Are we getting too lazy?

[bobmac]

Old man's rant coming.

Have we lost the art of practicing?
It seems nowadays we want the equipment to do everything for us...

Custom fitted putters, most of which look like branding irons with soft/medium/hard inserts

4/5 wedges with the right grooves that spin the ball for us

super GI irons that supposedly fly the distance with off centre hits

rescues/hybrids/utility clubs to replace the long irons we cant hit

woods with the adjustable heads, and shafts to help us hit it left/right/lower/higher

and balls which fly better/straighter/longer/higher/lower.


I know it's called progress and anything to help people enjoy their golf must be good for the game.

I know people have little time these days what with work and famillies so pratice time is limited.

But

We've always had work and famillies.

Whatever happened to the skill in adapting your swing to play the different type of shots.
Whatever happened to the little knock down shots with the 8,9,pw, learning how to hit it left to right/ higher /lower etc etc etc.

I relish the challenge to play well using my imagination to play the different types of shots and thats where I get my satisfaction from.

I believe if you want to be a GOOD player you need to learn the skills of playing golf again and not worry too much about having the perfect set of technology and the latest gear in the bag.

Yes, I agree, get a set of clubs that you like the look of but then get out there and practice with them and learn the skills needed to play this game well.

Apologies to all those who do practice hard.

 

[DCB]

Interesting post Bob. It's a different game nowadays, people don't learn to play the game and play the course in the manner they used to. Imagination isn't a pre-requisite nowadays.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Life gets in the way Bob, everyone wants to get better, I want to get better, but I also don't want to piss off the wife.

 

[One Planer]

I agree to a point Bob.

But isn't this a generalization on todays society in general as in technology making life easier?

Using your post as an example. I'm gulity of having 4 wedges and an adjustable driver (Which is set to neutral) but thats it. I carry a milled face putter, regular irons, I HATE hybrids with a passion and play a boggo AD333.

I want to get better, learn more and play to a higher standard, hence me playing between 27 and 36 holes a week combined with a session at the range.

I have a young family and manage to make time fo this because I have an understanding wife, I can understand why people dont/cant practice more, especially if HID disproves.

 

[Imurg]

I think it's more about the amount of activities that go on outside Golf.
With more HID's having to work than back in the day, us Dads have to take more share of the chores than, for example, my Dad did. I generally do the school run, I do most of the shopping, I get The Boy from after school club 3-4 days a week then have to sort him out. Add into that all the taxiing around getting him from one thing to another.
So although, yes, there have always been families and work, for me it's a case of too many things going on to devote 3-4 hours a week practicing. Also take into account that not everywhere has a practice ground. If I want to practice my short game I can on our par 3 course, or putting on the green outside the clubhouse. Anything more than a wedge and it's £3 a bucket of balls please.... Gets a little expensive doing that 2-3 times a week.

 

[GB72]

I do not believe that we have always had work in the same way that we do now. With email, mobiles etc the demands on me certainly are higher and the customer/client expects far more these days. Certainly I cannot remember the last time I worked a 9-5 day. Add to that family, friends etc and practice time is limited.

I would love to go out for a few holes or spend an hour on the range every day but I cannot fit it in.

I know I am limited to how much I can achieve without practice but I fit in what I can when I can and the main thing is that I enjoy my golf whether it be good, bad or indifferent.

 

[chrisd]

Apologies to all those who do practice hard.

Apology accepted Bob

I go to the range and practice 2/3 times a week and play a mid week practice round and have a lesson every couple of months although I do have all stuff that you list



Chris

 

[USER1999]

Sadly I do practice, quite a lot, and I'm still rubbish at golf.

I often wonder why I bother, and can't really recommend it as a way of improving.

 

[Mark_Aged_42]

Also, are our lives more stressful these days, so we are just plain knackered and cant be bothered? Stress of unemployment, crime, schooling for our children, stress of travelling on crowded roads and trains, the stress of rising prices and falling incomes all mean that come the evening, crashing out becomes the default for a great many people.

 

[Monty_Brown]

There have always been people who want to put the hard yards in to improve, while others are happy with a once a week game.

But I agree with the above comments that many of us no longer have the choice or opportunity to put in the practice due to lifestyle.

When I got my first job on a local paper, I lived about 15 minutes from work, and could be pretty much free to do what I wanted by 6pm on a weekday. Then when you get a mortgage (which keeps on going up), you have to look further afield if you want to progress salary-wise. So it's hello to 2-hour commutes into London, and goodbye to 18 holes after work.

In the summer, I still find time to get to the range in the week, but that means p-ing off the missus to do it.

On learning playing skills, I still only have standard issue PW and SW in the bag... when I started as a junior, we just learned to hit every shot with those, high or low. Chipping comps for a pound stake were the stuff of dreams in school holidays.

 

[fundy]

Anything wrong with both? practising hard and utilising the new technology?

Yes i have an adjustable driver, 4 wedges, a hybrid, gps etc etc but none of that helps if i dont go and practise several times a week

That said if my home course had practise facilities like the Grove or Brocket Hall etc then practising would be 100 times easier

 

[Aztecs27]

When I got my first job on a local paper, I lived about 15 minutes from work, and could be pretty much free to do what I wanted by 6pm on a weekday. Then when you get a mortgage (which keeps on going up), you have to look further afield if you want to progress salary-wise. So it's hello to 2-hour commutes into London, and goodbye to 18 holes after work.

In the summer, I still find time to get to the range in the week, but that means p-ing off the missus to do it.

I agree with this, except I don't have a two hour commute. But my club is a 25 minute drive. And the closest driving range is 15 minutes drive. I sometimes don't finish work until 6:30-7pm.

I desperately want to be a better golfer, and am getting there slowly, but when one thing is sorted another goes pear shaped. I seem to have my horrible out-in swing creeping back in which has made my long game ugly as hell (just ask anyone I played with yesterday) but my short game is better than it was (well, if I don't count yesterday ).

Having the time (and money) to practice and have lessons isn't always a luxury I have...Especially since my car has started making droning noises and is on the way out, meaning I have to find money for a new car.

This doesn't mean I'll be changing my clubs to help aid my game. No clubs are going to help me the way I'm swinging at the minute.

It's depressing as hell!

 

[bladeplayer]

Old man's rant coming.

Have we lost the art of practicing?.. YES


Custom fitted putters, most of which look like branding irons with soft/medium/hard inserts... DONT HAVE CF..

4/5 wedges with the right grooves that spin the ball for us. 4 WEDGES CANT SPIN A BALL TO SAVE MY LIFE ..


super GI irons that supposedly fly the distance with off centre hits.. SAME CLUBS FOR YEARS

rescues/hybrids/utility clubs to replace the long irons we cant hit... DONT USE

woods with the adjustable heads, and shafts to help us hit it left/right/lower/higher... G5 SO DONT KNOW ..

and balls which fly better/straighter/longer/higher/lower. BUT STILL GO OOB & INTO WATER ..



But

We've always had work and famillies.. BUT NOT INFLATED MORTGAGES , PETROL . FOOD PRICES ETC..

Whatever happened to the little knock down shots with the 8,9,pw, .. STILL DO THIS JUST NOT ON PURPOSE

I believe if you want to be a GOOD player you need to learn the skills of playing golf again and not worry too much about having the perfect set of technology and the latest gear in the bag.. AGREED BUT AS MUCH AS I ENJOY GOLF & PLAYING WELL , ITS MY PAST TIME MATE & HAS TO FIT AROUND THE REAL BUSINESS OF EVERY DAY LIFE

Good post tho ...

 

[Monty_Brown]

Another thought occurs about the modern game... information overload. 20 years ago, practicing meant learning to play by feel because that was all the information most amateurs had to go on. Apart from the odd lesson with the club pro, who may have had a video camera the size of a fridge freezer to film your swing, the best view most of us ever got of our swing was the reflection in the patio window!

Compare that to now, when smartphones all have video cameras and you can download an app to show swing plane and head positions and slowmo views. In theory, we should know much more about our swings. Not sure if that should result in practicing more or less. Maybe we do one good one on film, think we've cracked it, then go home!

 

[Richie13]

im guilty of buying into "tech" to help me out, adustable driver currently set 1* open nikes method putter, and a hybrid! sill without practice id be worse than i am, i still put in the time to practice and improove my game, sometimes even pissing the wife off to do so! lol

 

[Alex1975]

My clubs are for my ego, they are shiny and skinnyish and classic looking and I love them and I like to look after them. After a year about a year on the forum, internet, golf shops, custom fit sessions I am 99% sure that equipment means very very little.

My buddy Neil20 has the worst clubs I have ever seen, they are non brand crap and I mean the bottom end of starter sets and his golf has inspired me at the latter half of this year. His work schedule gives him the freedom to play alot of golf, he has the most extreme golfers hand I have ever seen so I know he is working hard.

It has to be all about practice in my opinion, Neil would be the first to tell you he is not a natural golfer, its not pretty to watch but what he is doing is getting the ball to the hole.

No imagination needed, no long drives, no high or low ball choice to make... I think you need to believe in your swing or at least know what its going to do and plan each hole with that in mind... oh ill change that to believe in your swing and regularly execute it well.

 

[Philm]

ive a friend or two who practice at their liesure, maybe a chip and putt at lunchtime up at the club and and 9 holes twice a week plus the odd 18hole comp once a fortnight.

and they play of scratch and 2 respectively.

i dont think that practicing your tits off is always the answer. natural ability coupled with swinging the right shape with good timing and visualisation is very important.

when you get mentally fatigued with playing you cant be bothered and you start just hitting the ball, sometimes you know your alignment probably is off line and you still swing through cause you cant be bothered.

swing smooth and keep your mind fresh.

Phil

 

[CMAC]

I agree with your post and comments (I see you falling off your seat)

I learned with old blades, then new blades and old balls and really learned how to 'control' a golf ball.
I thoroughly enjoy practicing (1 hr before a round and 1 hr after as well to sort out what went wrong again haha) but I also have empathy for those that dont want to or don't have the time (which is me now).

theres only one way to get better at golf no matter what clubs you have and that's effective practice, theres not one valid argument or evidence to the contrary.........and never will be

 

[DCB]

Okay, time to play devil's advocate here....

I seem to remember, way back in the dry spring of 2011, several forum members bemoaning the fact that the courses were dry, the greens running too fast and too hard and golf was just a lottery.

Whatever happened to the skill in adapting your swing to play the different type of shots.
Whatever happened to the little knock down shots with the 8,9,pw, learning how to hit it left to right/ higher /lower etc etc etc.

It's not the equipment that makes the biggest difference, it's the ability and imagination of guy holding the club that has the biggest effect.

 

[SonicBoom]

I used to have a terrible set of clubs that i got from a club book. I used to complain about them all the time saying I would never get any better. My Dad used to say to me " if Nick Faldo came to our course and used your clubs how many do you think he would go round in?"

Basically what he meant was that if you can play the game well then you can play with pretty much anything.
I used to think that was great motivation by him, now I know it was a way of him not having to get me new clubs!