I played in a golf tournament today. Although I did make my share of respectable golf shots, it occurred to me that if I had the same kind of consistency with the use of my woodworking tools that I do with my golf clubs that I would have cut off all my fingers and toes and probably an arm or leg, electrocuted myself and somehow would have managed to cut the shop in half. Why is that? A golf club seems like a simple enough tool. It’s a deception! I can’t ever remember being angry at a piece of wood but I can become quite angry at a golf ball.
On a semi-related subject, I built a small trebuchet that throws golf balls. I’ve gotten up to 125′ in the air so far. One day I took it out to test it and, in my impatience, stupidly set it up backwards and flung a golf ball very hard into the side of my shop about ten feet behind me. After this admission you might be wondering….but yes, I still have all my fingers and toes.
I’m building a new trebuchet. I’ll post it when it get it done.
Be careful, have fun, Bret
Replies
Golf vs. Woodworking
My initial reaction was that there is no comparison. When working wood, I have a ball. When golfing, I lose balls.
Upon further reflection, however, I can see some parallels.
Woodworking: kick-back (no explanation required); Golf: bounce-back (you slice the ball badly, hitting a near-by tree, and the ball bounces back, hitting you in the abdomen, or lower.
Woodworking, mis-reading the plan: (you cut the stiles to the length for the central portion, ignoring the extra length of the tenons). Golf: fairway shift (slicing badly again, you decide to just play the wrong fairway, since it ends at the bar).
Please note that I have never wrapped a chisel around a piece of wood, but in golf . . . ;-)
Jigs
Bret,
Maybe you need a better jig than just that wooden tee. Maybe the Bret Patent Tee will have the golf ball exit a tube which you've already aimed right for the hole, accounting for the wind direction. Ever play golf with a spud gun? Me neither, but it sounds fun.
From Mark Twain
Golf: A good walk spoiled...
nah...it's a challenging sport that takes patience and practice, just like working wood... I enjoy playing a round or two every summer, just for the sheer torture...not really, but it's a wonderful feeling to hit those 1 or 2 spectacular shots. and when spent with friends, the commraderie can't be duplicated at a table saw. golf will never replace WW'ing to me, but it's a wonderful way to spend a day with friends... it's just getting too expensive to play alot.
Golf would never replace woodworking for me. Golf is too boring. I was just making a light hearted comparison of the two endeavors.
Bret
Financials and the Mighty Thor
I don't have to continuously pay money to do woodworking. I've got all the tools and lumber and junk I need already. Nor do people want to bet me whether I can finish a piece better than them.
I've discovered I will never actually participate on the Senior PGA tour as I had vague plans to do at one point in my life. My biggest problem, no matter how many books about golf that I read or how much zen I use to concentrate, is that the soul of "The Mighty Thor" lives in my golf game. I keep him bottled up on the driving range but he comes out somewhere on one of the tee boxes and causes me to swing just a little bit too hard. Once he's out, he's all over my golf game, sitting on my left shoulder like a bad devil, whispering, "Just Grip it and rip it," "Oh you got all of that one. You really tagged that one!" and various things like that and I can't shut him up.
Luckily, I don't have any demons that inhabit my woodworking hobby like that.
Yeah, I Quit a Long Time Ago
I used to golf with some buddies. But it took so LONG to play a round, 5-1/2 hours. The old duffers would be in two carts. They'd all hit then ride to the "away" ball. They'd conference for a while, then one would take out a club, take a few practice swings put it back, take out another , practice swing, adress the ball for 2 or 3 minutes then, finally, hit. They'd pile into the carts ride to the next ball and do the same thing, hole after hole after hole. Meantime I'm standing in 95 degree heat with the sun beating down on me. For this I'd pay $50 to $75.
So I cut my losses. I now stand in my own back yard for four hours for free...
By the way, I'm told in and around Houston these days you can't walk the course anymore. It's all carts now. What a pity.
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