I walk like a duck. And perhaps it’s how I should be playing golf, too. And maybe I should just quit.

I was playing golf with friends yesterday when one of them, a longtime friend and colleague who plays well and has taught me a great deal about the game, said, “I’ve been watching your feet. The way they impact your game.” “And?”

“Most people walk with their feet pointed straight ahead,” she said. “But you walk like a duck, with your feet pointed out. But when you go to hit the ball, you straighten our your feet, which would be normal if you didn’t walk like a duck.”

“Are you saying I should stand like a duck when I hit the ball?” I asked.

“Yeah. Like you normally stand.”

My fellow players found this extremely amusing. One suggested I also quack like a duck when I hit the ball as well.

I punched him.

It’s true that I walk like a duck, though I didn’t realize it was so universally known. For years, I played the bass drum in our high school’s marching band, and in order to avoid being blown over by the wind, I hard to turn my feet outward to steady myself. Otherwise the drum would’ve act like a sail and the wind would’ve knock me over.

Sadly, this foot position eventually became ingrained, and it’s still how I walk today.

And apparently how I should be playing golf.

I may have to quit the game.