Sports are Frustrating, Period.

David R.

July 14, 2010 - 5:47 PM

With my brother highly active in sports, my dad working all the time, and me keeping busy with my internship and work, it isn't too often that the men of the house get to spend some quality time together. Tomorrow my dad has decided to take the day off so the three of us can go play a round of 18 holes on the local neighborhood golf course. We haven't hit the links yet this year so I look forward to another competitive dual. My dad, of course, is the best of the three of us, so he is somewhat in a league of his own. My brother on the other hand (as much as I hate to admit it), is almost better than me now, so we always find some way to make a bet or a wager on the round.

When the three of us hit the links it can get a little wild. Emotions have gotten the best of each of us, as I have witnessed everything from excessive swearing to extreme club tosses to golf bag drop kicks. Such antics are never encouraged, but come on, it's not like we're playing Pebble Beach here. On the local public golf course there is a little more room for public display of frustration. I don't know about you, but seeing a good putter toss will always get at least one good laugh out of me.

Golf is arguably the most frustrating sport to play, because even after what feels like a perfect swing the ball can fly haywire. As much as I try not to, I always get infuriated with my rounds, even though I never go practice. Golf is one of those sports where the difference between the best drive of your life and a search for your ball in the woods is a matter of millimeters.

When the round is all said and done we're all buddies again and we can laugh about our atrocious shots that weren't the least bit funny at the time. I'm at the point in my golfing career where I consider a good round to be anything less than 100 strokes (I know, its embarrassing).

I thought that I might have my anger and frustration under some control after all of the years that I played baseball. During my career there where times when I had to restrain myself from pulling out all of my hair. Everyone is entitled to there own opinion, but I personally think that baseball is the most difficult sport to play from an offensive perspective. Hear me out. As a batter, you are supposed to hit a circular ball with a circular bat. Second of all, on average, it takes less than one second for the ball to reach the plate when out of the pitcher's hand. In that time, the batter is required to determine multiple things: First, is the ball curving? dropping? A fastball? A change up? Second, the batter has to decide (before the ball even makes it to the plate) if the ball will end up in the strike zone or not. Then the batter must time the swing (if he decides to swing) so that that bat is crossing through the strike zone as the ball enters it from the opposite direction. All of these things must be done in less than one second. Then, the batter must make contact with the ball so that it enters the playing field, and goes somewhere where one of the nine in the field can't catch it or throw him out. Sounds impossible doesn't it? In golf the ball isn't even moving and I still can't manage a decent score.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow. I guess all I can do is be hopeful and optimistic, right?