so I was at my in-laws’ house over xmas and my mother-in-law (from now on “MIL” - no not a similar 4 letter abbreviation!) knows i play golf and so had bought me a golf present which she’d bought from the local club pro and been told by him would definitely improve my game as it had been trialled by loads of local pros etc. A little skeptical, I opened it to find a piece of fake grass, a squidgy (and also a bit sticky) golf ball thing and a piece of velcro with a sticky side underneath. The idea is, is that you stick the velcro pad (velcro side up) onto the clubface, put the ball onto the bit of grass and take a swing. If the ball stays on the velcro, a proper golf shot. If not, then not a good shot and you have to work on your technique (not quite sure how that actually helps your technique improve)! If you see what i mean.
now, we all know there’s about as much chance of improving your game by using this “performance-enhancing” “training aid” than there is of me winning the masters. Perhaps rather ill-considered, my reaction to opening the present rather gave away what i thought about it - there’s probably a lesson in behavioural patterns with the MIL (but that’s for a different forum). When immediately asked if I wanted to exchange it for a lesson with the pro, I explained I was already receiving lessons. “Oh really”, she said, “with who?” “Well, that’s not a straight forward answer,” I replied…
I could have just hidden my true thoughts and accepted the gift? Would have been much easier than trying to explain the ABS’ system and her having to keep the gift herself as she couldn’t face explaining to the pro that I didn’t want a free lesson as a replacement for the gift. Pro: “Why wouldn’t he want a free lesson with me…”
By the way, when trying to explaining the ABS method to my MIL, I asked if she’d seen Karate Kid and then offered that as an analogy.