Natural talent..... how low?

[MoonPig]

Ok so we are all blessed to a degree with a natural talent for golf to some extent, be it high 20s to low teens etc.. What was the point in your HC that you decided that you needed lessons to get lower or did you start with lessons and continue with them? When did your natural talent plateau?

 

[USER1999]

Still reliant on natural talent. That is why I am doomed. I guess 9 is as low as I will go. Currently on the way up, despite playing my best golf ever.

If I am really, really desperate I will resort to lessons to keep me below n 18 handicap.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Never really been blessed with natural talent in any sport I've played and only got to a reasonable standard in a couple through hard work, practice and coaching.

 

[percy_layer]

Was off 3 h'cap for years, finished my degree and the following spring I got my first couple of lessons, 2 months later was off scratch. Then went back to University again.........

 

[Mungoscorner]

Only ever had one lesson,and that was the freebie i got when i joined my first club 9 years ago.
I've been as low as 4,although i may have gotten lower with lessons and practice,i just don't take the game that seriously,its a pastime/hobby,nothing more.

 

[Philm]

although i may have gotten lower with lessons and practice,i just don't take the game that seriously,its a pastime/hobby,nothing more.

never agreed with a comment more.

Phil

 

[chrisd]

Every sport I've played I have had to work hard at. Not natural talent maybe but I get there in the end. I found that when I took up tennis after football injuries sidelined me, it was working hard on the game that was ultimately the best part of it. When I got as good as I thought I could be, I walked away and started golf - a game that no one beats!


Chris

 

[Hobbit]

I'm not endowed with the sharpest mind but have enjoyed most sports to a really decent level. Started golf in 1968, and have been in the low single figures since 1975. Had the odd lesson from the late 80's but I've never really practiced. My pre-game routine is two pints of guinness and two minutes on the putting green before teeing off.

 

[Ethan]

7.6, then 2 kids arrived, so unlikely to be reached again based on one game every 2 weeks between April and October.

 

[rickg]

I got to 6.6 and then had lessons.........

 

[patricks148]

Took up golf when my wife wanted to move back to Inverness. Never played before but had played cricket to a reasonable standard. Went from 24 to 12 in about 2 or 3 months, then plateaued for about 2 years then went down to 8 last year. Had to start taking lessons as my old swing would not have allowed me to get any lower than that.

Gone backwards a bit this year but the new swing is just starting to come good now, shot 75 gross off the whites on Saturday much to the annoyance of the 5 and 2 handicap players I was out with.

 

[Whee]

26 and i'd hit my ceiling. Or basement in handicap terms. Had a half hour lesson a few months back and noticed a slight improvement. That took me down to 25.

To get any lower, I think i'll need to get the wallet out and bribe the committee!!

 

[scottbrown]

Currently at 8 but still coming down! Picked up 2 board comps this year and not had lessons! Only practice I do is on short game, that's where the money's at!

 

[EZprophet]

I don't believe there is such thing as having a natural talent at a sport but if there is then I don't think I have any for any sport.

When I started junior golf at 8 years old I was one of the worst in my age category. I was put in the "novice" category while all of my mates were in groups 1, 2 and 3 for the better players. By the time I was 13 I was playing off a 6 hcp and one of the better players in the programme, but it was purely down to the fact that I would go to the range 3/4 times a week after school, it had nothing to do with natural talent.

I then pretty much gave up the game when I moved to the UK and took it up again 4/5 years ago. When I restarted playing I was an 11 but got back down to a 6 within months due to the fact that even though I was rusty, my game had never really left me.

I know lots of guys who manage to keep cat 1 handicaps even though they hardly ever play and never practice. These are the people that are viewed as having "natural talent" but most of the guys like that that I know were extremely good junior players who worked hard at their games when they were kids, and now their game is just there with them for good. They might be a tad rusty sometimes, but their solid swings and sound putting strokes are still there from when they were kids.

 

[HRC99]

I don't believe there is such thing as having a natural talent at a sport but if there is then I don't think I have any for any sport.

Eh? No such thing as natural talent at a sport?

You're kidding, right?

Tell that to Usain Bolt, Maradona, Roger Federer, Michael Johnson, Lionel Messi, Ian Botham etc etc.

They may well have practiced and practiced and practiced but their colossal basic natural talent was always there.

Even sportsmen who are viewed as having worked to get where they are by making the absolute most of their talent will all still have huge natural ability.

The reality is that only people with some talent at something will persist with their sport when younger which then leads to higher skill levels through the practice and coaching at younger ages.

 

[EZprophet]

I don't believe there is such thing as having a natural talent at a sport but if there is then I don't think I have any for any sport.

Eh? No such thing as natural talent at a sport?

You're kidding, right?

Tell that to Usain Bolt, Maradona, Roger Federer, Michael Johnson, Lionel Messi, Ian Botham etc etc.

They may well have practiced and practiced and practiced but their colossal basic natural talent was always there.

Even sportsmen who are viewed as having worked to get where they are by making the absolute most of their talent will all still have huge natural ability.

The reality is that only people with some talent at something will persist with their sport when younger which then leads to higher skill levels through the practice and coaching at younger ages.

Yes but what I meant was that I don't believe one is born with a talent at a SPECIFIC sport. I'm sure some people are born with certain physical and mental traits and attributes that enable them to become better athletes than others but they are probably for the most part attributes that would translate well into lots of different sports and activities. I mean do you really think that humans are born with some sort of golf gene? Or that golfing talent is somehow sewn into ones DNA?

 

[timchump]

i played off a handicap of 9 before i had lessons,

the main thing i have noticed after is the difference in distance

for example pre lessons i could hit a 6 iron 150-155 yards,
now its more like 170-175 yards.

Everything is consitenley longer, pre lessons even very well struck shots i couldn't get the length i do now

 

[Jimbooo]

Sometimes natural talent can be a hinderance...

I used to play with a snooker player years ago that was an UNBELIEVABLE potter. He played so fluidly and quickly, and could knock in century breaks in only a few minutes. His position was immaculate - inch perfect. If you saw him on TV you'd think he wasn't human. You can't get more natural than the way he played when on song - it was beautiful to watch.

Being so natural affected his practice - he couldn't slow down and play methodically, and working on his cue-action seemed pointless as he could already pot everything under the sun. His game was all about the flow (at one pro-am I even recall Tony Drago commenting that he was a "nutter" playing at the speed he did).

Put him in a pro-am tournament where stuff's on the line and he'd fall to pieces. Missing easy ones, totally out of rhythm. He'd bottle it.

It was the ones that practiced religiously and built a solid cue-action and mental toughness that won the comps.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I could play to 16 without lessons, I wouldn't have got to where I am now without them.

 

[birdieman]

I got to 5.7 as a 17 yo after only starting age 15, improved very quickly and loved it, plateaud there however, gave the game up competitively at 20, came back to it at age 33 and got to my lowest ever 3.8 in 2009 with quite a lot of practice but only 1 lesson every 2 years or so.

Far too reliant on a razor sharp wedge short game, my mid and long iron play has never been much good and my short putting has often been suspect so I was never going to make it to 2 or below I don't think.

Kids and injuries have finished me off as a golfer now, handicap may lapse this year as I haven't got my 3 cards in, but never say never for a comeback if I can get healthy.