Have you ever heard someone say that golf is mostly a mental game? As a teacher and player, I would agree with this statement for the golfers that play competitively and understand the game. If your a beginner or recreational player and you are starting to get addicted to this game, you will find out soon! Unfortunately, golf is a game that can be very difficult if you don't understand the fundamentals and the cause and effect of a golf shot. This is especially true for those who are unfortunate enough to have come down with the two dreaded words in golf called the "YIPS" and "SHANKS". Terms that we don't repeat on the golf course because of the results they cause to your game. For those of you who are lucky enough to have never heard or experienced these terms, the yips take place when your putting and you can't get yourself to make a smooth putting stroke. Right before you make contact, the putter makes a jab at the ball resulting in a horrible miss. A shank is when the player makes a quick swing with one of their irons. It is usually caused by lunging into the ball resulting in hitting the ball off the hosel part of the club, which makes the ball go straight right.I love it when a player comes to me for a lesson because they have the shanks. The student thinks it is mostly mental, but I have come to find out through watching video of students and my own personal experiences that shanks are the tendency to come too steep or too flat of a path into the ball. The player then becomes a mess because they usually don't know what is causing the ball to go straight right and they lose all of their confidence because they keep making the same swings. The shanks can come out of nowhere and ruin your golf game and possibly cause a player to quit the game alltogether.
Rom 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I think the shanks and yips are like the sin in our lives. They can come out of nowhere and cause us to do things that we weren't set out to do or planned on doing. Without Jesus Christ in our lives, the shanks or yips (Sin) can cause us to play a bad round of golf (Life), which can keep us from achieving our goal of playing good golf (Heb. 11:6 Pleasing God) & (Happiness). Sometimes, the shanks or yips (Sin) can also cause us to quit (Death). I know when I had the shanks (Little Faith), it wasn't fun to play golf (Live) because I would lose my temper and walk off the course. I quit playing for awhile because I was afraid. Finally, after practicing (studying God's Word / Scripture) I learned the cure (Jesus Christ) of how to beat the shanks (Sin & Death) and achieve my goal (Heaven) of playing good golf again. I love helping others learn the game of golf (Life) by teaching the fundamentals (Gospel) so that they may enjoy life to its fullest and not be scared of death!
1 Cor. 9:24-25 - Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; bet we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
Thanks to God, we don't have to worry about having to shoot the perfect round of golf (Works & Without Sin) because Jesus shot the perfect round for us (Sanctification - lived without sin, died on the cross, and rose again from the dead) so that we never have to worry about the dreaded shank (Death) and we can shoot the perfect round (No Sin) and be with God in Heaven. Because we are human and we live in sin, we will never master the game of life. All we can do is keep our hearts and minds on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and we will be blessed! We may even get a hole in one with God as our caddie on the golf course (Life)!
Matt. 22:37-38 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind. This is the first and greatest commandment."
In His Grip,
Sean W. Saunders
