What Tiger Can Teach All Men About Having A Great Marriage..

Tiger Woods is very familiar with greatness. As we all know, he wouldn't necessarily be associated with marital greatness as of late, but he is still a great golfer and knows how to return to greatness even when his golf game seems to be imploding. In fact, had Tiger approached his marriage with some of the same principles with which he approaches his golf game, the outcome might have been very different (and by the way, we're all vulnerable to the same marital mistakes that Tiger made so none of us should be standing in judgement).

Last weekend at the Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods had a terrible weekend of golf. In the post tournament interview, he said something along these lines, "I'm gonna have someone take a look at my swing and see what's going on and see if we can fix it..". This weekend at the PGA Championship, his game has dramatically improved and he is in the running to do well, though it is early in the weekend.

Here's what amazes me. The best golfer, arguably ever, still gets help ('coaching' for those who are too proud to use the word help) when he gets into a rut. He is still smart enough to realize that he has blind spots and he needs someone else to take an objective look at what is going on with his motion.

So if we as men say we want to have a great marriage (which I have yet to meet a man who would say that he wants to have anything less than a great marriage), how is it that we think that we can achieve greatness in a way any different than the greatest achieve it. Greatness requires hard work. It also requires constant maintenance and even coaching (help) from time to time. We (speaking on behalf of all who have ever tossed or broken a golf club) all know what to expect on the golf course when we have not been playing regularly....less-than-mediocre golf ..which leads to great frustration and disappointment. We also know that our game will not improve unless we spend some time purifying our swing motion by either reading golf blogs, books, and magazines, watching instructional videos, or actually going to a pro and getting help. And all of those steps then require time on the driving range to build them into habits (and the adjustments always feel awkward at first).

Why would we expect to have anything other than a less-than-mediocre marriage if we are not constantly working and seeking to improve our game? And if Tiger, being the greatest at his chosen field, is not above getting help when he is in a rut, then how can we think that we don't need help when our marriage is in a rut?