Just answer the question please

Without being able to analyze a person's game, there is no way of knowing in which area he/she is proficient. Perhaps the person's handicap is due to their short game, perhaps their long game; no one here, save the player, has any way of knowing. Therefore, instead of offering arbitrary criticisms based on a number, which by the way does not tell as much about a person's game as one might think, just answer the question please.

what question?that sems like a statment.or are you reffering to some people sayin somethin like you dont need players irons your a 28?

Exactly....

if you have a question ill be more than happy to answer it.

I don't have a question at this moment. However, I have noticed a tendency on this site for some individuals to put down high handicappers first, then answer the question.

I see your from KC, what are some good places to play in the general metro aera? Even like St Joe. Thanks

I don't disagree with you but how many 28 handicaps have you seen that have a good swing? There have been so many threads that start like this:

OP: "I'm a 22 handicap but I'm going to work on my game do you think I should purchase insert a players iron?" 1st Reply: What kind of swing do you have? OP: Well, I generally average 275 but I have this really wicked slice from time to time. I can also hit my 6I about 190 but my short game stinks right now. In reality, the post should be: Once in a blue moon I'll crush a drive, the rest of the time I'm 190 off the tee because I come over the top and slice the ball. Also, this one time, I hit my 6I 193 yards. In reality, I'm about 160 and I three putt all the time because most of my approach shots land on the fringe of the green. So, instead of getting truth, and I'm not saying every post but some, we get a false sense of reality. When the replies come in questioning this information, people get sensitive. In reality, how many 20+ handicappers you know have a consistent, solid swing? How many can place the ball in the general vicinity of where they want? Exactly. Very few. Perhaps, maybe, just maybe, that's the reason for the critique?

I've been a 20 handicapper, and agree with Want2PlayMore. There are a few 20 handicappers who have played the game for years, and, like you say crush their drive once in a blue moon, and hit a 6I once 198yds. What I hated to hear was the constant rant that Want2PlayMore is talking about. Without any experience on course management, distance controll, club selection, how to properly execute a flop, chip, pitch, or punch, it hard for someone with the nicest swing to score low. Pulling the club all the way back and swinging the club fairly well is easy. But golf is obviously alot more than that.

Nice rant man. I wouldn't take it as putting you down though. I've only just joined but I've noticed a trend. The majority of advice that is given on this forum is sound. It may not be advice you want to hear, using the example of the 28 handicapper wanting players irons, I'd be honest. Generally speaking, a player of this caliber is not good enough for players irons. But everyone wants to hit the titleist 690s and the TP drivers. The truth is that many of us, myself included, don't have the consistent swing to these type of clubs.

I understand where you're coming from and think you're right in some aspects but to me one of the most irritating things is to see players over estimate the game they have (whether it be shots they can't pull off or hitting clubs they aren't good enough to CONSISTENTLY) and wonder why they put up the numbers they do.

I agree with what you are saying here. There is the tendancy to "read between the lines" when someone posts a question. What gets me is that I try to be as accurate and informative with my post and questions, but I still get the "translated" response.

For example: If I was to say that I hit my driver an average of 250, and ask about my swing speed. I can get a response between 80-105+ which covers a range of 210-270+ in distances. Well that's not helpful. I say I average my drives at 250 because the course I play is very up hill or down hill. Rarely does it have a flat fairway that isn't a dogleg. Cutting the leg, which I tend to do a lot on my course, really doesn't help me get accurate distances. So, while I have some holes I hit 270-280, I have others I hit as low as 230....so (270+230)/2=250.... Now I used to hit my irons very well (2i @ 220, 7i @ 160, 9i @ 140 - yes these are my averages).....now I am very off with them. I am trying to correct this and my distances are much lower as a result. Eh, it happens.

I get your point and that sometimes gets frustrating especially if you are getting the big blow-off. There seems to be an automatic translation / filtering on this forum cause the handicaps are right out there. On the other hand sometimes the question asked is X but really the person should be asking Y based on what they are really trying to accomplish. So some probing about the question, rather than just answering the question, can be helpful.

Stupid mistakes are what get me. My shots are fairly straight, enough that the big blow up holes are from trying something way too difficult or just try to fly a ball 200 yards when you normally hit 180 with that club. Being short is another killer. The nice little pitch shots from 80 yards that land just outside the fringe and cost you one stroke, for the many missed puts from less than 9 feet, or even from less than 4 for that matter.

Many things can contribute to a high handi.I have been playing for 4 years but have only played maybe 15 rounds. Hopefully though this year is the change year.

I think most people try to answer the questions fairly directly, but when they notice a high hc asking a question that is interpreted as something that maybe they don't really need to worry about just yet, they tend to answer by giving other advice. It's probably not meant to be a put down, but rather they are talking form their own experience and what they needed to focus on when they were in that hc range.
For instance, there is a thread on here where a guy wanted to know what to do to improve his drives. He said he regularly hit 270+ and straight, often over 300 and sometimes pondered going for the green on shorter par 4's. He was like a 25 handicap. Obviously, people were all over him about not worrying about his drives, if his post was truthful, because he had great stats off the tee. He should be focusing on the short game because if he was driving like that he must have had some real issues elsewhere to be that high of a hc.
Is it necessarily the right way to respond? No. Are you going to change it? No.

it's kind of difficult to give ONE direct answer unless it's something like
smash factor, max distance for each mph swung... those are all facts.

sure there's tons of high hc's that can chip but can't putt....hit awesome iron shots, but can't drive the ball... they get their added strokes from a wide combination of things...but the fact remains.... the reason why someone is a higher handicap is b/c of: inconsistencies... it's a generalization.

we've all been or are high HC's...
shoot, I'm a mid HC that works hard at the game...but I'm still really inconsistent.

1 hole can be a smashed drive 275 down the pipe with a short 8 or 9 iron to the green..and sometimes i'll still jack that up too..
or i'll screw up the tee shot, have a great 2nd shot and i'm scrambling.

it is doc'd that the difference b/t low HC's and better vs. the mid-high hc's is the ability to score when the opportunity is presented.

low's & better avg a little over par on a par 3.
they avg a little better than par on par 4.
but they separate themselves from the rest with par 5 avg'ing just about birdie.

why? on longer holes, mid-high hc's have a tendency to mess up during one of the strokes given to them... myself included...how many times have we done what i stated above? no one's perfect.. but low & better have all around
better fundamentals, a more established swing plane, and can control the ball as desired. how many hc's out there have ball striking abilities comparable to a low hc?

i will admit though, I did play with a 25 hc & a 17 hc on Friday... the 25 hc kicked my ass with his iron game... he hit it further.... straighter...

the 17 hc had great iron shots and was good off the tee... but they both suffered from:
CONTROL & SHORT GAME issues. They both tried to overcompensate... swung really hard... and when faced with a 220 yd shot over water or an exterme hazzard from as their balls were in the rough as their 2nd shot... they both tried to go for it... TWICE...
instead of hitting it out with a sw and being happy with being in the fairway 100 yards out..they got themselves into even more trouble....

myself as a mid hc.... and from speaking to low hc'ers... course management and knowledge & capability of saying: I'm gonna get it out to 100.. hit a controlled wedge shot to hopefully be within 10 feet to putt for par is my goal after a screwed up tee shot... not just hit it and hope....
i'm not saying i'm all that..but you can see a generalization..

as for equipment...i can't agree fully on that... i've always been whatever feels best & performs the best for me....I went against the grain and what the person that was fitting me for my irons said.... told me to stay away from blades or a mid cavity...... he told me to buy a hybrid set and call it a day... I swung a bunch of clubs on a blind test....found the mp-60's and my game's only gotten better.....

BUT why do people want to swing a player's irons? they do penalize you when you mishit...they can STING like a bee on a cold day and you hit it thin.

i'm sure that people aren't putting down high hc'ers...just generalizing....