Average Handicaps on the Site

[iacas]

We ran these stats for an advertiser, but they were interesting so I thought I'd share.

Of all the people with numerical values for their handicaps (really, that should be everyone except pros who are welcome to put "Pro"), here's the data:

Average handicap across all TST members: 13.5

Median handicap: 13.

Broken down by the amount you use the forum:

Top 2% most active members: 10.8

Next 18% most active members: 12.8

Last 80% of members: 13.5

I find that stuff interesting. So I thought I'd share.

[newtogolf]

Very interesting, thanks.  What I get from this is I either need to lower my handicap or post less

[Phil McGleno]

So what you're saying is that the more time you spend on this site the better the golfer you'll be? Got it.

No, newt, post more!

[newtogolf]

I do like your interpretation better but looking at the average handicaps I'm feeling a bit depressed.

Originally Posted by Phil McGleno

So what you're saying is that the more time you spend on this site the better the golfer you'll be? Got it.

No, newt, post more!

[jamo]

That's actually a fun correlation vs. causality debate. Do people with higher post counts have better handicaps because they post more, or are people that post more the type of people that are more engrossed in the game, and thus better at it? It's probably somewhere in between (but don't tell the advertiser that ;-)).

[iacas]

Originally Posted by jamo

That's actually a fun correlation vs. causality debate. Do people with higher post counts have better handicaps because they post more, or are people that post more the type of people that are more engrossed in the game, and thus better at it? It's probably somewhere in between (but don't tell the advertiser that ).

I think it's the better you get the more interested you are. Or the more interested you are the better you get at golf. That's the causality/correlation debate. The more interested you are, the more you'll seek out a site like this to post and the more often you'll post (because you likely play more often, too). You care more about equipment, instruction, the PGA Tour, etc. In general.

If you're content to drink beer with your buddies and shoot 98 and cheat the whole time to shoot your 98 and you don't care who's winning what on the PGA Tour right now, you're not likely to join a site to talk about golf. :-)

[MiniBlueDragon]

So for me the summary is, "Less posty posty, more practice practice loser!"

(truthfully however I do feel like I have all the individual pieces to my game looking good and just need to mesh them a little better via practice to lower the HC)

[newtogolf]

That's what I got out of it for myself too, though you're much closer to the site average than I am.

Originally Posted by MiniBlueDragon

So for me the summary is, "Less posty posty, more practice practice loser!"

(truthfully however I do feel like I have all the individual pieces to my game looking good and just need to mesh them a little better via practice to lower the HC)

[WWBDD]

Somebody's sandbagging.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

That's what I got out of it for myself too, though you're much closer to the site average than I am.

Sorry, MiniBlueDragon is not hear right now, he's out playing golf. In the dark. At 1am. Desperately trying to get to the site average HC.. Please leave a message. *beep*

For me I joined the forum to learn about golf, the swing, how I can improve and to get individual perspectives on everything golf-related rather than the usual incorrect drivel found in golf magazines or on the "mainstream" golf websites and forums. I tend to work by absorbing masses of info and then filtering out the provably crap. Then I fill the empty space with more info and repeat. As my golf knowledge has improved I've wanted to be able to give back the same help I received on here and occasionally have my own questions answered as well.

TheSandTrap = bitTorrent for golf info for me

lol

[jamo]

TheSandTrap = bitTorrent for golf info for me lol

Except we're legal! :-P

[MiniBlueDragon]

Originally Posted by jamo

Except we're legal!

So is bitTorrent, as long as you're sharing files that are legally sharable.

[mdl]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

And you're clearly right on the causation!

[Kobey]

Originally Posted by iacas

I think it's the better you get the more interested you are. Or the more interested you are the better you get at golf. That's the causality/correlation debate. The more interested you are, the more you'll seek out a site like this to post and the more often you'll post (because you likely play more often, too). You care more about equipment, instruction, the PGA Tour, etc. In general.

If you're content to drink beer with your buddies and shoot 98 and cheat the whole time to shoot your 98 and you don't care who's winning what on the PGA Tour right now, you're not likely to join a site to talk about golf. :-)

One reason is that if you aren't very knowledgeable about the game it is a lot harder to find threads that you can contribute to.  We want to play on here too but for someone like me to post answers in swing threads or technical forums would be idiotic.  So I have to limit myself to threads that deal mostly in opinions.  That's why there are so many duplicate threads with the same old questions.  The posters usually aren't lazy.  After all, they went to the trouble of becoming a member and posting a question.  That takes more time and effort than just googling it.  They want to talk to other people about golf and are probably not allowed to even mention the G word around their wives anymore, so they post questions that are in the scope of their experience, which are usually the basics.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Kobey

One reason is that if you aren't very knowledgeable about the game it is a lot harder to find threads that you can contribute to.  We want to play on here too but for someone like me to post answers in swing threads or technical forums would be idiotic.  So I have to limit myself to threads that deal mostly in opinions.  That's why there are so many duplicate threads with the same old questions.  The posters usually aren't lazy.  After all, they went to the trouble of becoming a member and posting a question.  That takes more time and effort than just googling it.  They want to talk to other people about golf and are probably not allowed to even mention the G word around their wives anymore, so they post questions that are in the scope of their experience, which are usually the basics.

Okay. So what can we do to make it more accommodating to people who want to talk but are afraid to ask questions? Send me a PM if you don't want to post here - we can also start a new thread somewhere if you have some ideas.

I know saying "we're all golfers and you should feel free to ask anything anywhere" won't do much to persuade you, so what can we do?

[xxsoultonesxx]

Originally Posted by iacas

Okay. So what can we do to make it more accommodating to people who want to talk but are afraid to ask questions? Send me a PM if you don't want to post here - we can also start a new thread somewhere if you have some ideas.

I know saying "we're all golfers and you should feel free to ask anything anywhere" won't do much to persuade you, so what can we do?

How about an "Ask a golf geek" segment done regularly where a casual reader can anonymously drop questions for review. You guys can pick a few and supply some basic answers and links. Address some common questions in a simple and approachable way. I think a casual reader (not the forum poster type) might skim a few golf sites and are always looking for a "quick fix" that something outside the forum might help, but they still have the contribution of getting their question addressed publicly, without beating as many dead horses in the forum.

[wmiller]

I removed my 'handicap' because it offended someone, can't remember who, because it was calculated on ClubSG, not a true USGA number. Doesn't matter, as I don't fall in your average numbers anyway.

As for asking questions, I have witnessed posts on this site and others, where the first thing written is an apology for asking a dumb/stupid/ignorant question that may have been asked before, and the subsequent flamethrowers applied. Now this site is not as bad as some, but there are a few here that are very quick to lash out, and I think this causes trepidation on the part of new members. So why post and risk public humiliation?

Just an observation.

[Lofty Lefty]

Does anyone know what the average handicaps in GOLF are? The typical number that get's thrown around is 16. The claim is that the average handicap in golf hasn't changed in 50 years?

Might be a fair bit of truth in that statement, but I'm not too convinced that people are playing the same golf that the previous generation was.

All the new hi tech gear could be offsetting the fact that golfers are getting older and older. We've got so many golfers at my club 60+ or even 70+ that can't hit it more than 130, yet they maintain handicaps. Unless there was a similar portion of these players 50 years ago, that must have an affect the overall average handicap.

As for TST averages, I'm not surprised to see that we are, on average at least, good golfers!