Why do we listen?

[Dave3498]

Why do we listen to eachother when it comes to the mechanics of the golf swing, when most of us giving advice are mid to high handicappers?

Well its not that we don't know HOW to make a good swing, its just that we can't always MAKE a good swing at the ball. When I get a tip from a fellow golfers about my swing, I always pay attention to what they say, especially if they are friends I play with a lot and know my strengths and weaknesses.

Reading the amateur advice given on this forum, I find much of it very valid, because it comes from the same level of play and experiences that I have myself. We have all read and practised the thousand of instruction articles in GM, and we take them in. It's just that we can't do it when we're over the ball and we only have one go at getting it right.

I defy anyone to fault my practise swing. The one I do at the ball is open to comment from anyone at any level of the game.

So if anyone can remember having a really 'game-changing' tip they had from a fellow player, please pass it on.

 

[RGuk]

Well its not that we don't know HOW to make a good swing, its just that we can't always MAKE a good swing at the ball.

Well said...

I've taken some stick on here for adding comments and offering advice. I don't know the best nugget of advice I've ever read/heard/been told, but I know of a few crucial things that got me from a horrid 28 to a reasonable ?whatever?.

The swing is not really a mystery and on many occasions my game has been saved by a quick "dave, you're moving your head" or "you know your grip is looking a bit strong" or even "you know you hit that exactly where you were aligned". That's what it's all about.

Dave

 

[FLOPSHOT]

Take Butch harmon for example. he is probably in the top 5 best coaches in the world. yet he said he couldnt keep up with the other guys on tour. his handicap is lower than eg woods who he teaches. so really i dont think it matters if mid handicappers give advice to better playerss or players of there level. Im a mid handicapper yet im pretty sure i know quite a bit about swings etc just through improving my own. And can spot faults or weak areas on other peoples.


And realgolferuk's comment makes a load of sense.

 

[muttleee]

his handicap is lower than eg woods who he teaches.

I assume you mean it's higher?

Also, Butch Harmon hasn't taught Woods since 2003. Just sayin'.

 

[John_Findlay]

I'm guessing it IS actually the same, muttlee. Whilst pros don't have a handicap they are deemed to play off scratch and Butch is a pro too. I think Flopshot probably only meant Tiger was a better player yet took advice from Butch.

 

[par_par_par_treble]

Sometimes it gets too much tho to be fair

Every time you hit a bad shot, someone wants to tell you where you went wrong. This can lead to trying to change your swing during a round and too many swing thoughts making you even worse. One repescted opinion based on your swing is fine, but not a comment on the faults of a particular shot.

My father in law is a prime example – telling me how quick the greens are at his course caused me to 3 putt the first 2 holes, where without his input I would have fancied my birdie putts. He also tells me i swing too quickly – probably right, but when I try to swing slowly I lose it all together. I know im not perfect, but a swing is such a personal thing – I cant play the game how he does and vice versa

 

[muttleee]

I'm guessing it IS actually the same, muttlee. Whilst pros don't have a handicap they are deemed to play off scratch and Butch is a pro too. I think Flopshot probably only meant Tiger was a better player yet took advice from Butch.

Yes I'm sure that's what he meant but he did say that Butch had a 'lower' handicap than Tiger, which is the opposite of that. Schoolboy error...

 

[FLOPSHOT]

I'm guessing it IS actually the same, muttlee. Whilst pros don't have a handicap they are deemed to play off scratch and Butch is a pro too. I think Flopshot probably only meant Tiger was a better player yet took advice from Butch.

Thats exactly what i mean thanks mate. im just too dumb to write it proper init

 

[Dave3498]

I'm glad that most of you agree with me. The point I'm trying to make, although not very well, is the we pick up the right way to do it from the professionals, and we know HOW to do it right but we can't EXECUTE it right. That doesn't stop us seeing the faults in others and commenting to their advantage.

 

[viscount17]

It's the old saw 'those who can do, those who can't teach'
I know the theory, my pro's told me enough times, just have problems executing consistently.
But, I get almost as much satisfaction if I succeed in getting some scruffy herbert who's down the range with his mates for a laugh and bouncing them off the walls, roof and everywhere except down range, to start hitting a few clean shots.

 

[RGuk]

'those who can do, those who can't teach'

That one always gets me down. To a certain extent there is truth in it, but it's a harsh saying.

I teach/coach whatever you want to call it, having had a career (at a decent national level) in the thing I coach.

I am more than happy when my students end up being as good as me, if not better. The reality is that experience and theoretical understanding of technique and knowing what to address to improve is the thing that coaches bring to the equation. Butch would never be as good as his proteges.

I am related to one of Andy Murray's ex-coaches (it's family thing, coaching) - I don't think an up and coming player is going to resent the fact that their coach has finished their career (even if it was not great) if they know their stuff.

I'd like to coach golf, but I'll never be good enough. The fact is golf pros can/could play, better this than some of the charlatans and failed career merchants that fill the teaching/coaching world.

Dave

 

[viscount17]

yes, you're right Dave. Any coach/instructor in a practical field (whether it be golf or turning) has to be able to do to a reasonable level.

(and the other side of this saw is 'but not all who can, can teach')

(I've also been an instructor (in the RN) of both aircraft avionics and shooting)