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COVID-19 life has flushed out many of the anxieties that disturb us daily – and nightly.
My dreams have been flat-out weird in the past year. Thankfully I’m one of those who usually forgets the bizarre details the moment I wake up, but my wife has vividly described some doozies (and they tend to feature Matthew McConaughey less frequently). Many of the recurring standbys have blessedly faded away as the years pass – I can’t recall the last time I was flying naked or late for some scholastic test in a class I hadn’t attended.
But the golf dream haunts me and leaves me anxious on mornings when one hopes to feel refreshed.
I’m not alone in having the golf dream. There are Reddit boards on the subject featuring the similarly afflicted. The venue and gallery size may vary, but the plot never changes. No matter where I peg the ball on the tee box, my backswing always seems to be impeded or impinged. Or maybe something is crowding my line keeping me from getting comfortable enough to pull the trigger. Or the ball won’t stay on the tee. Repeated efforts never rectify the problem. It goes on and on and on like a J.B. Holmes pre-shot routine or poor Sergio García during his fidgety regripping phase. Tony Jacklin spoke of similar dreams where he was trying to swing inside a British phone booth (and we all know only Jim Furyk can do that).
What does it mean? I can’t recall ever reading Sigmund Freud’s thoughts on this specific subject. The internet, however, has lots of theories on the repressed psychology behind it.
The DreamsAnalysed blog says that dreams of being restricted for space or confined in a small space are typically experienced “when the dreamer is confined or restricted by circumstances outside of their control.” Considering COVID has restricted all us beyond our control, that seems reasonable enough.
According to DreamMeaning.net: “The dream that you cannot hit a ball while playing golf; it suggests that you will have a shot at something, but you will fail because you are not seeing the full picture. You will see an opportunity but (are) unable to grasp it.”
My favorite dream interpreter – “AuntyFlo” – states: “If you can’t hit a golf ball in your dream, it denotes your lack of self-confidence in waking life. It also represents a side of you that’s critical about everything you do, even when you accomplish something.”
Whatever waking anxieties summon it, the golf dream persists. It has fortunately never come true in real life, where the nightmare usually begins after making contact with the ball. But its recurring nocturnal presence is frustrating.
If you’ve never experienced it, like talking about the yips you should probably not read this (oops, late spoiler alert). If you do share the suffering … HIT IT ALREADY! … I wish you sweeter dreams tonight
E-MAIL SCOTT
Scott Michaux