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Post by tightdraw on Jan 21, 2011 18:34:37 GMT -5
So here's a question and I'd be interested in responses.
Let's identify the various factors that go into having a good golf game:
1. a sound/repeatable swing
2. good game under 100 yds
3. good bunker play
4. good chipping game
5 good imagination
6 good makeshift shots
7. good putting
8. good brain -- exemplified in course management skills
OK, now what i want to know is what people think the relative importance of these (and other factors if you can think of them) in constituting a really sound golf game
then I want people to be honest about how much time (short term and long term) they devote to each of these elements.
My guess is that one needs a sound repeatable swing -- not a great one, let alone a nearly ideal one. Above sound and repeating, it is almost a waste of time to spend time improving the swing when that takes time away from other aspects of the game that contribute to success. In fact, however, my hunch is that most of us spend a completely irrational amount of time on the golf swing and never even take seriously the possibility of stopping with a repeatable playable swing. that is, I think there is something especially seductive about pursuing some level of excelllence in the full swing that is wildly out of proportion to the return on investment. What do others think
And if that is so, what do you think explains the fascination with the full swing and the ideal form in regards to it that is simply no part of any other dimension of a full, optimal golf swing.
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Post by tba on Jan 21, 2011 20:18:42 GMT -5
The thing for me is in a full swing when you hit it pure there's no better feeling, it's like hitting a home run, it becomes addictive like i want to keep doing that. I have to admit i love hitting balls could do it all day, just me, love the sound, the feel of it, watching the flight etc. I keep doing it till there's a problem and then i got something to work on and an excuse to hit even more balls...lol.
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Post by tightdraw on Jan 21, 2011 20:39:29 GMT -5
'golf game' not 'golf swing' in the final sentence. sorry
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Post by tba on Jan 21, 2011 20:55:56 GMT -5
'golf game' not 'golf swing' in the final sentence. sorry In that case i hate golf. ;D |
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Post by tightdraw on Jan 21, 2011 23:11:02 GMT -5
my underlying view is that in spite of what they say most people don't really want to get better at golf. There are aspects of golf they enjoy: getting out of the house in a park like setting with friends; competition; and so on; but what they want to do re: golf has almost nothing to do with getting around the course in the fewest strokes possible; and given the number of putts they 'give' themselves, the number of lost balls that they don't count, etc. they have no interest in golf as a game governed by rules and conventions. what they want is the feeling of flushing it -- of hitting a ball between the screws as we used to say, or doing something every now and again that feels like what it must be like for a pro.
This is very different say than playing softball or baseball with one's co-workers. There is much more conformity to the rules and teams aim to score runs by whatever means they can. It isn't like tennis either, where players commit to the rules more or less and look to win points, games and sets and not to hit perfect shots.
There is something about golf that is just different. some of it is mystical and some of it is crass. Just look at the number of golfers who go to a driving range and hit nothing but drivers.
I am not criticizing. I am just observing the disconnect between investment and return -- very suboptimal behavior.
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Post by natep on Jan 22, 2011 0:28:53 GMT -5
I dont play golf professionally, nor do I play for money. If I did you can bet that I would be much more inclined to spend more time practicing putting and short game.
In my opinion the golf swing is the most difficult, demanding, beautiful, intriguing, etc. act in all of athletics.
I have become obsessed with every possible combination of components, their affects and consequences, efficiency, etc. and all of their nuances. It's a quest of ridiculous proportions that I'll probably never complete in full.
Therefore, most of my practice time goes into the full swing. Hitting flushed lasers as far as I can dead straight is the most rewarding, fulfilling, and enjoyable part of the game to me. Putting and short game take a back seat to that.
One day, if I ever get my swing where I want it, I'll start practicing more on short game and putting and try to shoot some course records. ;D
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Post by tightdraw on Jan 22, 2011 7:38:36 GMT -5
frankly, i am probably worse than most. when I did play competitively and it mattered how many strokes I took to play a round, i still had irrational expenditure of resources. I was a good iron player -- very good in fact-- but nothing else in my game came close. so of course all i ever practiced were irons; full shots with irons: cuts, draws, high, low. nothing else. not only that; i was one of the few players i knew who could hit a decent one iron and a two iron so needless to say I hit as many of those as I hit wedges:maybe more. totally irrational, but I would leave the range on my course feeling good about myself; and every time I played a round of golf I was anxious all day about my driving and my short game :-)
never changed my practice pattern though.
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Post by tba on Jan 22, 2011 13:21:04 GMT -5
frankly, i am probably worse than most. when I did play competitively and it mattered how many strokes I took to play a round, i still had irrational expenditure of resources. I was a good iron player -- very good in fact-- but nothing else in my game came close. so of course all i ever practiced were irons; full shots with irons: cuts, draws, high, low. nothing else. not only that; i was one of the few players i knew who could hit a decent one iron and a two iron so needless to say I hit as many of those as I hit wedges:maybe more. totally irrational, but I would leave the range on my course feeling good about myself; and every time I played a round of golf I was anxious all day about my driving and my short game :-) never changed my practice pattern though. Why did you never change your practice pattern? |
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Post by tightdraw on Jan 22, 2011 19:03:51 GMT -5
I'd like to think I could now if faced with the same situation. I am sure a big part of it was the strong desire to feel good about my performance -- and the immediate positive feedback. It takes a certain strength to commit to working on something you are not particularly good knowing that your results will not be immediately satisfying -- especially when the alternative is to hit shots that will bring immediate positive reinforcement.
the people who get better at anything are precisely those who work hardest on their weakest links in anything.
I used to trick myself with the following thought. If I became an even better iron player than I won't have to be as good a driver of the ball or putter because my irons would allow me to recover from virtually anywhere and there will be less pressure on my putting:
i don't think i am very different than most. it's just that i pride myself on being rational most of the time: golf apparently is another matter altogether.
:-)
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