Still playing after all these years
Actually, not always...
It’s kind of astonishing to think that some rock bands founded in the 1960s are still performing today – decades after they were launched.
The Beach Boys captured that California vibe starting in 1961. This Surfin’ Safari is scheduled to play in England in June 2025.
The Rolling Stones rolled out in 1962. They are reportedly (teasingly?) getting set for a Las Vegas Residency (whatever that is) in 2025-26. (As an aside, their 2024 tour was sponsored by none other than AARP…go figure.)
These musicians - and others such as western swing icon Asleep at the Wheel celebrating 50 years in 2025 - have stuck it out through thick and thin.
ADAP
Many members of the Age-defying Athletes Project (ADAP) community started with a sport and have stuck with it through thick and thin, too. Devon, 74, began golfing at age seven – and by his reckoning has played once weekly ever since. Tyrel and Doris have played tennis all 53 years of their marriage.
In fact, “just keep playing” is a goal of most ADAP participants, whether they took up pickleball this spring, or have bicycled regularly for the past 40 years.
Duangkamol
Duangkamol certainly expected to be playing golf a long time when she began that sport in her 30s, about 50 years ago.
“My husband is a scratch golfer, was on the college golf team,” she relates. One time, in fact, in a special tournament, he was granted one year “pro” status due to a hole-in-one at the event.
“I loved to watch golf and rode often with my husband,” explains Duangkamol.
It’s no surprise that she desired to master the game.
“[A friend’s] husband … was a golf pro who taught a ‘Rookette’ class [for women who were golf rookies],” Duangkamol says.
One summer, she took the course, which consisted of six lessons. The participants also played nine holes.
“The following year,” Duangkamol continues, “I went back to ‘Rookettes’ and continued to do this for six more years. Ladies and I had lots of laughs because we were not very good.”
However, when she went back the eighth time, the instructor said there was nothing more he could do for her.
She never played golf again.
Trading water hazards for water fun
Duangkamol, 80, had had an active childhood: cheer, dance (ballet, tap, modern, hula from the time she was six and continuing until she was 60), swimming (also starting at age six), and membership on swim teams.
So, while golf had been a disappointment (she admits that her eye-hand coordination was “bad”), it was merely a setback, and Duangkamol flipped back to the water for her next chapter.
“Eight years ago,” she notes, “I started high impact water aerobics because of severe osteoarthritis. But when I’m in the water, nothing hurts.”
“Every class is different, with different music,” says Duangkamol. “It’s very up-to-date, not repetitive.”
Not repeating a class that is held three times a week year-round is quite an accomplishment.
In fact, due to her admiration for the “no-nonsense” aquarobics instructor with plenty of stamina, Duangkamol began subbing for her and eventually became a certified water aerobics teacher, too.
The class consists of about 40 participants. “There’s not a lot of [student] turnover,” states Duangkamol. “25 people have stuck with it for eight years.”
Even though the pool is heated to 83 degrees, in the winter, Duangkamol wears a neoprene jacket and nylon pants. She also covers her ears.
The class uses water dumbbells and occasionally styrofoam noodles.
No water hazards, indeed. Duangkamol proclaims that “I am happier when I don’t play golf.”
She has had some surgeries which kept her landlocked. “I fell and broke my arm and was off six weeks…also wrist surgery and again off six weeks.”
“It’s not hard to bounce back because I love it so much,” declares Duangkamol.
WIIFY?
Are you still not playing after all these years?
Perhaps you have had an experience similar to Duangkamol’s: a pro offered more in the way of discouragement than encouragement.
Get over it. Remember, there are almost 5000 golf instructors in the US today, and tennis pros number almost five times that. Somewhere, there’s a coach who could be a good fit.
But maybe golf and tennis aren’t for you. As Duangkamol did, hearken back to what was fun for you as a kid. Swimming? Bicycling? Bowling even? Re-turn to one of these and begin your decades-long journey.
May the Little Old Lady from Pasadena be your inspiration!