The last 5 years underscored the fact that life is both short as well as fragile. Unfortunately, some of my contemporaries unexpectedly succumbed to a variety of different types of ailments that took them from the physical world. Most battled to remain alive, while others voluntarily perished. It has been difficult for me to witness these heartbreaking circumstances. Life is always challenging but adding disease or psychosis to the equation makes for a brutally difficult existence. As a believer in preventative medicine, I consistently employ healthy habits that should improve my ability to continue living. While there are no guarantees, I want to give myself the best chance to continue to evolve. Given what I have recently witnessed, however, I recognize that remaining alive is tricky. To that point, while I continue to walk amongst the masses, I want to offer an expression of gratitude to those people that positively influence my life.
To my wife, thank you for the love and support over the last 22 years. Our journey has been filled with great times as well as unexpected trials and tribulations. We battle adversity together. Your integrity, composure, and practicality keep me grounded.
To my sons Ty and Jesse, you are both humble, kind, empathetic, smart, and brave. The greatest blessing in my life is being your dad. You both possess great character and immaculate souls. The future is bright for both of you. I admire who you are now, as well as the men that you are becoming.
To my parents, thank you for teaching me about honor, compassion, discipline, tenacity, and grit. I learned the fundamental principles of my life from both of you.
To my friends, thank you all for the bond we created. Navigating life with righteous, insightful, trustworthy, and loyal allies is something that I value. It’s a privilege to earn relationships that are not blood affiliated.
Lastly, I rarely contemplate how I want to be remembered after I am gone. There is a bit of narcissism associated with this type of thinking. As I get older, however, I do hope that the most important people in my life reflect positively on our time together. I would like those closest to me to remember me as honest, loyal, caring, and dependable. I also hope that they recognize the unfettered, genuine love that I have for them.
I don’t plan on going anywhere soon, and I hope to meet other great human beings that positively impact my life.
As parents, we want our children to successfully navigate life’s vicissitudes. Throughout our lives, we faced many challenges that could have been avoided if we had both perspective as well as direction. Some of these tests set us back and undermine our ability to succeed. We’re told that rigors that we endure help define our character through our resiliency and determination. While I agree with that in theory, my core objective will always center around offering my sons guidance that helps them evade pain, penalties or worse. As with most teenagers, they disregard much of what I preach. They’re typical young adults who believe that my messaging is either irrelevant or antiquated. To that point, I am going to offer them my experienced wisdom in an indelible form factor. Perhaps they will read and revisit this as they evolve as men.
Risk – I have always feared failure. Perhaps it’s the potential embarrassment of failing that causes me such anxiety. It could also be that I never wanted to confront my own limitations. Either way, this unfortunate reality has, to date, damaged my ability to achieve some of my personal goals. My advice to my sons is to take calculated gambles early in your lives. Your personal overhead is low, and your financial responsibilities are minimal. Believe in your acquired skills, as well as in your willingness to work. Do what is necessary to make informed decisions. Ignore the cynics as many times they’re simply projecting their own insecurities. Own your choices and learn from the results. Persevere through challenges because almost anything can be overcome.
Emotion – Many times in my life I reacted viscerally to tumultuous situations. Once I was able to attain a perspective, and even if I was right, I regretted my initial reaction as it put me in an ineffective position. My advice is to breathe before responding during contentious circumstances. Clear your mind and remove the personal component associated with heated interactions. Once you do this, you can respond smartly and with composure. This will allow you to effectively handle difficult moments without remorse.
Confidence – Belief in oneself is critical for success in life. Self-worth creates a superhero-like shield. For me, faith in my own abilities is sometimes influenced by others. This predicament is suboptimal and will only lead to personal disappointment. My advice is to never let other opinions dictate your disposition or mindset. Know that you have abilities to be resolute in your convictions. Don’t listen to the noise around you once you have made up your mind to achieve a specific goal.
Grind – Maximum effort usually delivers ideal results. Preparation along with attention to detail ensures that the odds of success are in your favor. My advice is that you take on any important endeavor with passion and grit. Do all the things that most will not do so you increase your chances of achieving your goals. There is a level of personal satisfaction that accompanies winning after expending the maximum amount of energy on a stated task.
Focus – Distractions are routine for all of us. Unfortunately, these diversions undermine our ability to achieve our objectives. My advice is that you ensure that you dedicate 100% of your attention to any job that you have committed to accomplish. Don’t waste time and energy on superfluous diversions. Finish those activities that you are responsible for delivering.
Friendship – I have been fortunate to create dynamic and profound relationships in my life. My most coveted bonds evolved over time. Trust and honesty are the core principles of these alliances. My advice is that you allow relationships to be earned by those that you deem worthy of your devotion. Be patient and cautious with the individuals that you welcome into your inner circle. A mutual and unbreakable loyalty will occur with those that eventually qualify as a lifelong ally.
Work – Making money while remaining happy with how you create your income represents a real conundrum for most of us. As you age, the financial responsibilities grow, and accountable people must settle for roles that allow them to earn a wage commensurate to their lifestyle. My advice is that you get over-educated and develop those unique skills that can be utilized throughout your career. If there is a field that piques your interest, volunteer to work for an organization that supports that specific career path. Ask to be mentored by people who are successful in the specific field that interests you. Getting up every day enthused, excited, and impassioned are what all professionals strive to achieve.
Love – It’s hard to protect your heart when you share your innermost feelings with someone. Unfortunately, real devotion can only happen if you take an emotional risk. While it doesn’t feel good to get burned, it’s important to wade through the temporary pain to eventually find the right person to spend the rest of your life with. My advice is that you never compromise. Remain patient until you absolutely know that the person that you ask to be your wife is as committed to you as you are to her.
Persistency – Rejection, defeat and failure are unfortunate facts of life. If you’re determined to succeed, however, strong-minded people usually end up overcoming whatever challenges they’re confronting. My advice is that you write down whatever goals you are committing to accomplishing. If you write down your objectives, it’s difficult to procrastinate or ignore the process. Expect that setbacks will happen, but that they will not thwart your mission. Be relentless and undeterred in your approach and great things will happen.
Grace – Mistakes are a part of life. As you get older, errors keep you up at night. Unfortunately, self-flagellation accompanies personal blunders. My advice is that you give yourself a break and recognize that you will get other opportunities to shine. Be self-aware and recognize the specific failure points. Commit to not allowing past breakdowns the opportunity to endure beyond their expiration date. The only way to successfully move forward is to end the personal beatdown, and to recommit to never allowing the error to happen again. Finally, offer the same leniency to others that deserve it. Life is complicated for everyone, so empathy is required.
Ty and Jesse, you both are smart, savvy, and intrepid young men. You’ve proven that you are both mentally tough, having endured demanding, stressful predicaments at a young age. I’ve never witnessed either one of you back down from a challenge, and you both demonstrate resolve when it is required. Your character is unshakable, and that attribute cannot be taken away from either of you.
Like many people that are addicted to the sport, I want to be a good golfer. I envy those who find the sport easy to play. Golfers that possess geometrically precise swings, and can launch a ball mile, keep me motivated to work to improve my game. I enjoy practicing, but my range game generally doesn’t translate to a similar performance on the course. My expectation that the latest equipment advancements will help me achieve my scoring objectives generally ends in disappointment. Some of the professional instruction I have received over the last 30 years has helped me execute better than I would have if I had not taken the lessons. I own almost every training aid that has been invented, but only a handful have assisted me in producing positive results.
I have never hit the ball very far, and my ball contact has always been suboptimal. Those issues have undermined my ability to consistently score well. When I was playing more often, and my body was more flexible, my handicap dropped to a 5.7 index for a few seasons. Now that I play less, and I am older, it has become more difficult to create a reliably effective golf swing. My handicap has ballooned to a 9.9 index (even higher at times), and it seems as though I hit an improvement wall.
In December of 2021 I visited the PXG store in Arizona. They were kind enough to oversee me as I tried to get the ball airborne in their facility. My driver swing speed averaged 95 mph and the ball dispersion on the clubface was ghastly. Additionally, my swing path was surprisingly and regularly over-the-top. As I drove away from the facility, I realized that I would have to make radical changes, or golf would become perpetually frustrating for me.
Things began to slowly improve when I incorporated two new training aids. This past winter, I read an article featuring the Rypstick. During my subsequent research on the product, I watched Dr. Luke Benoit, Director of Instruction at Interlachen Country Club, and inventor of the Rypstick, discuss the science behind his device. I was desperate to get better, and unafraid to invest the money, so I ordered one. Once it arrived, I followed the training protocol suggested. Over the next few months, I did almost everything Dr. Luke demonstrated. The workouts were rigorous and swinging outside in cold temperatures was unpleasant. That said, when I was able to get back on a launch monitor, my driver swing speed averaged 101 mph. When spring arrived, and I was able to hit a ball outside, I realized carry distances that I never thought were possible. Unfortunately, my swing path remained over-the-top, and I couldn’t find a way to create an inside-out path. All that said, when I hit the ball squarely, my ball went farther than it had in years.
I ended up hiring a friend, and PGA professional, to help me better my game. For years, I snatched the club inside, and then dropped the club even further inside on the downswing. My miss was a nasty snap hook, but I regularly hit a “draw” loaded with distance-gaining, ground topspin. Late in 2021, I surprisingly got over-the-top, and my ball regularly flew feebly to the right. My instructor told me that my club was not on plane, and he asked me to work on both my alignment as well the shaft position on my backswing. That is what I continue to work on during my practice sessions. The outside-in path remains a challenge for me, and it must change if I am going to continue to evolve.
Early last season, I purchased the Lag Shot Golf 7 iron. Most amateur golfers struggle with rushing their swing from the top as well as casting the club. I am no different, and this flaw is a power-killer. My pre-round routine now includes 10 minutes warming up with the Lag Shot. I try to get a feel of how I should be swinging my actual clubs during the round. When I can consistently hit the ball with the Lag Shot, my confidence improves. That is a good thing when I get to the first tee.
I am far from where I want to be. I will continue to work with my instructor, as well as utilizing both the Rypstick and the Lag Shot. I will remain dedicated to improving my strength, flexibility, and pliability. Golf is hard, and my regular regressions make the game maddening. Quitting is not an option, so I will embrace the struggle.
Please feel free to offer up any sage advice if you feel like you can positively impact my game.
If you want to improve your swing speed, and you’re willing to put in the work, purchase the Rypstick. Use this link and enter this code “HUNTFISHGOLF” for 20% off your purchase.
If you want to work on your temp and transition, purchase a Lag Shot product. Use this link and enter this code “HUNTFISHGOLF” for 20% off your purchase.
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It is September of 2022, and most of the citizens of United States of America are angry and divided. Politicians and the media continue to produce contrived narratives that blur facts and undermine the truth. Their actions are deliberate, and they have successfully pitted neighbors against neighbors, friends against friends, and family members against family members. Power and money make up the core reasons for this relentless and corrupt attack against the people of our country.
It is my contention that most American citizens want the devolving of our society to end. We want to live in a free country where skin color, religion, sexual preference, gender, and political affiliation are not a matter of consequence. Most of us want to work hard, raise a family, and experience happiness. It is my contention that:
Most people believe in God.
Most people are kind.
Most people are inclusive.
Most people have integrity.
Most people are generous.
Most people value a meritocracy.
Most people protect the most vulnerable.
Most people appreciate free speech.
Most people want to protect the planet.
Americans need and deserve representatives that are honest, transparent, and selfless. Elected officials must prioritize bettering the lives of their constituents versus angling themselves for personal gain. The people that report the facts must disregard their political bias and stop perpetuating obvious falsehoods. The blatant narcissism and self-aggrandizing must end. The system must work as our forefathers intended if the citizens of this country are going to prosper.
