Failure to Engage

I started golfing right around ten years ago. I still golf, but not nearly as much as I'd like to or can afford to. It's a great sport, and anyone that golfs at all can relate to the feeling you get when that one ball is struck so well and so cleanly that it sails to the exact point on the fairway or green that you envisioned. There is a distinct tactile difference in your hands and the club when that ball is struck. Every minute mental and physical detail coming together perfectly results in a euphoric feeling that is often referred to as being "in the zone".

A few people that know me well also know that I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to proper grammar, spelling, and the use of words in our daily lexicon. I think my second job could easily have been editor in any capacity, really. "In the zone" is one of the many overused phrases in our world today, and like "thinking outside the box", or the use of any word purposely misspelled annoys me to no end. I have recently discovered though, that I can't readily replace the phrase "in the zone" with anything that would get my intentions across to the reader as much as that single phrase.

The zone. That familiar, warm, and endorphin-producing place was a destination again yesterday, but this time it did not happen on a pristine and green golf course. It was in a place of perfectly controlled chaos. The shooting range is filled with several targets, both reactive steel and paper. The targets are part of a game which I've started to play on a semi-regular basis. I've talked about it here already, but the USPSA competitions at the local range have grabbed me and taken hold of my psyche. I was "in the zone" yesterday on the last three or four stages of a six stage course of fire. The scores are not available yet, but I'm sure I was near the top of my capability on the last few stages. Pushing the envelope (yeah-there's another one) is the name of the game, and the faster you get, the higher you rank. It is as much mental as it is physical, and therein lies the appeal to me. Of course, misses, failures to engage (overlooking and skipping a target), and other mistakes count against you as penalties, so a perfectly constructed and executed bit of twenty or thirty second controlled fury is what gets you "in the zone". If you get the chance, I recommend you become a frequent flyer to this special place.