Know How vs Execution

[FLOG4]

If knowledge of how to best play the game of golf was true to perfected play.....Then why has Foley, Harmon, Leadbetter combined for zero PGA tour wins? 

[saevel25]

13 minutes ago, FLOG4 said:

If knowledge of how to best play the game of golf was true to perfected play

Because it isn't.

[dennyjones]

Sparky Anderson was probably one of the best baseball managers but he couldn't cut it as a major league player.   Playing and knowing how to play are completely different.     John Wooden was arguably one of the best basketball coaches but you won't see his name as one of the basketball player greats. 

[FLOG4]

Agreed....Execution vs Knowledge of how best to are two different skill sets. I created this topic in response to the topic best handicap to appreciate golf course architecture....Knowledge of the How To's doesn't correlate to being a great golfer. Which is true in all sports. Sparky is a great example...as is Wooden.  

[David in FL]

Those who can’t do, teach.

[Patch]

Golf instructors are a lot like supervisors. They teach others.to do the work, and are able to share in the glory of how well those they supervised did that work.

A big part of their supetvision is just being a second set of eyes to identify both positive, and negative issues the player cant see in their own swing. 

Of course the big difference is instructors are the employees of the players they teach. Not the other way around like in the regular business world. 

[3jacker]

4 hours ago, David in FL said:

Those who can’t do, teach.

Of course the flip side to that is that many who can do, can't teach. 

Being able to connect and transmit ideas is an skill that is key.  In the case of Leadbetter/Harmon/Haney et al, the other skill is marketing.  Actually that last one comes first.

 

Edit>>Of course a teacher had better to be proficient enough at the game to convey a sense of legitimacy. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by 3jacker

[Vinsk]

4 hours ago, David in FL said:

Those who can’t do, teach.

This is true. But I’d add, imo, that many instructors ‘do’ and do quite well as far as golf in general. PGA TOUR players are in an elite class by themselves. Being an excellent golfer isn’t limited to a PGA TOUR level of play. 

[DaveP043]

A flip side of this, slow-motion photography has shown that some of the greatest players' descriptions of their own swing contradicts what they actually did in that swing.  The could DO it, but they didn't really know what they were doing.  Complete knowledge of the swing itself isn't critical to being able to make good swings.  And I believe (sorry, I can't come up with examples off the top of my head) there are some instances where increasing knowledge of the technical details of a swing has proved counterproductive to a player's performance.  A player needs a set of fundamentals and swing feels that work for him. 

Even so, this is a completely different question from the other thread.  

[FLOG4]

12 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

A flip side of this, slow-motion photography has shown that some of the greatest players' descriptions of their own swing contradicts what they actually did in that swing.  The could DO it, but they didn't really know what they were doing.  Complete knowledge of the swing itself isn't critical to being able to make good swings.  And I believe (sorry, I can't come up with examples off the top of my head) there are some instances where increasing knowledge of the technical details of a swing has proved counterproductive to a player's performance.  A player needs a set of fundamentals and swing feels that work for him. 

Even so, this is a completely different question from the other thread.  

I think Tiger got messed up by being over taught vs playing like he knew he could. There are many examples of players who had swings which were not that great....But they repeated them perfectly...Trevino, Miller Barber, Billy Casper

[David in FL]

18 hours ago, Vinsk said:

This is true. But I’d add, imo, that many instructors ‘do’ and do quite well as far as golf in general. PGA TOUR players are in an elite class by themselves. Being an excellent golfer isn’t limited to a PGA TOUR level of play. 

Absolutely true, and you only need to watch the PGA Professional Championship or even the PGA Championship to see extremely good play from non-tour players.

But as far as top tier, tour level play, the adage remains mostly true. 

[Tiga Tiga Woods Yall]

I know how to run, but that doesn't mean I'm fast. 

[mcanadiens]

Think about it.

Famed PGA Tour player with xx wins under his belt hits the range to give lessons.

No chance.

That would be like your state's governor quitting his job to run for your town's city council.

[Piz]

I've never met a golf instructor/teacher who wasn't better than I am.  That's good enough for me.  

[dennyjones]

2 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

Think about it.

That would be like your state's governor quitting his job to run for your town's city council.

Oh DON'T GO THERE.   That state up north hasn't had a good Governor for many years.   And I had to reread most of this post and delete most so it wouldn't get political.... 

Edited April 18, 2019 by dennyjones

[DaveP043]

2 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

Think about it.

Famed PGA Tour player with xx wins under his belt hits the range to give lessons.

No chance.

Yet those same players show up as authors of articles and books of swing instruction.  And sometimes people seemingly question the value of certain instruction, based on the relative lack of playing achievements by the instructor.  Put simply, ability to play at the top level doesn't require detailed knowledge about the golf swing, and ability to be a really good instructor doesn't require the ability to play at the highest level.  Some great players have superior knowledge, and many instructors are really good players.

[iacas]

On 4/15/2019 at 10:18 AM, David in FL said:

Those who can’t do, teach.

That's an insulting bit of absolute bullshit, but beyond that, cool.

[Zeph]

Knowledge is useful, but you can't win anything by that alone. If you can't put the knowledge into practice, it's no good. At the other end you got pros on the PGA tour with very limited knowledge of how the swing works. They got a swing that does the job and lets other take care of the knowledge part and tell them what to do.

To become really good you also need talent. Anyone can't get to the PGA tour just by working hard and having the best knowledge available. The competition is too tough and those that make it on tour need talent and maybe the right circumstances as they grow up to make the talent work.