“Swing Your Swing”
Every swing is different. We often try to imitate some great golfer’s swing. We think that we are swinging like Ben Hogan when in reality our swing looks more like Charles Barkley’s!
But as good or bad as our swing might be, the great Arnold Palmer encouraged us all in that wonderful television commercial he did a few years back. While showing a myriad of amateur golf swings, the King’s distinctive voice was saying;
“Swing your swing; not a swing you saw on TV, not that swing you wish you had. No, swing your swing! Capable of greatness, prized only by you; perfect in its imperfection. Swing your swing. I did.”
Arnold Palmer had a swing like no one else on Tour. It was uniquely his. A writer described it as looking like a dock worker unloading freight. It was work-man like. It was strong, it was powerful, and it was effective; it was “perfect in its imperfection.” It was all Arnold.
A golf swing only has to be perfect one split second: the moment the clubface contacts the ball. How it gets there and what it does afterwards, is totally up to the individual. The swing can be a thing of beauty, or look like a train wreck. It can be slow and rhythmical, or quick and jerky; short and sweet, or long and lanky; it can stay on plane or cross it half a dozen times!
And the follow-throughs! Oh, the follow-throughs. We want balanced. We want to pose. What we get is a falling backwards, sawed off, slipping and sliding effort that looks more like a drunk trying to walk a chalk line.
But it’s our swing. And Arnie said it is “Capable of greatness.”
So it is. Your swing takes you around a beautiful layout with good friends. Your swing lifts your spirits when you are down in the dumps. Your swing gets you out of the office when you just need to get out of the office. Your swing gets to that par five in two sometimes. Your swing is “prized only by you” because it gives you the opportunity to play the greatest game ever created by men tending sheep.
We all miss seeing Mr. Palmer’s unique swing. We thank him for inspiring us to play this game by swinging his swing, and encouraging us to go do the same.
