Do you give/ask advice when paired with strangers?

[acegolfer]

I occasionally go to a course solo and get paired up with others.

If I get paired with a guy who shoots in mid-70s and if he's approachable, I always ask for advice on the 18th hole.

In many cases, surprisingly, they have watched my swing closely enough to point out my swing faults and have given me good advices.

Unfortunately, I have not yet been asked to give advices.

How's your experience?

[Colinb913]

Sometimes I ask for advice, or get given advice, even if I dont want it.

Then there are those days that I am on fire, and people ask me for help. Like, I was following a couple, and I hit the pin with my nine iron on the 5th hole, from about 90 yards out. They asked if I wouldn't mind pairing up with them, and helping them along, because they were trying to learn as a couple.

[James_Black]

I gave advice only once to a random person, I've received it a load of times.
He was a beginner and I gave him a few tips, played a lot better too.

[CG031]

No, I never give advice, and not to sound cocky or arrogant, because, seriously, I don't mean to come off this way at all, but I rarely get teamed up with players at the course that could give me advice. I play with a lot of players better then me, but there's only a few times I've actually been paired up with absolute strangers that are better then me...so are far as getting advice, not really.

I never give advice to people because I don't feel it's my place to call them out on their golf game that they may be doing wrong. People have ASKED me for advice on numerous occasions (mainly on pitching/chipping, which is easily the strongest part of the game) and I will answer it to the best of my knowledge, but I will never go out of my way to offer advice.

[CG031]

No, I never give advice, and not to sound cocky or arrogant, because, seriously, I don't mean to come off this way at all, but I rarely get teamed up with players at the course that could give me advice. I play with a lot of players better then me, but there's only a few times I've actually been paired up with absolute strangers that are better then me...so as far as getting advice, not really.

I never give advice to people because I don't feel it's my place to call them out on their golf game that they may be doing wrong. People have ASKED me for advice on numerous occasions (mainly on pitching/chipping, which is easily the strongest part of the game) and I will answer it to the best of my knowledge, but I will never go out of my way to offer advice.

[JML22]

I usually only give advice on major things to an absolute hack
Like a ball below their feet and they want to know why they slice it into the bush
Or above their feet and they yank it 100 yards

[kafka01]

Ask yourself - do you really have such a deep knowledge of golf to properly give adivce to somebody? Everybodys swing is different, and the concepts you apply for your swing, might just work the opposite way for the other person. So unless its something really basic that i get asked about, i just stay away from giving advice. And asking advice only from people i know.

[zeg]

Ask yourself - do you really have such a deep knowledge of golf to properly give adivce to somebody? Everybodys swing is different, and the concepts you apply for your swing, might just work the opposite way for the other person. So unless its something really basic that i get asked about, i just stay away from giving advice. And asking advice only from people i know.

I don't think you need to know everything or have a tremendously deep knowledge to give helpful advice, sometimes there are obvious problems that can be pointed out. A big sway, pulling one's head way up before impact, etc, are all things that even a novice can see in someone else's swing, but which can be hard to feel yourself.

However, I refrain from giving advice, no matter how obvious, unless specifically asked. Even then I think it's a good idea to say a lot less than you think you see. I've only gotten advice a couple times, and both times it was both good advice and more or less asked for. Both guys very politely hinted while we were talking that they had a suggestion, but didn't make the suggestion until I asked for it. Once it was about a sway, and once it was about my old severely upright swing. The latter made a massive difference---I was on the 5th hole and hadn't hit a clean tee shot all day. I think I hit the fairway on 4 of the last 5 holes after that. Very good experiences. I've only really had one bad experience with someone who couldn't keep his tips to himself, but those were about the course and not about my swing. He was a guy who played regularly at the course and he felt the need to caddy for everyone, warning about the breaks on the greens, etc. He was a nice guy, but I wish he'd have just kept a few of his thoughts to himself...

[Slammin' Sam]

I usually refrain from giving advice on the course unless (1) I'm asked for it, or (2) I see someone who is having obvious trouble. It's been my experience that many golfers don't take well to unsolicited advice and would rather try to work through whatever problem they're having on their own.

[sean_miller]

I've got my own game to worry about so, no. If I hit a really bad shot I zone out for a few minutes so advice is wasted on me anyway.

[twoiron]

I never ask give advice to strangers or ask for it. Recently got pair with a hack who thought he was Tiger. He was trying to give my buddy advice who he didn't know and the guy had no clue what he was talking about. I shut him down pretty quick because he was making my buddies swing worse. I give advice to people I play with but only when they ask. To me it's rude to offer advice to someone you don't know.

[jamo]

I don't think I've ever gotten advise other than sarcastic remarks, and I don't give it either. Part of it is shyness and part of it is not wanting to interject and mess someone up.

[lsuwjk]

Sometimes I do, but I usually keep it to a minimun.

[Clambake]

Only two ways I give any advice: (1) if they ask how I hit a certain type of shot; or (2) if they ask me to be a pair of eyes to observe something and just let them know what I see, like "am I across the line at the top?". But I won't offer any critique or make any suggestions.

[kafka01]

I don't think you need to know everything or have a tremendously deep knowledge to give helpful advice, sometimes there are obvious problems that can be pointed out. A big sway, pulling one's head way up before impact, etc, are all things that even a novice can see in someone else's swing, but which can be hard to feel yourself.

So you play with a buddy and realize he has a huge sway - he asks you if he does something wrong and you mention the big sway. Now what? Its against human nature to just tell him - sorry, i dont have a clue how to fix this - you probably remember some incomplete information you read somewhere in Golfdigest and tell him he should rotate against a stable right leg. He takes your advice to heart and straightens it and tries rotating against it. Only problem is - the leg should always be flexed, and your buddy is faced with a new, maybe accumulating problem. You see where this is going?

[sean_miller]

So you play with a buddy and realize he has a huge sway - he asks you if he does something wrong and you mention the big sway. Now what? Its against human nature to just tell him - sorry, i dont have a clue how to fix this - you probably remember some incomplete information you read somewhere in Golfdigest and tell him he should rotate against a stable right leg. He takes your advice to heart and straightens it and tries rotating against it. Only problem is - the leg should always be flexed, and your buddy is faced with a new, maybe accumulating problem. You see where this is going?

I have a buddy who may end our golf relationship because he won't stop asking me to critique his problems off the tee. I mentioned something about clubface aligment and swingpath then I tried politely to direct him to a good coach, to this website, and to some other instructional material. He keeps pushing it, then telling me advice he's received from a couple scratch golfers who "know what they're talking about". I didn't even give him any specific tips and he's trashing me. Now he wants to argue rules with me - and he's a chronic incorrect dropper and lie improver. He's sucking the joy out of playing really. What was the question?

[acegolfer]

So you play with a buddy and realize he has a huge sway - he asks you if he does something wrong and you mention the big sway. Now what? Its against human nature to just tell him - sorry, i dont have a clue how to fix this - you probably remember some incomplete information you read somewhere in Golfdigest and tell him he should rotate against a stable right leg. He takes your advice to heart and straightens it and tries rotating against it. Only problem is - the leg should always be flexed, and your buddy is faced with a new, maybe accumulating problem. You see where this is going?

Personally, I don't see any problem with that. A didn't give advice voluntarily. B asked A for B's swing faults. A answered. Whether to listen to A or not is B's decision.

[alf174]

I occasionally go to a course solo and get paired up with others.

Never with strangers.

I've had girl friends ask me but I tell them that its better to ask a pro & and if they insist I try to point out something really obvious - 9/10 of time they're over-swinging, their leading arm breaks down on the back-swing and they can't get back to address position.