videos on instruction, and still others who just dig it out of the ground. Lee Trevino and Ben Hogan did that. Trevino said, “I come from a long line of range balls”. I was at a champion’s event a number of years ago and a large crowd came to watch him on the driving range. He turned to the crowd and said, “Why are you watching me swing, you should go and watch Bruce Crampton hit balls if you want to learn how to hit a golf ball. I’m making pretzils over here with my swing”.

I always recommend that you practice earlly in the year before you play. For me, it builds confidence and makes the first few rounds more enjoyable. Jack Nicklaus in the 1960’s said he would start the year by taking a lesson from his golf coach and the only thing they would work on were the basics: grip, stance, and ball position. Not a bad example to follow. 

Why I Play Golf

           Before I write about how a blind person manages to play golf, I would like to convey why I have such a passion and love for the game of golf. My father and mother taught me to play golf, or any other sport, for the love of the game. They instilled in me the idea that if you are playing for any other reasons you are missing the point. As a youth I always wanted to beat other players and show off my skills so others would admire me. I suppose that is natural when one is younger. When I learned to not take the game so seriously I began to enjoy it  a lot better. But that has always been a challenge. I started around 6 or 7 years of age by picking up my dad’s shag balls in a large field. Around 9 or 10 I would stand at one end of the field and he would hit balls directly at me. He would then wave his hand in the direction the ball went.  The thing was my dad was a very good golfer and would often hit a ball and wave his hand directly at me. This meant I might be hit. It’s funny now but at the time I didn’t think anything about it.  He would always give me a short lesson and let me hit balls before we went home. It was great.

            I played junior golf in Nebraska and was a respectable player.  I remember being so nervous at those early tournaments. I had to learn to calm down and take deep breaths. Boy I remember those early days around 12 years old playing golf.  My cousin and I would often go out on the course behind his house and play around 1 p.m. when it was too hot for most people. We often played without shoes and even shirts at times. It was hit the ball, drag the clubs, and hit it again. I hit every bad shot one can imagine.

When I was in high school in the summer my friends and I would sometimes play 54 holes in one day. We would arrive at the club house about dawn and play 18 holes before breakfast. Then we would go out again and play another 18. We would then take a 1 hour lunch and rest before playing the final 18.

            Of course my heros were Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Nancy Lopez, Dottie Pepper, Nick Faldo, Raymond Floyd, Al Geiberger, George Archer, Lanny Watkins, Lee Elder, Tom Kite, and many many more. I admire the way Jack Nicklaus respects the game and his fellow competitors and the manner in which he has always conducted his personal life.

            I will always have a deep respect for my father. He could hit the ball a mile and really think his way around a course. He was a great athlete and is in the fast pitch softball hall of Fame as a pitcher. When I was 15 I tried every time we played to out drive him. It wasn’t until I was around 20 or so when I bgan to do it. The funny thing is after all those years of trying to out drive him, when I finally could, I never said a word to him about it.  He would just say “Good drive son”. For me, it was a way to honor him for what he had done for me.

            I often tell people that if I have two hours to get to know someone I can learn more about them playing golf than just about anything else.  I will learn how serious they are, how they handle adversity, how they think and try to make adjustments, if they know the rules,  if they have a sense of humor, and whether or not they curse, lie, or cheat. When I had a 6 handicap I was way too serious and would get upset if I hit a shot that I didn’t like when most people would be happy to hit that shot. I still play seriously but now I enjoy the outdoors and my friends much more.  It’s the outing that is important.

How and When to Help Blind People

Not long ago I was walking across a busy train platform with fellow commuters. I was using my travel cane.  A person walking in the opposite direction stopped me and asked me if I needed help. While I appreciate his concern  and compassion in wanting to assist a blind person, I have to wonder what made him think I needed help. How did he think I got to that point on the train platform without his help. Did he assume due to my blindness  that I was also lost and that I didn’t have the skill to make it to my destination? As a blind person, I generally think sighted people should only help a blind person when they ask for it. It’s hard for sighted people to watch a blind person obviously go the wrong way but remember that most blind people have the skill to correct their path and figure out where to go. Remember that they do this every day of their lives. I have had strangers grab my arm and pull me in the direction they feel I need to go. This is demeaning to most blind people. It makes us feel like we are not capable or can’t be trusted to get to places. Think about how you would feel it you were led around like a child. My wife and my friends know that when we are walking I might grab their arm at the left elbow. To themn it means that I require assistance in walking at that moment. There are times when I might need to move quickly to get somewhere and it is easier and safer to walk using a sighted guide. It just makes sense. The way to do that is to have the blind person walk slightly behind you at your side and have them hold on to your elbow. That way it is easy for them to know when you are stepping up or down. They can feel it through your elbow and by walking slightly behind they have time to adjust their step.  In narrow places the guider puts their guide arm and places it behind their back. This lets the blind person know that it is narrow and walking in single file is required.

            I hope this information helps.

Upcoming Subjects:

Golf lessons from the blind golfer!

How I work as a teacher

Tech Tipbit  –  Movie Watching

(Technology aids for the Visually Impaired)

This past weekend I saw the movie “Unbroken” and used for the first time a descriptive headset. This is where a descriptive audio recording is made to informed visual impaired people of what is happening on the screen. The original sound track is still used but at certain breaks in the dialog a voice will describe what is happening on screen. It might say, “Prisoners are getting on a train in single file”.  It works well. My wife and friends are happy that I don’t always have to ask them what is happening. Quite a few of the theaters have them and they are free.

Upside Down and Backwards

            “Is there a chance I will be blind?” I hesitantly asked the eye doctor, not really wanting to know the answer. He calmly reached over to his small work area and picked up a business size card and placed it in my hand.  I quickly gave it to my wife because I wanted to know what the card said since it was no longer possible for me to read it.  She quietly read the words, “I am legally blind.”  I knew my vision was getting worse but this felt like the pronouncement of a death sentence. I will never forget those words I heard that day for the first time. “You are legally blind.” 

For several months afterward the shock of that simple declaration dominated my every thought.  I felt my life was over. What would I do now? My mind repeatedly focused on all the things that I felt I could not do. I couldn’t work anymore. I couldn’t play golf. I couldn’t read. I couldn’t drive to the store and pickup a loaf of bread. I couldn’t see my children’s faces clearly.  I couldn’t enjoy the canyon or a beautiful sunset. As far as I could determine, my life was over.

            Several months passed before I began to deal with my blindness.  Fortunately, the human spirit within us is an amazing and wonderful thing. I never thought about what I was really capable of achieving or what was really important for me to learn in this life. After months of feeling sorry for myself, I slowly began to sip the new drink that I had been served.  It was a simple thing, drink or you will not live.

            Like most people several factors helped me find the path back. Those include a loving and strong spouse who has provided  both compassion and tough love, gifted blind educators who have taught blind skills, technological advances which allow me to adapt skills I used before blindness, and a personal willingness to accept the challenge and perform the required work to learn blindness skills.  Finally, the blindness movement has helped me realize that I can live successfully and determine my own future.

            The most difficult aspect to understand and internalize about blindness is also the most rewarding. It can be stated many ways but for me the difference between sighted people and blind people is that blind people do things in a different manner. That’s it. Any other misconception one might make about blindness has been, is being, or will be proven erroneous.  I resumed playing golf.  I went back to college and earned a second degree and have been teaching high school for 7 years. I can go to the store and purchase a loaf of bread or anything else I need independently.  True, I do not see my children’s faces clearly, but I hear their voices, participate in their lives, and feel their spirit and their love.  Those things are much more important to me than the ability to see them.

            Blindness has taught me to realize the blessings that are mine. Once you personally experience the goodness of life you can begin to change your attitudes.  I have changed many of the “have tos” in my life to “get tos”.  I don’t have to learn Braille. I get to learn Braille.  I don’t have to walk to the store or the gym.  I get to walk there. 

            I was just beginning to change my attitudes about blindness when I attended my first National Federation Convention for the Blind in Louisville in 2005.  It was an experience I shall never forget.  When I first arrived at the hotel I found my way around with the limited vision I have.  I remember helping a few totally blind people find the elevators and hallways.  The funny thing was that there were too many people to help. I had never been around so many blind people.  I realized I was reacting to blindness like most sighted people.  I was trying to help them.  But there were too many of them for me to help.  Then I realized a simple but profound thing.  They didn’t need my help.  They do this every day.

          I remember several years ago watching a Ken Burns documentary on baseball. A Baltimore sports reporter was talking about his first day of covering major league baseball.  He had grown up in Baltimore and badly wanted to be a sports reporter.  He loved the Baltimore Orioles. He spoke of their great stars, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, and others with glee.  He admired Earl Weaver, the manager of the Orioles.  Finally, he was hired by the Baltimore Sun newspaper and remembered his first day of covering the team on opening day of the season.  The teams were on the field warming up for the game. He was in the dugout excitedly interviewing Earl Weaver. Weaver was answering a question when the Star-Spangle Banner began playing.  The players on the field came to attention and removed their hats, but Weaver continued to answer the question. This was bugging the reporter who finally broke into Weaver's remarks and blurted out, “Shouldn’t we be standing at attention or doing something?” Weaver stared back at the young reporter and calmly said, “Relax kid, we do this every day.” 

        By the end of the Louisville convention I could go into the restroom and see blind people searching for sinks, paper towels, etc. without feeling any urge to help them.  They were fine. They do this every day. I no longer needed them to do things on my timetable or in the same manner as I had done as a sighted person.

             Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the NFB, spoke at the convention about perspective. Sighted people need to learn that blind people are like everyone else.  They just do things differently and that’s OK. We as blind people need to help educate sighted people, but we also need to be willing to change our own perspective about blindness.  We shouldn’t be happy that only 10 percent of blind people read and use Braille. We need to be actively seeking to change laws that make it equitable for blind people to compete and live successfully in the modern world.

            I had to laugh the other day when I was trying to make the bed. I was wrestling

with the comforter when my wife said, “You’ve got it upside down and backwards.”  When I first lost my sight I thought my world was now upside down and backwards.  But I was wrong. Blind people sometimes get physical things upside down and backwards.  Pondering more about that phrase, I now think sighted people often think about blindness in a upside down and backward way.  Their perceptions are often completely wrong and backward. Hopefully, things can change through knowledge and experience

Join me on my blog as I share my experiences teaching, playing golf, cooking, gardening, traveling, and finding happiness despite vision loss.