I hate the "sport"

[Sticky]

Originally Posted by Kapanda

I am just beginning to play golf, and I'm doing it purely because it is good for business!

I probably would've quit by now if I didn't think it was important... it's just too hard to hit that damn ball properly to continue playing this forsaken game!

At the same time, I wish I had nothing else to do so I could go out there and improve my swing... I curse and curse when I'm on the driving range (for reasons by now obvious), but I don't want to leave neither. I feel like swinging at the thing until I get it perfect.

I guess this was just a bit of a rant. I'm told that once I "get it", I'll love the game.

Did all of you fall in love with the game straight away?

I did.

If your frustration is obvious on the golf course I doubt that it's going to help your business any.  Historically it was good for business not only because you get 4+ hours of undisturbed time together but prospective gain insight into your personality and how you handle pressure and adversity.

[ApocG10]

Originally Posted by dak4n6

Golf is the most beautiful game ever. Period.

I don't trust people who have played and don't like it.

Some reasons why golf is the greatest game:

1. Being on the course on a beautiful spring morning is pure aesthetic overload

2. The sight, feel, and sound of a well struck ball are better than sex

3. It's one of the best ways to acquire discipline and patience

4. It's a mysterious combination of violence/power, and control/forebearance

5. Being 'on' (in the zone) in golf is a much deeper, zen-like experience than in any other sport

6. Beer tastes so good after a round

7. Golf clubs are the most beautiful sports equipment (besides maybe a really fast road bike or a racing shell)

1. Agree

2. Not even close. Either you or your partner are doing things drasticly wrong.

3. Not sure how you get that, but ill let you have it. Discipline comes from within, not from sport.

4. So is hockey, football, baseball, soccer, etc etc

5. You have obviously never played high levels of any sport.

6. I dont drink (I do have a drink, but havent been drunk since I was 20)

7. I can agree with this, aside from Auto-Racing, which by far has the nicest equipment of all. But price range is a bit different.

[kevin.chan]

I was asked to pick up this sport by my boss since it is a tool for our business. He gave me an old set and ask me to go to the range . I was like " What ? The slowest and old man sport on the planet ? " At the range , when i hit my 1st ball , then i reliased that it is not so easy ..lol ! After a few rounds at the range ,i followed my boss to the green . There and Then..there is no turning back ! I took up lesson , google the knowlegde of golf , club fitting , shaft slection , trackman etc , wants to do every single thing to improve my game Now at 43 , the urge to play is getting even stronger . To sustain my game in a long run , i start to go to gym to improve my fitness in golf about 7 months ago. I hit further and my stamina are good for 36 holes in a day . Crazy huh ?

[Fore Left]

I grew up on a course,  so I use to "ride" on the back of my father's pull-cart which had a couple of little clubs in it for me when I was 3 years old or so.   Growing up,  it was easy to get home from school,  grab my sticks,  and walk out on the course during "dusk"  when no other players were around.   By the time I got into H.S.,  with the golf-team, (which played at a different course,  so they gave us memberships for being on the team,  so I was a member at 2 clubs)  I was playing 18 holes a day,  5 days a week,  and often times 36 holes a day on Sat/Sun.  (living in a small town with out much to do will improve your golf game!)

I played in a couple of leagues and with friends in college,  but then after graduating and getting "the job"  I found myself playing less,  and then "the wife" came about, and I rarely got out anymore,  as we were going out doing things together  (no golfing for her,  not her thing)  and then 2 kids later and I found myself at the tail-end of a THREE YEAR hiatus from the game.  My father,  who obviously was a huge influence on my game from the beginning,  passed away recently, and whether that's the reason or not,  I don't know, but  I am now jumping back in to the game this year,  finding time to play 2-4 times a week   (full 18 each time)   and spending crazy money that I didn't even bat an eye at before,  but the thing is....  I'm a hack  (in comparison)  to before,   but I'm MUCH happier being out there than I was before  (not that I wasn't happy to go out,  I was just really hard on myself,  now I'm just thrilled regardless of what one shot/hole/round is)

Golf is a great game,  great sport,  great time.....

*Cliff Note Version........  Golf is good.

[Monty_Ryder]

I did Junior Golf one summer growing up, along with just about every other sport. The only clubs I had access to we're some old Titleist muscle backs, which were unforgiving as hell. I hated it, and never started playing. Fast forward to college graduation - I was surrounded by professionals and my 'free time' became incredibly valuable. Everyone has to have something that they do for fun, so I decided that I wanted to pick up a hobby/sport that would help or at least encourage health and fitness, that I could stick with even as I got older, that I could potentially do alone (I had moved to a new city with a serious girlfriend but knew nobody else) but also with other people, and one that could potentially help me with my professional aspirations. Soccer wasn't going to cut it anymore. My first summer, I bought all kinds of instruction books, a set of clubs, and a range membership. I can't over emphasize how terrible I was... and I HATE being bad at something. But instead of quitting, I used that energy to help me double down on my efforts, and I got bit by the golf bug hard. I went to the range nearly every day after work for 2 summers, had a few instructions, used video to record my swing (I felt silly doing it, but it helps), putted around the house nonstop, chipped around an empty lot nearby... I didn't become an amazing golfer, but my *improvement* was tremendous (I couldn't even hit the ball every time when I first picked up clubs), and I can now play by all the rules without embarrassing myself. I've played with friends, strangers, coworkers, my bosses, clients, potential clients, and potential employers. And surprise, I have been better than a lot of them! I've built rapport with many people by playing golf with them. How about that for something that I have a lot of fun doing? I suppose you could do the same thing going out to bars, but you may be hitching your wagon to the wrong people if that is what you are doing with work-related people. A few things to remember if you want to play for business reasons at all - you will have a lot of face time, and your guard will inevitably slip (one of the reasons golf is great for business) - buy a rulebook for your bag, follow all of the rules, ask if you don't know. Don't cheat or cut corners. Don't get visibly angry! Keep your cool, if you're gonna blow up and you can't help it, you're better off not playing with anyone work related. Character and integrity is vital, especially when people are looking to establish business relationships, so you want to demonstrate that you have it. Keep your eyes open, beause the inverse is true as well.

[kw purp]

I hated golf for years. Since I was around 14 my dad tried hard to get me into it, we would play a couple times a year and I couldnt stand it I just went to make him happy. At around 20 I started playing more and now at 22 I am hooked. So I disagree with people on here who says you either love it right away or you never will

[Chas]

OP: don't forget, when you join AARP and start to have problems with REAL* sports (squash, tennis, windsurfing, whatever ....) for the usual reasons, you will be most grateful that you stuck it out as a young puppy (anyone < 50) and can now enjoy yourself on the course.

Yes, learning golf is ridiculously hard and frustrating compared with the other sports mentioned above, but persistence will, and I mean it eventually WILL, be rewarded.  Just imagine the feeling of making par on a difficult dogleg left, water to the right, bunkers at the elbow and around the green.  Maybe even birdie once in a blue moon.  It's a feeling that compares with little else that I can think of.  Maybe a perfectly level, constant airspeed steep turn to the left, then right, at 5000ft or a boast shot into the nick from a back corner.

I played golf a bit in college and didn't really like it.  Tennis and squash were much more interesting and rewarding.  Golf was too static and "unathletic" feeling.  Never understood why a young and fit person would want to play THAT game ....

Piece of serious advice from a non-instructor but I've been there:  don't forget to FEEL what you are doing (close your eyes as you swing sometimes even - where is the weight/energy in the club in the backswing, then the forward movement?  what is the pressure on each foot/leg? what does your left forearm/wrist feel like? your lower back?), don't get obsessed with mechanics/body position to the exclusion of everything else like I did for years.  I really started to improve when I became more sensitive to the feeling in my fingers and muscles of my arms and legs, shoulders and back.  Very subtle changes in your action can have a large effect on outcom (chunked 70 yarder vs crisp 160 yd 6-iron), and you gots to have FEEL to know what's really happening.   Don't just be thinking about the Seven Deadly Sins or some such.

*only kidding there boss ....

[el shanko]

funny this popped up, i recently started after 30 some years of people prodding me to play the "game" sport. i converse with a couple of guys on a high school sports forum, well they had an idea about getting a scramble together, well that some what got my juices flowing. i mentioned this to the "boss" (owner of the co.) not the wife lol, well he decided that he needed a new set of clubs and gave me his (we are the same height and build). so i went home and put a mat down and painted a spot in the middle for a reference point and started swinging. i am next to 50 years old my body crack, snapped and popped the first couple of weeks just trying to loosen my ass up, then i had to balls up and start hitting the damn white ball at the range lmfao i sucked. so we(the couple of guys that started this scramble) went out to play, again lmfao i still sucked. well the golf bug hit. i also watched the last 20 or so years while working for this company, all the f*#@ off time the managers was getting by playing tourneys, with the boss, company sponsored golf outings ( especially going to Tahoe NV) for a week end of golf, well i have played a lot since starting, hell i have a bunch of guys each week " where are we playing golf this week end" lol. as some posters said its a fun time and i whole heartily agree, i still suck, come close a couple of times breaking 100 but damn i have fun going out and talking to the guys and meeting up with friends out on the course.

[submrnr729]

Like you, I see golf as a great instrument of business.  Getting customers on a course for 4 - 6 hours, with lunch or dinner included, is a great way to discuss business in a much more focused (i.e. no distractions of email, calls, pop-ins at the office) while have a much more relaxed setting.  It has been business opportunities in the recent 3 years that have brought me back to the sport.

I started at 12 hitting balls in the backyard with my dad instructing me.  My dad was a great golfer, consistently hitting low 80s with a few cracks into the 70s.  A good instructor he was not, though he was doing his best to introduce me to the game.  And, it worked.  I fell in love with it pretty much right away, eventhough I was tremendously stressed when I would play with my dad.  As good as he was, I was intimidated by his play and the way he would correct my play.  But, when I got my license I was able to play with friends under more ideal conditions.

I played for years but my play lapsed when I was in the navy, kind of hard to find a lot of opportunities play when you are underwater on a submarine.  But when I got out I moved to Phoenix, AZ which is a Mecca for golfers.  I played quite a bit when I first moved there and found I was improving, but then life caught up with me and I found myself focusing on my wife, later my first son, and a love of endurance training and racing in triathlon.

I didn't play for several years, and had no real interest in playing.  Until I was asked to play in a work outing, which was terrifying.  I had been (still am, but improving) a habitual slicer, and was more than relieved when the event was canceled.  But, the bug bit me again and I started to hit the range and found that I was falling in love with the sport all over again.

I took my first lesson a few weeks ago and walked in with an HCI of ~23, typically shooting between 94 and 104 for 18.  In one lesson I realized what I had been doing wrong, and how I had modified my swing to allow me to do those wrong things yet be somewhat productive on the course.  In the time since my lesson I have tried to hit the range 2 - 3 times a week and play some local courses.  When I connect with a proper swing I have added 20 - 30 yards to my clubs and I can't believe my eyes.  When I miss, I seem to be at least be missing straight.  All this adds up to the fact that like most golfers I struggle, get frustrated, want to do better, spend my time looking at golf info (clubs, articles, forums, equipment, etc.) in the hopes that I will get better.

If you haven't yet, I would recommend a lesson or two, or three.  I have personally realized that going to the range with the wrong swing will not make you better, only more committed to the wrong swing.  I am scheduled for another lesson in 2 weeks, and looking forward to seeing if anything I learned in my last lesson has stuck.

[broomhandle]

For me it got worse as I got better. I went from being deliriously happy to break a hundred to being such a **** while shooting 43 in a league that people told me they didn't want to ever play with me again.

Making 107 is not annoying at all compared to 81 with an 8 on the 18th.

I eventually stopped for 10 years but here I am back trying to do a little better at the game with a lot better attitude.

[vo-man]

"it's good for business".. ..interesting you bring that up.

The guy I sold my old set of irons to keeps a full bag & set of clubs in his office but has never actually played the game.

When clients come in he talks golf but it's all talk.  I took him out on the course once but he spent the entire round

sitting in the cart talking on his cell phone to his clients saying things like, "yeah I'm out here on the golf course today".

A total ass.