Why does talking bother people?

[Mandofred]

I'm one of those people who just doesn't care if someone is talking while I'm taking a shot. For the second that I'm swinging there isn't much you could do that will bother me.....just don't throw anything at me or maybe a bloodcurdling scream. Others get horribly upset/mad as heck if there is even a whisper from a mile away. But....at the same time.....the squawking of the peacocks? on the course doesn't bother them and other sudden loud noises. When the rollups are going there is always a crowd of people at the first tee who just keep talking and laughing at people and these same people don't mind the talking at that time (or just live with it).

Granted, I'm coming from a basketball background growing up.....and then into coaching of various sports (more volleyball towards the end) and you just get used to people screaming at you while you are playing so you ignore it.

Loud sudden noises I could see being an issue, but anything else seems just a lack of concentration.

 

[patricks148]

i'm the same except if i'm putting, then noises from other parts of the course sometimes puts me off, esp if its a load of yanks shouting and hollering

my mate from Tain is one of these people who can be put of my a bee farting 3 holes away. last time i played with him, i took Rupert and as it wasa hot day he was panting and all my mate did was complain Rupert was putting him off.... Rupert was never closer then 20 yards

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

i'm the same except if i'm putting, then noises from other parts of the course sometimes puts me off, esp if its a load of yanks shouting and hollering

my mate from Tain is one of these people who can be put of my a bee farting 3 holes away. last time i played with him, i took Rupert and as it wasa hot day he was panting and all my mate did was complain Rupert was putting him off.... Rupert was never closer then 20 yards

I’ve got a mate just like that. ? Each to his own.

 

[ScienceBoy]

My thinking is if you don’t hit your shot while people are talking, you don’t have a decent excuse for said shot.

 

[jim8flog]

I played with one guy who probably could here the beating wings of gnat on the green from the tee and got upset with us for any sort of noise. What used to upset me was that he often did not give us the same courtesy when it came to being quiet.

I have never minded continuous noise such as players continuing to chat, it is a sudden change in noise that affects me.

 

[nickjdavis]

1...I think it is just decent courtesy to STFU when someone is playing a shot.

2...The issue may well be that what might start off as relatively low background murmers may well suddenly escalate into a guffaw of laughter....and its that potential that may be off putting for some people....its like that old joke of waiting for the next "gotcha!!!".

General background noise I can usually filter out but sudden noises are an issue. I once in a club match threatened to ram a spectators plastic water bottle up his arse if he kept squeezing it whilst I was teeing off. I had already asked him quite politely to refrain from doing it having noticed that he would only do it when myself or my partner were teeing off...never when our opponents were teeing off....I'd also asked the Captain of the opposing team to have a word as well.

 

[USER1999]

I think it's because it shows a lack of respect, and common courtesy, rather than the actual noise.

 

[GG26]

Agree with the OP on this. I can’t think of when anything other than a loud sudden noise put me off a shot. I have often thought that some PPs are far too sensitive to background noise.

 

[pendodave]

I think it's learned behaviour tbh. If you think it's a problem, then it becomes one.
An awful lot of some peoples' rounds is coming up with plausible reasons why they aren't good at golf.
A quick glance through equipment threads reveals a similar pattern.
Having said that, I wouldn't go around deliberately chatting to prove a point.

 

[drdel]

Surely its not that hard to stop gabbling on for a few seconds while your PP is concentrating. What is there that is so important that it must be said in the next 30 seconds.

In the majority of sports it is common to keep quiet when a player is about to perform.

 

[patricks148]

I’ve got a mate just like that. ? Each to his own.

a few years ago a male pheasant called out when he was about to play a shot in the 3rd , he moaned about it all the way round the next week, one of the guys brought a Pheasant bird caller and would blow it when ever he was about to play when he was out of sight...

 

[hovis]

I've never got it either. Multiple noises on a course but god forbid one of them is a person talking. However, bag chatter goes through me like nails on a black board. So I find myself waiting

 

[Mandofred]

In the majority of sports it is common to keep quiet when a player is about to perform.

Huh? I don't think so.

 

[IanM]

Huh? I don't think so.

...when I was a kid, if I was chatting while he was watching footy on TV, my dad used to say he couldn't take me to a live game unless I could keep quiet!

PG Wodehouse made reference in a tale to "noisy butterflies in an adjoining field" putting off a golfer

 

[Mandofred]

a few years ago a male pheasant called out when he was about to play a shot in the 3rd , he moaned about it all the way round the next week, one of the guys brought a Pheasant bird caller and would blow it when ever he was about to play when he was out of sight...

I get accused of taking golf too seriously (yeah....guilty).....and I get some stick for it at times. I can deal with it. That pheasant call is brilliant........

One guy nicknamed me Serena (Williams) for a while (not to my face) because I can whine too much. I thought he should have called me that out loud.....I think it's funny.

 

[Mandofred]

Selective hearing. It bothers you when you want it to......and then doesn't bother you when you don't want it to. As I mentioned in the first post......a number of people just put up with the noise on the first tee in a rollup, then turn wacko later in the round when they all of a sudden consider it non-respectful. Someone also mentioned the fact that at times these same people make noise themselves later in the round.

 

[Mandofred]

But.....when you get down to thinking about golf......from someone who had never seen it before......we are all nuts and irrational.

 

[Grizzly]

I'm one of those people who just doesn't care if someone is talking while I'm taking a shot. For the second that I'm swinging there isn't much you could do that will bother me.....just don't throw anything at me or maybe a bloodcurdling scream. Others get horribly upset/mad as heck if there is even a whisper from a mile away. But....at the same time.....the squawking of the peacocks? on the course doesn't bother them and other sudden loud noises. When the rollups are going there is always a crowd of people at the first tee who just keep talking and laughing at people and these same people don't mind the talking at that time (or just live with it).

Granted, I'm coming from a basketball background growing up.....and then into coaching of various sports (more volleyball towards the end) and you just get used to people screaming at you while you are playing so you ignore it.

Loud sudden noises I could see being an issue, but anything else seems just a lack of concentration.

I agree in general - its just background noise - my only objection is when someone close to me starts talking mid swing, which I do find distracting.

 

[HampshireHog]

I don’t see why it’s unreasonable to expect a group to keep quiet for a maximum of 45 seconds whilst someone plays a shot. Plenty of of time for chat between shots and afterwards. To me it’s courtesy to keep quiet, watch the other players ball and not dick about with my clubs/bag.

 

[Mandofred]

We have a few public footpaths across and around our course.
If Joe Public is walking/cycling/running and talking etc, no problem.
One of the 1st things we learn as a golfer though is to shut up and stop moving when other players are playing, it's good manners.
Sometimes we all can accidentally make a noise, drop something, move etc, if someone does that it's no problem, but we should respect the traditions.
And yes it does apply to other sports, pool, snooker, darts, rugby etc etc

Pool/snooker (same thing) yep...pretty quiet. Darts? I've only caught a couple of minutes on tv....loud as heck. Rugby? A crowd full of screamers.....same as most other similar sports.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't be reasonably quiet on the course.....my original point was that some people get a bit crazy about almost nothing. Why do you need absolute quiet when taking a golf shot? The answer is....you don't....you just prefer it that way.

Traditions? They change.....all the time. Golf now is not the same as it was 50+ years ago. Golf is just a game.....it isn't something mystical and special.