Dare I ask a question??

[PaulMc]

In this fantastic game we play why has the average handicap not changed in the last fifty years?? We now have titanium heads, graffite shafts, better balls and even video to review our swing, and it is still just about 20??
This may get people thinking a bit.

Any idea!!!!

 

[bobmac]

Not enough time to play and practice and hopes that buying new kit will make them better players which alas we all know might not work.

 

[Yerman]

They still cant get an upgrade for the eejit swinging the club.

 

[PaulMc]

So thats were the manufacturers are going wrong!!!

 

[kid2]

Im with njd on this one being off of 20 myself i havent had a chance of playing enough this year over snapping my achilles tendon thats going to change come the new year.....

I think that too many golfers are buying into the brand hype that the manufacturers are feeding them .... In my opinion its the gobshite swinging the club thats the primary problem....

 

[birdieman]

Re: Dare I ask a question?? *DELETED* *DELETED*

Post deleted by birdieman

 

[PaulMc]

Hi, thanks for that, across the board the overall average handicap has not changed from stats all them years ago, its actually 19.6 or something.

 

[Tiger]

Lessons. Most people still pick up and play. Not enough get lessons and everyone struggles to find time to practice. Give a pro old clubs they'll still shoot a decent round. Give someone technically inept top of the range clubs and they'll still struggle to make it round.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think there has also been a counter-balance to all the new technology in the fact that a lot of courses are now longer. However there are a lot of older clubs that are still a real test of golf and haven't succumbed to the advances of technology because they were designed to perfection. Two course I played this year, Leatherhead and my old club Wimbledon Common are both well under 5900 yards in length (in fact Wimbledon is barely 5600) and yet it is very rare for even experienced members to take them apart. Both have very small and tricky greens but putt perfectly. Leatherhead is protected by tight tree lined fairways and Wimbldon by quick running ground meaning that positioning is key.

There are hundreds of others like these around the UK where distance is sometimes a hinderence and a golfing brain and not the longest driver or most spin producing wedges is a more lethal weapon. Add in the demands of an ever more demanding society and there is arguably less opportunity for many to play and practice and in a family v golf contest quality family time will rightly win out.

 

[birdieman]

Hi, thanks for that, across the board the overall average handicap has not changed from stats all them years ago, its actually 19.6 or something.

Sorry Paul, got my facts wrong , it was the average winning handicap I was thinking of which is 13.3.

 

[pokerjoke]

i think its an amazing stat,i cant think of any other sport that has not improved with technology,however i do think the top end of golf has improved there is now more strength in depth i believe the top 20 are beter than theve ever been.

 

[Doh]

Could it be that as more people are now playing golf averages will be affected?

 

[Mike_j_golf]

I think the ereason could be that there are a lot more causal golfers now than 20 years ago when it was hard to get into a club so most people there played on a regular basis think now there are a lot of 28 handicappers in clubs that rarley play in comps and hack round 4 or 5 times a year keeping the handicap average up if you did it on golfers that play 30 plus times a year now and 20 years ago i'd bet it would be lower.
Mike

 

[tomdelaney]

I think the ereason could be that there are a lot more causal golfers now than 20 years ago when it was hard to get into a club so most people there played on a regular basis think now there are a lot of 28 handicappers in clubs that rarley play in comps and hack round 4 or 5 times a year keeping the handicap average up if you did it on golfers that play 30 plus times a year now and 20 years ago i'd bet it would be lower.
Mike

Would have to agree with this.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

In my opinion its the gobshite swinging the club that's the primary problem....

Nail. Head. Hit.

 

[colint]

There's no doubt that technology should help, but I also think it encourages lazy attitudes to improvement.

No matter what's up with your game, there'll be a manufacturer who will claim to solve the problem with a new piece of kit, when the reality is the vast majority of problems would be better solved with a series of lessons.

 

[SammmeBee]

All technology has really done is allow us to hit the ball further and in the case of most...further into the cabbage...unfortunatley the majority of golfers feel if they hit the ball further they are a better player - it just doesn't help the score...

Technology has made the elite better than 10 years ago....a lot better...

 

[RGDave]

Until I can hit one more green a round with one "less" club because I've hit my drive 10 yards further, I'll be damned if I can answer the O.P.

 

[freddielong]

I don't agree with the OP I don't agree that the level of golf has stayed the same but I do agree that the massive increase in casual golf distorts the figures. People hit it further FACT people hit it straighter FACT Golfballs go further and stop quicker FACT (sorry for the rafa impersonation) if its not got easier the average golfer has less ability than they used to FACT.

 

[Society_Fan]

I think my type ( I can not be the only one) may have had an effect on the stats. When playing regularly and being a member of a club I kept on improving every year and got down to 7.7
I know however play in a society once a month March to October (if I am lucky), and struggle to shoot in the 80s. My best result ober the last 2 years is 31 points when playing off 13.
I do however play with casual golfers who have over £1000 worth of equipment in a £200 bag on a £500 elec cart. They have just started, got the kit, turned up, and have a ladies handicap.
I think with this combination averages will not fall.
I'm currently reading a Bob Rotella book, so am looking forward to going to the driving range, picking out a target (a very small target such as a blade of grass 200 yards away)(note to self... get new super glasses at the opticians), and just hitting the ball there.
2 peoblems
1) My dodgy attitude
2) The 20 years of instructional information from Pros, magazines, mates etc... that is stored in my head!