Do we make golf more complicated than it needs to be?

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scottbrown

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I read a lot of posts on here about people getting custom fit, have lessons etc etc.

I have been playing golf for 6 /7 years and have never had a lesson. I play currently off 5 at a tough par 72 SSS 72 course.
I don't say that I have a picture perfect technique by any means but it's repeatable.
I am firmly in the camp of hit it, find it and hit it again.
I don't take golf serious as it is after all a hobby to escape the stress of life and I think this is the key.

Do people make golf too complicated and stressful than it should be for an amateur hobby?

Discuss...
 
I agree with you. And I've noticed you play with a very old-fashioned driver. You should think about going to get fitted for a new one & while you're at it are you sure those irons are right for you? You could go and.................
 
Yep .. went for lessons last year for the first time ever , found out a little knowledge can be a bad thing , just was thinking too much about what was going on and ended up getting in my own way mentally on the course ..

thought plan now is
Tee .. pick a general area and use the proper club to try get it down there ,
2nd shot putt a good hit on it get it on or near the green ,
Chip or putt close as possible to be very makeable
Make the next

big thought plan is to forget the shot played and deal with whats to be played next
Might sound simple , might sound mad , its the way i play tho
 
Last edited:
With something like football or cricket there's only so much you can tinker with - a different pair of boots or a different bat.
We have 14 clubs, a ball, a glove, shoes, clothes, sunglasses, trolleys, bags - not to mention a million ways to play the same shot.
We have adjustable clubs that can change the flight, hard balls or soft balls or somewhere in the middle balls, stiff shafts, regular shafts - but one regular = someone elses stiff, dozens of different grips and dozens of ways of gripping them, clubs for this shot, that shot or another shot....
Given all this Golf can be as complicated as you want it to be...
 
scottbrown said:
I read a lot of posts on here about people getting custom fit, have lessons etc etc.

I have been playing golf for 6 /7 years and have never had a lesson. I play currently off 5 at a tough par 72 SSS 72 course.
I don't say that I have a picture perfect technique by any means but it's repeatable.
I am firmly in the camp of hit it, find it and hit it again.
I don't take golf serious as it is after all a hobby to escape the stress of life and I think this is the key.

Do people make golf too complicated and stressful than it should be for an amateur hobby?

Discuss...
Click to expand...

yes, totally
 
scottbrown said:
Do people make golf too complicated and stressful than it should be for an amateur hobby?

Discuss...
Click to expand...
Just on here.

I have never come across anyone at my Club that takes golf as seriously as some on here. I believe a lot of what forumers get up to takes the fun out of the game, but each to their own.
 
Undoubtably some people take the game too seriously and overthink it. I probably fall into this category a bit.
Others just enjoy the peripheral things around the game, such as equipment, I certainly fall into this category, though am trying to reform (mission not to buy any new clubs this year!). I agree that many people, myself included, are not helping their games by hunting the unicorn, the mystical set of clubs that will lower scores and make everything right with the world. Better served by learning to hit what you have, assuming it is not wildly inappropriate (I.e. Soft shaft for a mega fast swing, or vice versa, xstiff for an average swing).

However, you obviously have some natural talent for the game, having been able to achieve a handicap many golfers will never get near, in a relatively short space of time. It's very easy for you to sit in judgement on others who are trying to improve and perhaps they will not have it as easy as you have and need the instruction and practice regimes etc.
 
Stuey01 said:
Undoubtably some people take the game too seriously and overthink it. I probably fall into this category a bit.
Others just enjoy the peripheral things around the game, such as equipment, I certainly fall into this category, though am trying to reform (mission not to buy any new clubs this year!). I agree that many people, myself included, are not helping their games by hunting the unicorn, the mystical set of clubs that will lower scores and make everything right with the world. Better served by learning to hit what you have, assuming it is not wildly inappropriate (I.e. Soft shaft for a mega fast swing, or vice versa, xstiff for an average swing).

However, you obviously have some natural talent for the game, having been able to achieve a handicap many golfers will never get near, in a relatively short space of time. It's very easy for you to sit in judgement on others who are trying to improve and perhaps they will not have it as easy as you have and need the instruction and practice regimes etc.
Click to expand...

I am not judging, far from it. Each to their own. Just thought it was an interesting topic as a lot of what I read on here I rarely hear at the golf club.
 
scottbrown said:
Yep, agree. However it is my view that if these people chilled out, their scores would tumble without lessons and swing thoughts etc. most of golf is played between the ears
Click to expand...

I agreed with your initial post, but then this I disagree with.

I think some people have a natural ability, and so golf is easier for them, and therefore uncomplicated.

Some people don't have much natural ability, change clubs every five seconds thinking that will help, and take hundreds of lessons, and read instructional books and watch instructional DVDs. I don't think that if they just "chilled out" they'd be better, without new clubs, or lessons or instructions.

I've been playing properly for 7 years now, am off 13, but have an incredibly inconsistent swing. I obviously don't have natural ability beyond very good hand-eye co-ordination, otherwise I'd be of 5 or 6. So, I have lessons to try to develop my swing so it's repeatable.

I don't believe for one second that I could improve if I just chilled out. I've tried it and for me, it doesn't work.

I think it's also about whether they have fun no matter what approach they take, because it's very sad when people fall out of love with the game.
 
scottbrown said:
I am not judging, far from it. Each to their own. Just thought it was an interesting topic as a lot of what I read on here I rarely hear at the golf club.
Click to expand...

Perhaps judgement was the wrong word. I actually agree with a fair bit of what you said. I suppose I'm really just pointing out that other's experience of this game may be significantly different to your own, particularly when it comes to the challenge of lowering scores.
 
Those from the UK - probably not.
Americans however - that is a different story. Without wishing to make a blanket statement about their country and culture, I can honestly say I've never heard so much BS the many times I've been there. I've never seen a country so obsessed by stats, data and what everyone else's business is. I have a sneaking feeling the USGA and the CIA are one and the same. Of course, this always translates into equipment and all it's subtle nuances - and how 1/4", 0.5g and 0.5 degrees makes "a big deal" to the average weekend hacker in Pittsburg.
Not being happy with equipment, they also have a similar slant on the professional and amateur game and how majors account for everything - nothing else will do. Maybe it's why two of the four majors (hint: not the Open and US Open) are probably two of the most contrived, artificial, pseudo-tradition, manufactured events in sport. Add to that the OWGR, the Golf Hall of Fame, the Presidents Cup, a bemusing handicap system, courses where it's forbidden to walk, more equipment manufacturers than any other country combined, trousers called "pants" and you have the textbook definition of "more complicated than it needs to be".
just an observation.
 
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