I have played a lot of golf since my last golf-dedicated post from July 2025…
…a statement that covers range practice, social and competition rounds, because when I used the word “work” to talk about golf practice recently my coach questioned whether that description was helpful.
I’ve been thinking about that… as well as another thing that came up, whether it’s better to say you’ll “do something” as opposed to “try to do something”, since then.
Making work fun
For a while I had this message (pictured above) on my whiteboard at work:
N.B. YOU CHOSE THIS MAKE IT FUN!
A reminder that I chose to pursue an academic life, was remarkably lucky to have attained one, and needed to stay positive and happy, even joyful, at work by making it fun.
It turned out to be too much to ask. Some aspects of my personality just didn’t allow me to thrive in the university as a workplace that values criticism (often not constructive) over praise. I still feel the sting of failure. Failing to produce more research and writing. Failing to be a constantly innovative teacher. Failing to drive myself onwards (and, I suppose that means, upwards). Failing to have more fun doing something so many people want the opportunity to do with a level of stability (ie tenure).
A couple of months before I handed in my notice the whiteboard message changed:
YOU HAVE DONE THE BEST YOU COULD
Although I’m not sure I ever completely believed that one.
By the time I left the message, now my favourite, was:
FREE THE ROBOTS!
I’m happy to explain what I was thinking about when I wrote this. If you’re on Mastodon then find me there or send an email to elsan[at]cantab.net if not. You can also leave comments here, although the comment box may not be the easiest to use, I admit. (It works much better with the website in light mode than dark.)
Working on playing golf
Does my experience of work as (not) fun mean I should never think about golf practice as work as my coach suggested? In the moment, I agreed with him instinctively. It made sense to think about all golf, practice and rounds on course, as play. We had talked about this before.
Thinking about it over the last week or so though, I don’t have a negative response to the idea of work in relation to golf. I think that maybe I can say I’m working on my putting, chipping or whatever without losing the pleasure I feel out in the fresh air hitting golf balls. (Weird? Maybe. But you’ll just have to accept that I find it enjoyable if you can’t imagine that for yourself.)
The idea of “working on” something carries with it a sense of purpose. Each time I practice I want to make the most of that time to learn about a particular club, shot, lie, etc. My intention has changed over 2025 though: no longer striving to build consistency; instead, it’s about learning to adapt my golf to wherever and whenever I find myself on course.
In that strange time between Christmas and New Year I spent some time writing up a set of golf practice plans. It was loosely based on something I found online and, although that college golf practice plan was almost certainly shaped around building consistency, I’ve subverted that to concentrate on learning more about possibilities and adaptability. I altered the plan immediately based on past experience, then again after my first trial run. I’m writing up some details to make it easy for me to check things:
Here’s the other thing…
“Trying to do” versus “doing”
Oh. We’ve been here before. A long time ago I wrote about this on my old blog, 2019 Big change, big plans.
In that post, after some whining about probably over complex work plans I had immediately not realised, I compared words from my coach (on the group clinic where I first started to play golf properly) and my research mentor at Curtin.
Golf coach (well, my take home memory, at least):
Don’t think about what you’re trying to do. Just think, “I’ve got this”. Take some time getting your stance right, whatever club you’re using, and swing.
Research mentor:
Don’t think, “I’m going to try to write today”. Don’t try, just write.
As I wrote the section above, “Working on playing golf”, I had to make a concerted effort not to use the word “try”. Reading the section back now, it is better without “try” or “trying” in there - I feel more positive about what I’ve said.
In spite of this, I keep saying I’m going to “try” this or that. Is it an issue when you’re practising to learn something? I think you need to take a lot of care…
…because you can decide to try something in a practice session, but once the decision is made, then you need to abandon the idea of trying and just do the thing. If you’re not committed to the action then you won’t learn what’s possible.
Taking the idea of trying out on course in a competition is even more dangerous.
This is a note from my last on course coaching session:
Act on every decision as though it is correct - and make it correct.
To play (it’s play all the way down really, hah!) a golf shot you need to have made a decision, with clear intention and then total commitment to action.
What happens to the ball happens. You’re not in complete control. Lots of things can go wrong… or right.
Whatever happens, wherever it ends up, walk to the ball and make the next decision. What do you want to do? Here and now.
N.B. I chose golf. It’s considerably easier to make fun than academic life!
