Why Do People Think Golf Is Easy?

[flopster]

Dan McLaughlin thought he only needed to practice for 10,000 hours and voila you can play alongside the guys on Sunday.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, flopster said:

Dan McLaughlin thought he only needed to practice for 10,000 hours and voila you can play alongside the guys on Sunday.

And he gave up after about 4000 (or before 6000).

[flopster]

22 hours ago, iacas said:

And he gave up after about 4000 (or before 6000).

He should have taken you up on your offer but like most people didn't want to be told what he had done wrong up to that point. To his credit he managed to get his index to around 5 but in the scope of what he wanted to accomplish he had miles and miles to go before he could make some sort of other successful conclusion. He never was going to succeed within the 10,000 hour mark he didn't know how to practice correctly was a major problem.

[iacas]

10 hours ago, flopster said:

index to around 5

I don't think he played to it at all in any tournaments. Maybe not within a 10.

[flopster]

On 1/8/2022 at 2:08 PM, iacas said:

I don't think he played to it at all in any tournaments. Maybe not within a 10.

Yeah I kinda noticed that also.

[DFW75]

For me - what makes golf so frustrating, is (long bomb 300+ drives notwithstanding) just like the pros, I can hit a 180 yard shot from the first cut to the left and stick it close to the pin, putt for birdie and feel like a golf god. Then get to the next hole - have a 170 yard clear shot from the fairway and hit it fat and it goes 100 yards, or hook it way left of the green, or slice it into the next fairway. I can make a 20 foot putt on one hole, and miss a 3 foot putt on the next. 

It isn't the 1 shot - it's the 80 or 90 or 100 shots. It's replicating - it's using your entire body to generate a smooth and predictable swing. 

Go to Top Golf - you see non golfers hitting the ball as hard as they can to impress their friends - and they have seen enough golf to hit 1 out of 10 or 20 straight and hard - beautiful bombs. They don't care about the other 9 or 19 that they sliced into the fence or hit behind the ball and watched it go 50 yards off the top deck. They just wind up and hit a stationary target as hard as they can. And then they think it's easy because they remember their 'good' shots. 

Of course, as has been stated - in golf - every shot counts. So you have to be able to hit consistently with all of your clubs based on the lie - uphill: tough, downhill: tough, buried in grass: tough, behind a tree: tough. Makes golf hard - and frustrating. 

Oh, but those bombs - those drives that you get out there to 280, those fairway strikes that put you near the hole, those long putts, that 60 degree wedge shot over the bunker to a tight hole - those keep you coming back. Because you KNOW you can do it. Of course, those on tour can do it a lot more consistently than the amateur. 

And - as was stated - the golf highlights are the great shots. I like to watch the golf videos on YouTube of the not so great shots. The pro who chipped it twice to an uphill green, just to watch the ball roll back to their feet. I'm cracking open a beer and saying - "hey, that's me - been there done that!"

Edited January 14, 2022 by DFW75

[Shorty]

On 1/7/2022 at 10:38 PM, flopster said:

Dan McLaughlin thought he only needed to practice for 10,000 hours and voila you can play alongside the guys on Sunday.

The most annoying thing about his story was that when he made up this BS 2.6 index crap, he was on all these TV shows and did interviews where the people talking to him essentially thought he was only 2 shots a round worse than a pro. 

I mean just think...only 2 shots a round worse than Jon Rahm. Amazing.

I don't think he broke 90 in any of the "tournaments" he played in when he claimed to be off 6 or something.

But don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

[Vinsk]

23 hours ago, DFW75 said:

For me - what makes golf so frustrating, is (long bomb 300+ drives notwithstanding) just like the pros, I can hit a 180 yard shot from the first cut to the left and stick it close to the pin, putt for birdie and feel like a golf god. Then get to the next hole - have a 170 yard clear shot from the fairway and hit it fat and it goes 100 yards, or hook it way left of the green, or slice it into the next fairway. I can make a 20 foot putt on one hole, and miss a 3 foot putt on the next. 

It isn't the 1 shot - it's the 80 or 90 or 100 shots. It's replicating - it's using your entire body to generate a smooth and predictable swing. 

Go to Top Golf - you see non golfers hitting the ball as hard as they can to impress their friends - and they have seen enough golf to hit 1 out of 10 or 20 straight and hard - beautiful bombs. They don't care about the other 9 or 19 that they sliced into the fence or hit behind the ball and watched it go 50 yards off the top deck. They just wind up and hit a stationary target as hard as they can. And then they think it's easy because they remember their 'good' shots. 

Of course, as has been stated - in golf - every shot counts. So you have to be able to hit consistently with all of your clubs based on the lie - uphill: tough, downhill: tough, buried in grass: tough, behind a tree: tough. Makes golf hard - and frustrating. 

Oh, but those bombs - those drives that you get out there to 280, those fairway strikes that put you near the hole, those long putts, that 60 degree wedge shot over the bunker to a tight hole - those keep you coming back. Because you KNOW you can do it. Of course, those on tour can do it a lot more consistently than the amateur. 

And - as was stated - the golf highlights are the great shots. I like to watch the golf videos on YouTube of the not so great shots. The pro who chipped it twice to an uphill green, just to watch the ball roll back to their feet. I'm cracking open a beer and saying - "hey, that's me - been there done that!"

It’s the ‘taste’ of excellence we get with golf that drives us. For non-players who think it’s easy, they just swallow that taste and think it’s their norm. Basketball for example, I can’t dribble like those guys and I can’t, without any doubt, slam a basketball. Not even once. Can’t even get lucky enough to do it. But I can hit a 170yd fw bunker shot and land it 4’ from the pin and make birdie. I can flop a shot high in the air over a tree and stick it tight. Ah. The taste of excellence.😁

[dennyjones]

Ah Come on... the ball isn't moving.   It's got to be easier than baseball where the ball is traveling over 90+ mph!  

[Double Mocha Man]

26 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

Ah Come on... the ball isn't moving.   It's got to be easier than baseball where the ball is traveling over 90+ mph!  

Only in baseball can you hit a 120 foot blooper out near the foul line and improve your batting average....

 

3 hours ago, Vinsk said:

I can’t, without any doubt, slam a basketball.

Sheesh, you need to lower your net to 7 feet.  A neighbor, a radiologist, built a basketball court for his son.  When his son, my son and the two dads played a game we would lower the net to 7 feet so the dads could dunk while it was still out of reach for the kids.  The kids are now 6'1" and 6'3".

Edited January 16, 2022 by Double Mocha Man

[darthweasel]

On 1/15/2022 at 5:09 PM, Double Mocha Man said:

Only in baseball can you hit a 120 foot blooper out near the foul line and improve your batting average....

then again, only in golf can you hit a ball thin, have it skip twice on the water and once on the cart path and hole out from 175...

[flopster]

On 1/14/2022 at 4:18 PM, Shorty said:

The most annoying thing about his story was that when he made up this BS 2.6 index crap, he was on all these TV shows and did interviews where the people talking to him essentially thought he was only 2 shots a round worse than a pro. 

I mean just think...only 2 shots a round worse than Jon Rahm. Amazing.

I don't think he broke 90 in any of the "tournaments" he played in when he claimed to be off 6 or something.

But don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

I agree completely, he knew he couldn't compete with that low of an index but continued to post bogus rounds so he could try and convince the audience he had that he was progressing in order to ask for donations.The whole project was basically a defacto "Go fund me" page so a single guy can go play golf for as long as possible on others lack of knowing what was really happening.

[phan52]

On 1/15/2022 at 7:45 PM, dennyjones said:

Ah Come on... the ball isn't moving.   It's got to be easier than baseball where the ball is traveling over 90+ mph!  

Sam Snead to Ted Williams:

'Ted, you don’t have to go up in the stands and play your foul balls. I do.”

[iacas]

5 hours ago, phan52 said:

Sam Snead to Ted Williams:

'Ted, you don’t have to go up in the stands and play your foul balls. I do.”

Ted also had 90° in which to hit the ball, and it only had to go about 400 feet before it was one of the best things you could do.

[Vinsk]

42 minutes ago, iacas said:

Ted also had 90° in which to hit the ball, and it only had to go about 400 feet before it was one of the best things you could do.

Right. And if Ted choked, no worries. The money still came. Hell he could even miss a game and still get paid. 

[Double Mocha Man]

4 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Right. And if Ted choked, no worries. The money still came. Hell he could even miss a game and still get paid. 

Be careful what you say about Ted. Isn't he still frozen and if sometime in the future he is thawed out he could make a comeback?

[boogielicious]

9 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Be careful what you say about Ted. Isn't he still frozen and if sometime in the future he is thawed out he could make a comeback?

Only his head.

[Bucki1968]

On 1/14/2022 at 4:13 PM, DFW75 said:

Go to Top Golf - you see non golfers hitting the ball as hard as they can to impress their friends - and they have seen enough golf to hit 1 out of 10 or 20 straight and hard - beautiful bombs. They don't care about the other 9 or 19 that they sliced into the fence or hit behind the ball and watched it go 50 yards off the top deck. They just wind up and hit a stationary target as hard as they can. And then they think it's easy because they remember their 'good' shots. 

That's funny, when I started playing all I used to remember was the "good" shots. Now all I remember is the "bad" shots. I need to figure out a way to get back to that.