Americans and Brits Shouting!

[Lefty-Golfer]

golfers in my opinion along with tenis players are pussies...concentrate and swing the damn club...you don't need absolute quiet to do anything in life including play golf.

if a man is focused and trained he won't hear anything regardless of the noise. you talk to guys in other sports and you realize that the concentration level is like tunnel vision.

i have been married 20 years have two teenagers but i can't block out surrounding sounds on a golf course. i am calling BS on that.

[joekelly]

Offer a choice.  Substitute for the noise, row upon row of flapping psychedelic flags, silent flashing lights and bobbling beach balls. Deathly quiet mind you. Often the best advice is simply 'keep your own mouth shut, quit worrying about the other guy'.  Works for me.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Golfer

if a man is focused and trained he won't hear anything regardless of the noise. you talk to guys in other sports and you realize that the concentration level is like tunnel vision.

The analogy to other sports doesn't work. The noise is a constant there, just like the music I play when I'm working. It just becomes background noise.

I guarantee you if in the middle of your shot or your pitch the crowd instantly fell dead silent it'd freak out a basketball or baseball player, too.

[Spyder]

Erik, I agree with you 100%. But, I do think that sometimes it's played into a bit much by some players on some occasions, which is something that you can expect in human nature I guess.

I think it was last year that Sergio flipped out when a spectator scratched their nose during his back swing? That's getting a little crazy. So the analogy being made by Lefty would be like comparing a situation like this, to an NBA player making a foul shot when the entire crowd behind the hoop have those damn foam pool toys that they're shaking like crazy. Are they similar? No, not at all. But, is that something that NBA players are "used to"? I don't think they're ever comfortable with the distractions to be honest. It's not like this happens to them every single night and they definitely do not practice with those distractions in place.

Another funny distraction blow-up would be Sean Rash cussing out Jason Belmonte for crinkling a water bottle during his bowling approach in a PBA Tournament.

Sometimes, the players do over-exaggerate and whine about distractions when they really should just keep their mouth shut and step back and refocus if there's something bothering them.

[dsc123]

Originally Posted by iacas

The analogy to other sports doesn't work. The noise is a constant there, just like the music I play when I'm working. It just becomes background noise.

Also the fans are much closer

[iacas]

Originally Posted by dsc123

Also the fans are much closer

They're pretty darn close in hockey. :)

But generally, yes, without a doubt.

[Hoganwoods]

I was in NY on Sunday and I have to say that the vast majority were well behaved.  The select few who were going crazy were doing so without any interference from tournament officials or organizers.  It's hard to stop this kind of behavior when they don't even issue warnings. Also, the amount of booze they allow these people to drink, it's no wonder you get a few loose cannons.  Some of them were funny though, or at least I thought.  The annoying people to me were the smart asses commenting on people's shots like they could have any shot of doing better.  The volunteers who formed huge visual barriers next to players were also annoying.  They wouldn't duck or anything, they just blocked out 50 people's view.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by iacas

The analogy to other sports doesn't work. The noise is a constant there, just like the music I play when I'm working. It just becomes background noise.

Exactly.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by iacas

They're pretty darn close in hockey. :)

But generally, yes, without a doubt.

With plexiglass separating them from the players.

But yes - the issue isn't having total silence, it's having consistency. If there was a constant din of noise a player could deal with that. It's the interruptions - going from quiet to noise or noise to quiet - that will affect them. Remember, golf isn't a reactionary sport - there's no linebackers running at you, no fastball coming at you at 95mph - people can yell all they want when Ray Lewis is coming at you & it's not going to change what you do - you run!.

But in golf, you hit the ball when you're ready, but to have a change in noise occur right when you're making that decision just cannot work.

Don't anyone think for a second that golfers are pussies, that they can't deal with noise. It's the nature of the game they're playing that demands it, not them.

[Chas]

Well said that man.

And also, you have clarified for me why it is that I've found golf so much harder to learn to play well than certain other sports - it's because I've been a "reactionary" sportsman in those other activities (e.g. tennis, squash) and golf calls for something else entirely.

hmmm, this may also explain my deficiency in darts at the pub league level.  Except that your average pub (with a dart board or two) is a place with high and constant background noise.  Scratch that excuse.

[zipazoid]

The golf ball is very patient, Chas. It ain't going anywhere. You hit it when you are ready to, not when a pitcher tells you to or a shot clock. Golf is unique.

[Chas]

It's a problem for someone who has enjoyed high-speed, reaction sports most of his life, to take up golf at 50 and try to be halfway decent at it.  You'd think that at my age (60), patience wouldn't be such a problem.  In some ways I'd still prefer that someone throw or hit a ball at me at speed and ask me to do something with it using a racquet or a club than to stand there looking at that little white ball trying to fashion just the right shot.  But there is no other feeling in sport IME that compares with that of a clean, solidly struck golf ball that takes off on the proper trajectory and lands near the target.  So there's no hope for me I guess, just have to keep sucking it up I guess ....

Back to topic:  unnecessary distrations make this game harder, even for the pros.  They should be eliminated as much as possible.

[duckhook3]

This has nothing to do with needing absolute silence for the pros to play golf, it's about the ****ing idiots who think golf is some kind of stadium sport where you can scream whatever you want during it.

Golf is a civilised sport, where unnecessary noise isn't appreciated. Americans are turning it into a joke, I know the American public aren't very mature or educated(46% are creationists, nip slips are national controversies), but atleast respect the game you supposedly play.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by duckhook3

This has nothing to do with needing absolute silence for the pros to play golf, it's about the ****ing idiots who think golf is some kind of stadium sport where you can scream whatever you want during it.

Golf is a civilised sport, where unnecessary noise isn't appreciated. Americans are turning it into a joke, I know the American public aren't very mature or educated(46% are creationists), but atleast respect the game you supposedly play.

Think you can possibly use a broader brush to paint your generalities?

[boogielicious]

I guess he's never been to a European football match.  Very civilized fans there!  Those football houligan's are so polite!  As for 46% Creationist, that is only on a Fox News poll. (owned by an Aussie by the way).

I don't like the knuckleheads either that feel the need to shout.  They only do it because of the cameras.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by duckhook3

This has nothing to do with needing absolute silence for the pros to play golf, it's about the ****ing idiots who think golf is some kind of stadium sport where you can scream whatever you want during it.

Golf is a civilised sport, where unnecessary noise isn't appreciated. Americans are turning it into a joke, I know the American public aren't very mature or educated(46% are creationists, nip slips are national controversies), but atleast respect the game you supposedly play.

You have to be kidding me. Are there really that many people from other countries who have this misconception and disrespect for Americans? I truly do not understand it. I will have you know that the majority of Americans are actually highly educated and respectable people who do not look down on, or disrespect, people of other cultures, origins and countries.

Please do not watch "Redneck Vacation" on CMT and think that you are watching 'Merica at its finest. That is not the case.

What you said there is just as disrespectful as someone saying "Hey, maybe The Open Championship should be sponsored by Dental Works!". See how that works? Another stupid stereotype that some creative mind with nothing better to do came up with.

The only thing that is being turned into a joke is yourself with your misconception of America and your uneducated, stereotypical assumption of our culture and educational system. I'm not even angry though, I just feel bad for you.

[ClayHbg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by duckhook3

Golf is a civilised sport, where unnecessary noise isn't appreciated. Americans are turning it into a joke, I know the American public aren't very mature or educated(46% are creationists), but atleast respect the game you supposedly play.

I'm just an immature, uneducated American but I do know that the word you're looking for there is ISN'T, not aren't.  I love when people try to insult the education of others they can't even do it without a grammatical error.

I even agree with some of your points but the generalizations are too much for even me.

[jamo]

I'm just an immature, uneducated American but I do know that the word you're looking for there is ISN'T, not aren't.  I love when people try to insult the education of others they can't even do it without a grammatical error.    I even agree with some of your points but the generalizations are too much for even me.

Not exactly. Different English-speaking countries do that differently. In America, we generally treat an organization as singular ("Ford is making nice cars" is treated like "Pete is making nice sandwiches") unless it is has an "s" at the end ("the Yankees are winning the AL East"), while in Britain, for instance, they treat an organization as plural ("Arsenal are in the Premier League" is treated like "Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott are on Arsenal"). Wait, who am I defending? Uhh...