Have We Lost the Ability to Be Bored?
A few days ago, I watched two girls waiting for the group ahead to clear the green.
No phones.
No complaints.
No "How much longer?"
Instead, one grabbed a pinecone, the other volunteered to be the goalie, and suddenly they had invented their own little game. One chipped a pinecone. The other tried to stop them. They were laughing. Competing. Problem-solving. Creating.
It struck me that something so simple has become surprisingly rare.
We Live in a World That Never Makes Us Wait
Need dinner? Delivered. Need entertainment? Unlimited. Bored? Scroll. Lose a video game? Start another one. Don't like a dating profile? Swipe left. Our world has become remarkably good at removing friction. While convenience has made life easier in many ways, I wonder if we've accidentally removed something that humans actually need. Boredom. Struggle. Waiting.
The long, often tedious process of getting good at something. Because sport doesn't work like Amazon Prime. You don't order a better golf swing and have it arrive tomorrow. You don't land a gymnastics dismount because you watched one video. You don't break 80 because you wanted it badly enough.
Sport still asks the same things it always has.
Repeat.
Fail.
Adjust.
Repeat again.
Sometimes for months.
Sometimes for years.
Comfort Isn't Always Helping Us
In The Comfort Crisis, Michael Easter argues that modern life has become so comfortable that we've unintentionally removed many of the challenges humans evolved to overcome.
His idea is simple:
When we remove every form of struggle from our lives, we also remove many of the experiences that build resilience, confidence, and purpose.
Instead of waiting, we distract ourselves. Instead of sitting with discomfort, we eliminate it.
Instead of being bored, we fill every spare second with stimulation. Ironically, research suggests this constant pursuit of comfort hasn't made us happier. Rates of anxiety continue to rise, attention spans are shrinking, and many people feel mentally exhausted despite living physically easier lives. Easter calls the solution voluntary discomfort which means to choose challenges rather than avoiding them.
Physical challenges.
Time in nature.
Doing hard things.
Being okay with boredom.
Not because suffering is the goal, but because growth often lives on the other side of discomfort.
Boredom Is Where Creativity Lives
Neuroscience gives us another reason not to fear boredom. When our brains aren't constantly occupied, something interesting happens. The brain's default mode network becomes active. This network is associated with creativity, imagination, reflection, future planning, and problem solving. It's often why your best ideas show up in the shower, during a walk, or while staring out the window. Not while scrolling Instagram. Not while checking notifications. Not while consuming endless content.
When we remove every quiet moment from our day, we may also be removing many of the opportunities for creativity to emerge. Those girls with the pinecone didn't invent a game despite being bored. They invented it because they were bored.
Skill Development Was Never Supposed to Be Entertaining Every Second
As coaches, we're competing against something we've never had to compete against before. An athlete can go from excitement to entertainment in seconds.
Practices can't.
And they shouldn't.
Mastering a golf swing isn't always exciting. Learning to control speed on a putt isn't always glamorous. Hitting hundreds of wedges isn't instantly rewarding. But those repetitive hours are where confidence is built. Research on deliberate practice consistently shows that expertise isn't developed through constant novelty. It's built through focused repetition, immediate feedback, and sustained attention over time. The greatest athletes don't simply tolerate that process. They learn to appreciate it.
So What Can Coaches Do?
We probably can't change the world our athletes grow up in. But we can create environments that help them build the skills modern life often doesn't. We can create spaces where athletes learn to:
Sit with frustration instead of immediately escaping it.
Solve problems before asking for answers.
Practice without constant entertainment.
Wait without reaching for a phone.
Find joy in simple games and their own creativity.
Embrace repetition instead of chasing constant novelty.
Celebrate effort, patience, and persistence, not just outcomes.
Sometimes that means allowing a little unstructured time. Sometimes it means resisting the urge to over-coach every minute. Sometimes it means letting athletes invent games with pinecones while they wait. Because those moments are teaching something bigger than golf.
The Best Athletes Learn to Love the Process
The athletes who thrive long term aren't always the most talented. They're often the ones who can stay engaged when improvement is slow. Who can tolerate boredom. Who aren't afraid of repetition. Who understand that meaningful progress rarely feels exciting in the moment.
In a world designed to eliminate every inconvenience, perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give young athletes is the opportunity to experience a little productive discomfort.
Not because it's fun. Because it's where resilience grows.
And sometimes, all it takes is a pinecone, a golf club, and a little bit of waiting.