Playing Partners Who Tell You What You Did Wrong

[bucklateral]

I agree!!!!

[Saint]

some of the best coaches though cant play very well, and i can see that. And hitting a 60 out of the sand is better to me than a sand wedge, but thats just me. I'm always open to advice.

[DriverTees]

The club I go to is quite cheap, so they're are a lot of bad golfers. If I play by myself, it's almost allways for practice. So I try to block out everything out there and play my absolute best.

[timwalsh300]

These people who give the advice... it's always " You picked your head up." When they hit a bad shot it's always, "Argh... I picked my head up..." As if we could all play on the PGA Tour if we could just "keep our heads down..."

I played a few holes recently with two guys who were both terrible, but one was clearly better than the other - maybe the first time ever on the golf course for the weaker guy. Every time he duffed a shot his friend said, "Come on dude, you picked your head up again." Finally he pitched one onto the green OK and his friend said, real snarky, "See, it's amazing what happens when you remember to keep your head down." I felt so bad for him.

I think that worse players feel the need to do this because it reaffirms their limited and fragile understanding of how everything works. They desperately need the game to be that simple or their heads would explode. I've found this to be the case with everything. The more advanced I've become in any endeavor, the less likely I am to dispense my knowledge. I start to see how nuanced and complex everything is, and I am humbled by that. I also realize how dumping advanced knowledge on a raw beginner is ineffective. It's best to just encourage them and let them figure things out as they go at their natural pace.

Tim

[imtomtomim]

yeah, I'll offer observations when asked or when a player seems baffled about why something is going on, I'll blurt it out to them. That usually leads to them asking me about different shots which I'll just throw a bunch of different thoughts at them to try out. I don't like to pry because it's their swing and it may have worked for what they're feeling at one point, but if it's just obviously not working, I might mention one or two things that may be throwing them off completely.

[flopdarock]

man i cant stand anyone giving me advice no matter how well they play... unless im paying them to give it to me...

but........

yesterday i was at the range with my brother who is a solid 3hcp... we were right next to a couple of guys that were just horrendous... and one guy was 'teaching' the other guy... we hadnt started hitting yet but we were getting ready and i was just basically observing the teacher and student... it was amazingly hard keeping my mouth shut but i did...
we were in the stalls right next to them (only ones available) and started warming up... the student immediately stepped back and said loudly "man teach me how to hit like these guys"
once warmed up my brother starts striping balls...
this is when the student starts asking for tips... it was flattering... but we werent there to teach... plus i didnt wanna make his buddy seem like we were on his 'turf'

[running-8-iron]

I refrain from giving people golf advice on the course unless they specifically ask for it. They might ask me why they are slicing it or why most of their short putts end up to the right of the hole so I suggest I'll watch them over the next few holes hitting those shots and then give them my answer. I might even suggest how they could correct it but again only if they ask for it.

As for myself, I have no problem when a better player gives me advice on any aspect of my game. I have a problem though when someone gives me advice about a shot I've hit (mechanical) if I don't ask for it or they question the shot type I've hit when they don't understand why I've tried to work the ball a particular way. For example, on most par 5's I can afford to be aggressive with my driver coz I know I can hit laterally out of the rough (if needed) and still have a chance to get on in regulation. The upside for me of a 2-putt birdie and possibly eagle outweighs the easy par benefit, unless the circumstances only need a par.

[atrapasuenos]

I hate when this situation happen. I accept the critics/tips when it's a guy that plays better than me, because he has more experience or whatever you want to call it than a guy that plays worse than me. I try to stay calm but I don't enjoy playing a round like that.

Cheers!

[TheNatural]

I played a crap muni course a while back and the old codger ranger followed me around on 3 different holes, get this:

He parks along my fairway on a par4 200 yards out and is in my field of view and I wait and wait for him to drive towards me. He doesnt. I swing and pull hook into the woods, basically in his direction, he is on the left side of the fairway. He then drives by us.

My pop tells me to drive again( ihave to anyway) I proceed to drill one left side not too far from where he was but on the fairway and it went 270 uphill. 6 holes later he stops at a par 3 to watch me tee off over a pond. He parks like 10 feet from my tee and starts jawing, "you pulled up on that drive blah blah blah" I said "yea I wish you had kept moving, I didnt want to hit you, my next drive went 50 yards past where you were parked and it could have been dangerous" (he didnt believe me, he didnt see the 2nd ball)

So i tee off and hit thin into the pond. The ranger starts again "you lifted your head up again, your swing is too hard blah blah" then he drives off. Pop says to me "retee" I drop one 8 feet from the pin 165 yds out.

We go to the next tee and there he is again harassing a single and holding him up from driving, thus holding us up! I told him "buddy your bad luck, I play like crap whenever your near me and when you leave I play great" I tell him what happened on the par 3 and he doesnt believe me. Then goes on and on about my swing, tee off and duck hook hard to the left. UGH. I have not been back to that course and will not go unless its free.

[flopdarock]

I played a crap muni course a while back and the old codger ranger followed me around on 3 different holes, get this:

dude i have a worse story... a groundskeeper on a giant lawnmower pulled over on the side of the fw while i was teeing... when i got up to my ball he mowed up behind me... turned off his lawnbeast and started giving me swing tips... there i was getting ready to hit my approach shot with this harvester thingy literally 10yrds behind me... it was surreal

[mfreeman73]

I played at a 9-hole muny today and in my group were a couple of women probably in their 40's and some older guy who was probably in his 70's. This old guy then starts trying to give us lessons all throughout the round. I started off well, but the more he kept telling us what we were doing wrong and how to do it right, I started playing worse.

I understand that in his mind he was doing us a kind service by imparting all of his wealth of knowledge he's accumulated over the years. The only problem is that I didn't ask for this knowledge, nor was it going to help me on this round. The shot I have the most problem with is a little chip up onto the green. He proceeds to tell me that I need to work on my chipping. Why do these people feel they need to point out the obvious.

I think I've concluded that from now on, if I'm paired with people I don't know, I'm going to introduce myself and then say, "you're going to see some bad shots today and I'd appreciate it if you don't tell me how to fix them. I know what I'm doing wrong and I'm out here working on correcting it."

[jefftommy06]

The only advice I don't mind getting is when someone tells me, "you hit it where you were lined up".......and that's after I hit the ball, don't tell me before I hit it....that messes with my head on the shot. I usually line up parallel to my target so I don't mind that advice. Give me tips on what you saw in my swing, not how you think I should correct it.

[tbjohnston]

"I make changes to my game on the driving range only. On the course I just play with what I've got, so no advice please."

Nicely said.

[DavidFehertysBike]

I dont mind if the partner is right. Just yesterday, a playing partner said i was aligning too far right, and then i checked myself, and it turned out i was. Then i proceeded to stomp him by 11 strokes for the remainining 8 holes. lol.

[plugged]

I play with a co-worker and another guy sometimes. My co-worker is absolutely terrible, so to speed the game along, we usually will give him some band-aid hints that will at least make the game halfway enjoyable for him. Other people I usually don't say a thing. There are a few exceptions, e.g., if I hear someone say "I pushed it" or "I pulled it" or "I got under it" and that is not what happened, I'll sometimes respond with a "actually, I think you were lined up in that direction". That is something (like the poster above) that I would appreciate hearing myself.

The other comment that I more than happy to give is something along the lines of "hey, do you want to borrow my repiar tool to fix your ballmark?" This is my subtle way of telling them to try and respect the game and other players.