The Rehab Hits Keep Coming!! After 2930 days I can now chip!!

One of the activities that appeared to have been vanquished from my post stroke life was my ability to play golf – or at least give the impression that I could look reasonably coordinated on a golf course.

With my right arm the way it was, I could not swing properly,let alone grip my beloved No.3 iron, I had resigned myself to never donning the Plus Fours and doing 18 holes.

Or so I thought!

Thrill Seekers and Fellow Time Travellers don’t be confused by this headline I'm not referring to bodily functions but rather referring to an incident which happened whilst I was tending the crops in Le Jardin de Beh on Saturday.

Let me give the context in which this sporting epiphany occurred.

I was in the process of building a trellis for my climbing beans and I picked up a stake which when I looked at it thought that it was the size of a Golf Club.

So, the first time since my stroke I adopted the stance and then swung the stake like a pitching wedge=the result was I got the stake parallel to my waist! It surprised me I tried again a little higher but could not- too painful!

What surprised me was that this had not crossed my mind since the stroke-some 2920 days ago!

Hence the headline!

I then went into my garage [the suburban attic], where my Golf Clubs were gathering dust -drew out a pitching wedge then went out onto the back lawn and found that I could successfully hold it and swing like I said to about 30° without any difficulty.

As I am ambidextrous, I play golf left and right-handed; tennis and squash right-handed; cricket left-handed only.

So, Thrill Seekers and Fellow Time Travellers what did I do?

I got a couple of very dusty and grimy golf balls then went down to the local park and with my chipping wedge and for the next hour and a half chipped my way around the park.

I have a long way to go in terms of my golf pre stroke. I was playing off a handicap of 24.

I used to play with some corporate mates using the Ambrose format and those of you who are familiar with that concept of golf realise that we weren't particularly good. We tended to judge each round of golf in terms of the number of golf balls we lost -four to five was a good round I think the worst I can remember playing was a 12 or 18 between four of us.

Enough reminiscing!

The point I want to make is that I have been doing my rehab \{my reaching\} for nearly 7 years and I am now seeing the little things that I am able to do.

in other blogs I had recorded other rehab successes so there is a glimmer that perhaps I can get out on the golf course again.

To me this was a major milestone in my rehab and 3 days a week now I intend to go down to the park and chip around the park- in shorts – not plus fours

To me this is another example of the extended nature of Stroke Rehab- My Long and Winding Road

Brian A Beh. Stroke Survivor.