Is the world best golfer playing golf?

[richart]

A lot of natural sportsman have excelled at more than one sport when they were young. Ernie Els was a top tennis player in his teens, and had to make a choice between golf and tennis. If he had chosen tennis he may have been a top 5 tennis player, but maybe not. What is certain he would have been lost to the golf world.

The very top sportsman often have to make a difficult choice of sports at some point, and the law of averages says that some have got it wrong. There is probably a tennis player ranked 300 in the world, who would have been a better golfer. In fact thinking about it, perhaps Tim Henman chose the wrong sport, judging by how good he is at golf now ?

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Smiffy could have been an International Sex God

But was never given the opportunity

Thank Christ For That

Fragger

 

[G_Mulligan]

the greatest golfer ever may have had the bad luck of being born a slave during the Roman empire for all we know. Pluck that man from history put a club in his hand and he could make Tiger woods look like just another player.

A good thought but not a very useful one

 

[richart]

Smiffy could have been an International Sax God

But was never given the opportunity

Thank Christ For That

Fragger

Think the correction above is more likely.

 

[granters]

We only have to look at the emergence of several Indian players to see that given the desire, at anything, there is a chance of success. These guys have gone from slums akin to those slumdog millionaire (poor analogy but you get my drift), to multi millionaire golfers through sheer will to win.

It flies in the face of the argument that golf is purely the preserve of the wealthy. It used to be granted, but as they say- you make your own luck and i totally believe in this mantra.

I'm not for a second saying it's easy, but elite sports stars, no matter their background, have generally sacrificed a lot to get where they are. Even footballers. Although there is certainly the odd poor example look at the likes of Giggs, Beckham, Rooney etc. All live for football and despite the media attention they get, they are devoted. Without that they'd be nowhere

 

[EZprophet]

I think we are just being PC here. I love the game but am the first to admit that it is by large played by white men from 3-4 countries only.

This mean that many potential players go unnoticed and the general level of the game doesn't achieve its full potential.

Let's face it, Carlos Tevez could have never taken on golf but made it from the poorest slum in Argentina to the premier league.

It's just a matter of how many people play. If only few thousands play a game that game will never ever achieve its top. I guess nobody can argue with that.

I know what you are getting at, but the way you are getting at it makes absolutely no sense unfortunately.

One conclusion that you CAN possibly draw from the fact that golf is a sport played by a much smaller percentage of the worlds population than other sports, like football, is that the best golfers in the world are PROBABLY not as good at golf, as the best footballers in the world are at football. Thats just based purely on the numbers though and for this to actually be true a lot of factors have to be equal, that probably arent equal, so it makes it kind of pointless trying to figure it out.

 

[pokerjoke]

Anyone in the top ten or even more on their day could be the best golfer in the world at this moment in time.
Tiger was the best because he was better than anyone,no one could touch him.
Of course he was beaten at times but you cant win every tournament.
Luke donald is the most consistent player in the world at this time,but do you think next week all the other players in the world will fear Luke,no is the answer.

 

[G1BB0]

No, I am sat on the pc answering forum posts

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Anyone in the top ten or even more on their day could be the best golfer in the world at this moment in time.
Tiger was the best because he was better than anyone,no one could touch him.
Of course he was beaten at times but you cant win every tournament.
Luke donald is the most consistent player in the world at this time,but do you think next week all the other players in the world will fear Luke,no is the answer.

It's hard to argue with any of that.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think I understand where the OP was going. However we've yet to see the Asian dominance of the mens game in the same way as their ladies have take over the world stage. It will come. There will inevitably be a breakout in other countries. India is producing some good pros now and the amateur game worldwide, from club players like us to elite amateur players is growing.

I accept that in many countries it is still an elitist sport but that can be said of many sports. Cricket is hardly the number one sport in Holland or Ireland but both have caused upsets on the world stage. It depends on how much the individual federation in each sport in each country is prepared to invest at grass roots level. That is where the raw talent will be found. After that its all about nuturing that and allowing it to develop naturally

 

[viscount17]

oh I can see where the OP is coming from, and it's a strange world frequented by very few - the more mobile of whom wear white coats.

to say that the best (at anything) is someone who has never played it is one of those circular arguments which make you a candidate for that very special universe. quite simply, the moment he/she/it (let's not be speciest about this) takes up the sport to prove their talent they are automatically disqualified from being the best as that title belongs to some other one who has never played.

oh, and I think you confused <u>continents</u> with <u>countries</u>

 

[Swinger]

I see Golf as a pretty big game in the scheme of things and it is definatly on the up in a lot of countries. Compared to most sports it is much easier to get into, you don't need a team or lots of mate who all want to do similar. Golf is a game you can get into on your own pretty easily.

While Football is a bigger game how can you know that some kid who played a bit but was looked over on a bad day when it came to him getting picked for bigger things. That kid could be hacking around in a sunday pub game or not playing at all because he never had a chance to dedicate himself to the sport. I see the point in the whole post but really don't see how you can single golf out in this respect at all.

And.

80% Natural Talent??
Natural Talent for what?

Look at all the top golfers in the world, the ones who are playing and have ranking points that is. They all do it differently, hit it with different swings with different angles of attack, swing speed, spin rate, launch angles.
Some even hit the ball a bit crap to be honest compared to some of their peirs.

Ask any of them why they are there.

The answer won't be Natural Talent or 80% Natural Talent.
The answer may be a bit of luck along the way but that luck will not involve Martin Bedford quitting golf in his younger years.
The answer won't be because some guys in Iceland never got to play.
The answers will include, always - Practice, dedication and hard work.

 

[Piece]

Surprised no-one has mentioned the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-Il. Shot 38 under par on this first time out and regularly gets four holes-in-one per round. Therefore, he is the best EVER.

 

[Region3]

Read this book, it'll blow your mind:


Syed, Matthew (2011) Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice (Fourth Estate: London)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bounce-Myth-Tale...5177&sr=1-1

Using the results of scientific analysis, it demonstrates how it is predominantly practice and not talent that has historically made champions in any complex sporting endeavour. Plus, its a damn good read (I read it in 2 sittings and even got my wife to read it too (she never reads anything other than Hello magazine)).

I've not read the book but I have an example.

About 12/13 years ago I joined a pool team which had 2 young lads in it, and they both played snooker and wanted to end up making a living from it.
Both very good players, but very different mentally.

One of them would try to clear the table at every opportunity. He played fast and went for spectacular shots, often pulling them off.
The other would think about everything, lay snookers if need be, in fact play to win the frame rather than having fun or looking good. You could tell even back then as a 13 year old that his head was 'screwed on right'.

I was led to believe that they were about equal on a snooker table back then.

Now they're both mid twenties and one is significantly more successful than the other. The dedicated one.

Most people that know them say that the other one has more natural talent (although they're both obviously very talented) but the better one treats it like a job and loves practising.

I think if the less successful one had the dedication, enthusiasm and work ethic of the more successful one, he would be very very hard to beat.

Sorry for rambling on, but I think it illustrates how hard work can overcome masses of natural talent.

If you find someone with both you're onto a big winner.

 

[MashieNiblick]

It's a nice romantic notion that out there somewhere there is a raw natural talent that given the chance could knock it round Augusta in 59. Who knows?

As I see it the pool of players is big enough to ensure that those at the top deserve to be there. Millions of people play golf world wide. Of those millions thousands are good enough to make a living out of it. A couple of hundred are exceptional, 10 or 20 might be very special and 1 might be a genius.

Just one final thought on that note, weren't we lucky that Seve's family lived by a golf course and not a tennis club.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Surprised no-one has mentioned the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-Il. Shot 38 under par on this first time out and regularly gets four holes-in-one per round. Therefore, he is the best EVER.

He also has an average drive of over 450yds - surprised he's not a member of this forum

 

[USER1999]

May be he is, but we don't know what his user name is?

It could be TimGolfy?

 

[iku]

I'm not saying that dedication, method and hard work are not the best ways to improve and achieve your personal limits.

Neither I'm saying that there is someone out there who has never played and tomorrow will be ready to win a master.

What I was trying to say is that in golf, like in every other sport, the natural talent is fundamental to excel. Natural talent is very rare across the world population so the more people play a game the more are the chances to find a talented player. In my opinion not enough people play golf at the moment to say that the sport has achieved a professional level comparable to the one of other sports.

If I invent my own sport tomorrow and I play only with my 6 years old son I am likely to become world number one...

All those who say that training can take you anywhere probably have never played any sport professionally. You were born Tiger, Bolt, Jordan, Maradona; you don't train to become one of those. Then of course you can waste your talent but if you haven't got one in the first place you'll never go anywhere.

 

[granters]

Iku, i see what you are trying to say but as others have said, it seems a completely pointless argument. Yes Tiger was born with talent, but his father had him in a military like golf training regime from the age of 2, and look what that's done to the guy's behaviour as an adult.

Even if a child is born with amazing golf ability, there are very few parents that would put them through that. Although this is happening more and more in Asia, specifically China who are hell bent on world domination in every sport these days.

The drive has to come from within the individual. I'm sure there are a few folk out there who would be excellent golfers but have never picked up a club, but it's a completely intangible theory

 

[EZprophet]

All those who say that training can take you anywhere probably have never played any sport professionally. You were born Tiger, Bolt, Jordan, Maradona; you don't train to become one of those. Then of course you can waste your talent but if you haven't got one in the first place you'll never go anywhere.

I completely disagree with this actually.

Tiger Woods isn't as good as he is because he was born good at golf, he is as good as he is because he first had a club in his hand before he could walk, because his dad used training methods on him that nobody else has probably ever done with their kids, and because he has probably hit more golf balls than any other human being in history.

I do agree that you can be born with some degree of physical potential for sport, but it can only take you so far. How is it possible that Tiger was born good at golf? Is it in his genes? His dad was the first generation of golfer in his family so did his dads 2 handicap somehow mutate his own genes which were then passed down to Tiger?

Also, Tiger isn't the best golfer because of anything physical. He doesn't have the best swing technically or the best putting stroke. What Tiger has above everyone else is his mind. Not just his mental strength (which was probably built up because of his dads strange training methods, dropping his golf bag with Tiger in mid-swing to help him to learn to play through distractions... or all his meditation stuff...) but also his ability to always make the right decision and be able to picture the exact way he wants to ball to move in a shot before he plays it.

Can you really argue that he was born with all of that?