The More I Golf …

… the more I enjoy snowboarding!

Finding success in golf can, for the lousy player (like me!) be a hit or miss activity: that is, you don’t know if you’re going to hit the ball, is miss it entirely.

Actually, I don’t miss the ball as much as I hit it badly: chunk it, top it, toe it, or send it into the water, trees, or sand.

Is there an analog in snowboarding? I’m not sure.

You usually don’t fall down while golfing–and if you do, you probably have more serious problems than a bad golf game. But falling down while snowboarding? That’s easily possible, especially if you are pushing up against your limit, whatever that is.

The lack of scorekeeping is one bonus for snowboarding. Fall down on one run down the piste? Take a line that leads you into some unpleasant work, trying to keep control over unfavorable snow? Lose your momentum while avoiding an inattentive rider or skier?

Not a problem. Get on the chair lift, or hike back up, and start all over. It’s a new game.

Think of the following activities: golf, hockey, baseball, basketball, football, bowling, and the Tour de France bicycle race. What do they have in common? They have distinct time periods of effort during which performance is scored, and then carried forward into the future. Hit the tee shot into the water or throw the bowling ball into the gutter after two strikes, and you’ve got actions that have repurcussions for the duration of the activity.

With snowboarding, you shake off a bad run, and start over again. That’s even the spirit of the competitive events in snowboarding. Whether you’re talking about halfpipe, or slopestyle events, it’s the best out of two or three–not the cumulative score. Snowboard crosss, reflecting its similarities with skiing, does have a cumulative aspect to it.