Daily Post: Grainy
Listening to the commentators on TV describe the tedious process of determining the direction of a putt by a professional golfer, can be confusing for those who don’t understand the terminology. When the announcers speak about the “grain” of a green, it is a reference to the texture of the grass in terms of the direction the grass is leaning. The “break” then, is the direction your ball will follow based on the green’s topography and the grain of the grass.
In the example above, if you are putting on a level green and hit your putt perfectly straight (ha!), but the grain of the grass is to the right, your ball will move to the right of the hole. An experienced golfer will play this grainy influence by aiming to the left of the hole, allowing for the grain as an aid to help the ball stay on a path to the hole.
The grass on a given green, and the way it grows, contributes to the grain. Most golf courses cut their greens from a different direction daily to keep the grain even. However, if the course cuts their grass in the same direction every day, the grass will begin to grow in a distinct direction, leaning to one side more than the other, causing a grainy green. Which by the way, some courses do intentionally to make a particular hole more challenging, or to assist the golfer on difficult shots.
Putting can be a lot like life at times. It is definitely an imperfect and much maligned part of the total golfing experience. What makes golf so different from other sports is the fact that there are 18 different greens to play in a single round of golf. Since most golf courses place the pins on the greens at different locations every day, even if you play the same course over and over, it’s impossible to master every putt on every green. And that’s just on one course. If you play multiple different courses, the complexity of putting is multiplied exponentially.
What’s a golfer to do? Here are three things to help you putt better:
- analyze the grain
- get a different view
- trust your swing
Analyze the grain: this just means, do your best to see which way the grain of the grass is growing, and know that this factor will pull the ball in that direction.
Get a different view: just means, before you putt the ball, walk around to the other side of the hole you are putting toward, and see if the break caused by the grain looks the same from both directions.
Trust your swing: just means, after a quick look around (don’t waste everyone’s time here), use your best judgment, pick a line, and trust your subconscious muscle memory to help make your swing.
We could learn so much spiritually if we would approach our walk with God using these same simple instructions.
Analyze the spiritual grain around you…
1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Get a different view than just what you see and hear in social media or fake news…
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Trust God’s Spirit inside you …
2 Corinthians 5:4-8
For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord–for we walk by faith, not by sight–we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
Going grainy just means, we live knowing there are invisible influences which try to make us stray from God’s intended path for our lives. We must go against these influences, keeping our eyes on the prize of God’s glory through our lives. And most importantly, we must trust God’s Spirit to empower us to do it.
Every day… go grainy!
≠
If you liked this blog post feel free to share it with your friends. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
As I was saying... 