Having lost a bit of flexibility in the past twenty years (it's around here somewhere), I received some new golf clubs at Christmas. These are newfangled beasts with whippy graphite shafts and oversize heads; the head on the new driver reminds me of a butterfly net or perhaps a table-tennis paddle. I finally gave them a test today, and oh my - I can swing at about 2/3 speed and get results similar to my teeny-head stiff-steel-shafted relics of the 1980s. Swinging at what I think of as full speed yields random results (seldom good random though) as the shaft is flexing at the wrong part of the swing. The irons are still steel shafts, though a bit less stiff I expect, so I need to rethink how fast I need to swing depending on which club I use. Well, OK: not rethink so much as think.
This implies that I can get in a full round of golf and still be able to move the next day; I found that a bit more difficult the last time, sad to say. More golf for less effort means.. well, more golf! Also more flexibility and improved conditioning. Sure, some will say it's not a "real" sport.. well it'll do for me. Just consider it a nice walk in an expensive park, with a bit of stretching twisting and muttering thrown in. Maybe a beer too.
