Golf & Imposter Syndrome

Today I want to talk about imposter syndrome. This is something that you hear a lot about in the professional realm, and something that women in particular have had sustained discussions around over the last several years.

No matter what your profession is, what your hobbies are; it is probably fair to say that most of us have experienced imposter syndrome at one point or another. With the explosion of social media, and the constant bombardment with information, ideas, and what are essentially vision boards of everyone’s life around us, it is hard not to compare what we see in the mirror to what we see on the screen.

But while we can close the apps or peel our eyes away from the computer screen to leave the images behind, the feeling of comparison can and does linger, making us question whether we are doing things right, are we behind, or whether we should even be pursuing.

While imposter syndrome, or perceived fraudulence, has been discussed as a matter of mental health, there are more and more advocates for coming out to say that imposter syndrome shouldn’t be a diagnosis, and that allowing it to be viewed as such does more damage by enabling the feelings of anxiety and displeasure that come along with it.

Now, what does this have to do with golf? Sure, most of us aren’t professional golfers and we don’t have expectations of playing at the level we see the pros compete at; but what about that girl you follow on Instagram, or the YouTuber who taught himself trick shots in a matter of weeks? What about the negative comments you might get if you post your swing online?

Take it away from social media, what about comparing your game to your buddies in real life? Is their swing better, did they learn faster than me? Are they more fun to watch? To play with?

Golf is a game that is known for being difficult to master, and particularly for players who have previously excelled in other sports or other hobbies, the reality of how long it takes to improve can be a hard pill to swallow.

As someone who is naturally competitive, I did not take easily to the fact that I could spend hours on a skill and not master it. I did not like the feeling of failure, even though in my head I was supposed to be doing this for fun. I compared myself to the players on social media who said that they had been playing for a similar (or sometimes less) amount of time as me. To this day I still have moments where the feeling of disappointment in my performance on the course or the pace of my improvement overshadows why I play, and how far I have come since I started.

The first time I picked up a golf club was in 2011 at a driving range with my family. It wasn’t until 2015 that I took my first lessons or played my first 9 holes. It wasn’t until 2019 that I played my first 18, and not until 2020 that I realized how much I enjoy the sport. That is 10 years between the first time I picked up a club and now, but I do not have 10 years of experience; I don’t even have 5. While I have spent a significant amount of time improving my game over the last couple of years, I still have a long way to go to reach the skill level I believe I am capable of.

I am not an imposter. I am a golfer. Whether I leave 10 balls lost on the course or play the best round of my life, this is a sport I love and have committed to improving in. There are people who are better than me, and people who are worse than me, but at the end of the day, as long as you are playing, you are a golfer.

Until next time,

Fore!

Katherine

This post originally appeared on The Birds and the Tees