Are you a feel or mechanical golfer?

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

Yeah, I think we just have a different perspective of the same thing. I guess the only difference is I wouldn't really be thinking about the 3/4 part. It would be pretty amusing to see someone pull out a chart or calculator. I might do that the next time I play just to mess with the guys I'm playing with.

funny (but I bet you a dollar that a lot of the pros have detailed stats on which shots do what and some key points to each shot....)

my 3/4 is hands go back to about shoulders rather than full on

my 1/2 is hands to waist

if I practice it, I get pretty consistent carry distances - that part doesn't bother me at all - I like repeatability.

(However, one day, my range finder ran out of batteries (my depth perception is so lousy, I would laser my putts if it helped).  I did GREAT near the greens.  I had a bitc* of a time with my medium to long approaches.  So I'm really a mixed type, with a serving of "it depends")

[Hacker James]

Originally Posted by Jeremie Boop

The strange thing is most everyone who sees me swing thinks I have a good swing and should golf better than I do. I'll "feel" like I made a great swing but the ball tells me otherwise rofl.

some balls are like that.  What was it that Trevino said"  "you can talk to a hook, but a slice won't listen".

[Jeremie Boop]

My most common mis-hit is a hook. I know why I do it, meaning the mechanics behind what cause it, but it doesn't "feel" like I'm doing it.. Can't argue with the ball flight though.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Spyder

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

I've met plenty of players who have a set play for any shot or lie and never, ever improvise.  They usually play well in predictable situations, but are lost when a shot requires some imagination.  They have a Pelz style short game with everything calculated to death, but when the calculations fail, so do they.  To me, that's mechanical - robotic.

I am very much a feel player.  That hurts my long game as compared to the typical mechanical player, but I think that it makes me more competent in the short game and in recovery situations.

This goes for me as well. I've had to scramble so much that I have become comfortable with a lot of situations where I can let my imagination run wild and choose a type of shot that has many guys going "Ummm...". Usually it turns out well for me, especially when I am in scramble/recovery mode.

Yep.  This is what I mean when I say I'm a feel player.  I make up short game shots as I need them.  I don't practice weird shots, but I understand my clubs enough to be able to wing it fairly well.  My brain says to try this, I try this.  No analysis, no calculating, just look at the spot where I want to land the ball, make a couple of practice strokes to feel the swing, then I hit the ball.  My lack of mechanical repetition can hurt my full swing, but the feel and imagination I use in recovery and short game shots makes up for some of that inconsistency.

Originally Posted by rehmwa

Quote:

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

I suppose my default 150 yard shot (taking out all variables) is a full 9 iron. But I rarely hit an iron 100%. I have no idea what percent I hit them at though. I don't calculate it, I just feel it and hit it.

I think we're talking past each other.

Is this following process "feel"?  or "Calculating"?   - "Hmmmm, 150 to the flag, greens are a bit hard, it's pretty clear all around.....  Based on my experience, I need to hit this club about 3/4.....I've hit that before and have practiced with it on the range and I think that's the shot I need."

I call that "calculating" (since experience and practice are involved), I suspect you call that "feel" (since you didn't pull a table, chart or calculator out of your bag)

I have to really hit my 9 pure to get a clean 150 - or at least concentrate on a very snappy release.  You must have pretty good feel.

This is where you  and I differ.  The odds are very good that I have never practiced on the range many of the shots I play on the course.

I have probably spent less time on the range in my 39 years of regular play than most members here spend in one season.  I may hit a large bucket one time at the end of winter to make sure I still remember which end of the club I'm supposed to hold, and that is about it.  I often don't even bother with that, just head for the putting green for a few putts then off to the first tee, even on a 3 month layoff.  August 23 I'm going to play for the first time since April of 2012, and I might hit a small bucket, but I'm just as likely to play a few chips and call it good.  All I know is that it will be good to feel a club in my hands again.

[wils5150]

I am from the what ever works for you camp. I play with some guys who cant hit a shot unless the get that range finder gizmo out lol . Me all i need is a 150 post and a 100 yard post and I am good. I pick the club i feel for the shot and hit it. I tried to be more in tune to yardage but in the end it just didnt work for me. as far as practice all i do is putting. We are all individuals so what works for one doesn't work for some.

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

All I know is that it will be good to feel a club in my hands again.

in the end, whatever works for you...go for it

it sounds like a fun way to play regardless

[mdl]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

funny (but I bet you a dollar that a lot of the pros have detailed stats on which shots do what and some key points to each shot....)

my 3/4 is hands go back to about shoulders rather than full on

my 1/2 is hands to waist

if I practice it, I get pretty consistent carry distances - that part doesn't bother me at all - I like repeatability.

(However, one day, my range finder ran out of batteries (my depth perception is so lousy, I would laser my putts if it helped).  I did GREAT near the greens.  I had a bitc* of a time with my medium to long approaches.  So I'm really a mixed type, with a serving of "it depends")

Funny.  I think of myself as having been overly mechanical.  In general I'm that way.  When someone tells a story I have to stop myself from interrupting over and over to ask an endless series of questions about prior events, details of things that happened before the point of the story, etc.  I want to know ALL the building blocks before getting to the payoff.  I'm at the point now where I intellectually understand a lot about the golf swing and feel like I need to swing back towards "feel".

But maybe I've always been more feel than I thought.  I've tried the method of hands to waist, hands to first rib, hands to shoulder, but it's never worked for me.  For example, with my 54˚, I can hit shots with the same stance and setup where my hands stop at the waist that go 60+ yards or 25 yards.  Even if I try to keep the club head at the same level on each swing (so same amount of wrist action hopefully), I can vary distance by at least 10, maybe 15 yards, with similar trajectories.

When concentrating on how far back in the dial my hands go, I'm not concentrating on maintaing the level of body coil or wrist action or the like that I know from practice is what gets me a certain distance.  I've gotta "feel" the whole shot for it to even semi-reliably go where I want how I want.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

you have a normal 150 yard shot to the flag, nothing special to consider - what club to you grab?

or do you just look at your bag and grab whatever club gives you a warm fuzzy?

Depends on how I'm "feeling". Typically an 8 iron, though I've used a hard 9 or a soft 7 in that scenario as well. And the other day, I played a 5 iron back in my stance and ran it all the way up to the green, settling 10 feet from the hole.

[wedgehammer40k]

I'm working on a system based on feel and mechanics. I find that I try to "feel" how my muscles and bones move on a good solid shot - I also review it on video - once I establish the feel of my good swing I commit it to memory as a pattern. It probably won't make any sense to anyone but on drives my takeaway is like playing a cello (drawing the bow across the string) and just that slow tempo of making a smooth cello note.

By using a metaphor rather than pure mechanical analysis I don't get paralyzed by too much information but still have a reference to initiate my swing.

I still like what Tiger has mentioned, just unleash your swing - everyone is different - if it works, it might not be textbook, but go with it.

[rehmwa]

based on all these posts - I've pretty much decided everyone does pretty much the same stuff with slight differences in variation

they just call themselves whatever appeals to their ego

"I'm a feel golfer - I look at the shot and do whatever feels right"

"I'm a mechanical golfer - I look at the shot and decide what shot is best"

enjoy

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

based on all these posts - I've pretty much decided everyone does pretty much the same stuff with slight differences in variation

they just call themselves whatever appeals to their ego

"I'm a feel golfer - I look at the shot and do whatever feels right"

"I'm a mechanical golfer - I look at the shot and decide what shot is best"

enjoy

For me, when you say mechanical, I think "Ok, I'm 50 yards away, I have to use my 56 and bring the clubshaft to 2 inches above parallel for that exact distance."

[rehmwa]

I already pointed out the straw manning from before (a 'feel' player just does the same thing intuitively - maybe based on 39 years of experience, unless they are a beginner just making it up as we go along.  But the handicaps posted show there are good players that 'claim' both or either).

I'm pretty happy with what I've learned on this thread.

and there's no such thing as 'exact' distance - too many uncontrolled inputs to the game.

(do I become a 'feel' player if I say I bring my hands "about" to waist height? )

[nevets88]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

based on all these posts - I've pretty much decided everyone does pretty much the same stuff with slight differences in variation

Agree - like CF vs CP release, swinger vs hitter, etc... The terminology is interesting to read about, but in the end, does it help you swing better? IMHO, no.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

I already pointed out the straw manning from before (a 'feel' player just does the same thing intuitively - maybe based on 39 years of experience, unless they are a beginner just making it up as we go along.  But the handicaps posted show there are good players that 'claim' both or either).

I'm pretty happy with what I've learned on this thread.

and there's no such thing as 'exact' distance - too many uncontrolled inputs to the game.

(do I become a 'feel' player if I say I bring my hands "about" to waist height?  )

Maybe, maybe not. I play with guys who look at the club and what it's doing on the practice shot. They know how far they have to swing to go a certain distance. I just hit a couple practice shots until it feels like the right one for the distance. If you asked me how far I bring my 60 back for a 50 yard shot, I couldn't tell you...I have no clue, I just swing until it feels like that's what it would take to go that distance. Other guys would have an exact answer.

I think THAT'S the difference. Not that one is better than the other, whichever you're more comfortable with.

[rehmwa]

I think I get what Slice is saying now....

example - Look at the hole, it's a stock 70 (ish) yard shot.  we see the wind, slope, etc etc etc etc

the mech golfer think (stock 56 with about a half swing a little to the right, and then tries to execute that swing)

the feel golfer grabs his 56, lines up a little right, and swings for that green with what his experience says is a good swing  (if you watch the swing, he probably hits a 'stock 56 with about a half swing a little to the right')

It's about how does each get to the correct shot - but not the one is better or worse.

the 'feel' works it as - see the shot, hit the shot

the 'mech' works it as - see the shot, figure out the requirement, hit that shot

so for me, I don't see much difference, other than you likely can't be a very effective feel golfer with out a lot of experience, or a learning phase of some other kind.

different strokes for different folks

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

I think THAT'S the difference. Not that one is better than the other, whichever you're more comfortable with.

we were posting simultaneously the same thing.  bingo

(I posted the little dig earlier, because one of the posters was pissing on his playing mates for having a different style than him.  That's the only reason I've been extending this thread)

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

I think I get what Slice is saying now....

example - Look at the hole, it's a stock 70 (ish) yard shot.  we see the wind, slope, etc etc etc etc

the mech golfer think (stock 56 with about a half swing a little to the right, and then tries to execute that swing)

the feel golfer grabs his 56, lines up a little right, and swings for that green with what his experience says is a good swing  (if you watch the swing, he probably hits a 'stock 56 with about a half swing a little to the right')

It's about how does each get to the correct shot - but not the one is better or worse.

the 'feel' works it as - see the shot, hit the shot

the 'mech' works it as - see the shot, figure out the requirement, hit that shot

Originally Posted by rehmwa

we were posting simultaneously the same thing.  bingo

(I posted the little dig earlier, because one of the posters was pissing on his playing mates for having a different style than him.  That's the only reason I've been extending this thread)

Absolutely. I'm probably a mixture of both. For full swings, I'm more mechanical. It isn't until I'm probably 50-80 yards in that it becomes feel for me. Same with putting...a lot of guys know how far to bring the putter back after pacing it off, I just sort of guess...and I'm typically pretty close.

Yeah, I'm not sure why people would argue for one or the other, I think people can have a high level of success with both.

[geauxforbroke]

I still stand behind my original post that everyone is a feel player. I know with simulators we have a much greater wealth of technical knowledge related to ball flight. We can try to tune launch angle, spin, lateral spin, etc. Some of this can be done by changing the swing, a lot can be done by changing equipment. However, if you think about it, practically every lesson involves some sort of aid to help the pupil "feel" what the instructor is trying to have them change. If one of us went to a pro for a lesson and they said "Your right elbow is very disconnected in the backswing, so I want you to practice keeping less than 2.25 inches of separation between your body and elbow during the first 35* of the swing arc", we would probably find a new pro. Instead, they might stick a towel under your right arm pit so that you can "feel" your right elbow staying closer during the backswing. If you think of yourself as a mechanical golfer, that's fine. I still believe, in the end, that all golfers are feel players to a great extent.