Play with one new person a week this summer. That’s my goal. The initial reasoning was just to meet as many new people as I could this year. The side benefit has been that I’ve seen a crazy assortment of approaches to the game of disc golf. Today was no different.
This morning, I paired up with a guy at my home course. We both pulled up at the same time. We both hit the first tee at the same time. We were the only ones there (it was pretty wet out there this morning). It turns out this was his first time on the course so I figured it would be a fun round. I have a killer home course and I love playing with people for their first time. It never fails to blow them away.
It’s also fun watching them try to figure out how to play some of the longer holes back in the woods. It’s challenging back there to say the least. It’s always a learning experience. Today was no exception. Except the person that learned the most today was me.
I’ve played my home course almost every day since we opened its new layout last year. I thought I knew it well. I was wrong. Shots where I threw a turn over, he threw a forehand roller. Upshots I threw with a putter, he skipped a driver. I threaded a straight shot down the middle of the fairway, he hyzered down the outside edge. Shot after shot he saw lines that I never even knew were there.
He ended up beating me by just a couple of throws, but I came away feeling like I had just been totally schooled. What I learned was that while I’ve looked at my home course countless times, I’ve never taken the time to really see it. After he got in his car to head off to work for the day, I went back out onto the course. Not to play, but to look. To really, really look.
As I walked my formerly familiar home turf, a realization hit me. How much of my life have I been approaching the same way? How many things do I look at but not truly see? How many people do I only know on the surface? How much beauty passes by me on a regular basis and I never even know it’s there? How many amazing experiences, relationships, and sights do I miss because I rarely see?
How about you? Not just in your every day life, but how about just starting with your home course? I’ve got a challenge for you. the next time you play, play it with a new rule. You can’t take any of the lines you normally take. Force yourself to really see the layout. Make yourself look at more than you normally do. You’ll notice things you’ve never noticed before. You’ll see where you’ve only ever looked before.
Then, when that round is over, head out into your day with the same attitude. Life is pretty amazing if you take the time to really look.
I appreciate you “seeing” this blog too! If you want to see more of it, consider subscribing by entering your email below. No spam, no junk, just a weekly newsletter and a guarantee you’ll never miss a post!
[wysija_form id=”1″]
I call this “home course” syndrome.
It’s YOUR course, so you feel like you KNOW it front to back. So you throw the same shots every time, because it’s almost muscle memory. This is why I love playing new courses sight unseen, and throwing first off the pad. It makes you go with your gut, and throw the shots you know, instead of what you see all your friends throw.
I play better at courses I only throw once or twice a year then when I play my home course. I’m too comfortable at home, and I don’t take it seriously enough.
I recently moved, and when I go back home I play the course I grew up playing, but I’ve changed a lot as a player, and I can look at it with fresh eyes. See new lines. See lines I wouldn’t normaly take.
I can slay that course when I go back, and it didn’t use to be like that.
That’s a great description Taylor.
So what is your new home course? We need to get together and get another round in!
My backyard course is Highland Park in Joliet, IL. It’s where I learned to play and gain confidence when I hit milestones.. like finally throwing it across the valley on hole 6, or hole 15 because it’s a longer distance. Or just being able to get past that one landmark on my first throw. It is challenging but when you have that awesome throw it feels exilerating. I’m currently working on my confidence playing with groups. Alone I do well and have full concentration but once in a while in groups I feel rushed or nervous. I try to take that energy when everyone is watching me put and say to myself, “I’m gonna show them how to get this in, I’ve done this before.”
I love Highland, it’s one of my favorite courses. I play there in the winter all the time.
I can relate to the feeling rushed thing. It feels like all eyes are on you and you might even be holding people up. All I can say is that you need to play your game and take your time. No one is really looking, that’s just our ego speaking, not reality.
Thanks for the comment and for reading the blog, I appreciate it!