Natural athletes are naturally good at golf. Agree or disagree?

[pepsiplusconker]

Natural athletes make AVERAGE golfers.     I'm a perfect example ... stick and ball sports came easy to me.     Golf came way easier for me than anyone else I know (just wish I started earlier in life).     I'll never be a good golfer because of my obvious lack of putting ability.     I think the obvious answer is ball striking  comes easier for natural athletes --- HOWEVER --- the real question is this ...

is putting easier for natural athletes ??

I think being a natural athlete has far less to do with putting - seems to me as for putting - you either have it or you don't - you can't learn it like you can a golf swing.

What, putting is one of the easiest things to learn, practice, and improve in golf. It's a slow, small, identical movement each time, not sure if srs.

[newtogolf]

Natural athletes make AVERAGE golfers.     I'm a perfect example ... stick and ball sports came easy to me.     Golf came way easier for me than anyone else I know (just wish I started earlier in life).     I'll never be a good golfer because of my obvious lack of putting ability.     I think the obvious answer is ball striking  comes easier for natural athletes --- HOWEVER --- the real question is this ...

is putting easier for natural athletes ??

I think being a natural athlete has far less to do with putting - seems to me as for putting - you either have it or you don't - you can't learn it like you can a golf swing.

Putting has little to do with athletic ability it has to do with eyesight, mental control, green reading ability, properly fit putter and practice.  Most of the putting books talk about how kids are pretty decent putters because they just walk up and hit the ball without getting all mental about it like we do.

You can definitely learn to putt, average golfers typically don't like to take putting lessons or practice putting as much as they do the full swing.

[David L Yskes]

i would normally say Yes a natural athlete would be better at golf  If he played golf often, than would the average person who played just as often....

But Golf is one of the few sports were it doesnt matter how strong you are or what your weight is...  Other sports i could include here is Billiards and bowling....

Now why is it, almost all hockey players are really good golfers???

As for the Tony Romo vs Charles Barkley comparison, i've seen many videos of Barkley and i would almost put money down that his swing is all fake and he does it for show cuz nobody, not even a noob has that bad of a swing.....

[lm1262]

I just graduated college where I played baseball and previously played since I was three.  I had never picked up a golf club before until 3.5 months ago.  First few weeks of playing i was in the 120's but now I am usually mid-high 80's with an occasional low 80 or a low 90.  Most of my friends think that I have picked golf up so quickly mainly because I already have good hand-eye coordination.

(I mainly think its because I was so used to practicing baseball every day that now I put a ton of time into practicing my golf game and its starting to show)

[Jeremie Boop]

I thought someone said that Barkley was pretty good at one point but hit a spectator or something and it caused him to get that hitch which was psychologically based.

[MS256]

Neither Barkley nor Romo are examples of being "naturally" good or bad at golf. Both have spent plenty of time on the golf course.

Take a non-athlete golfing for the first time and see what happens.

The last time I did there was a 60 yard carry over water on the first hole. I never even thought about it being in play but after about 10 tries he finally had to just go around a take a drop. Never got any better for the next 6 holes when we got rained out.

He asked me if I was that bad the first time I played and without really thinking I just said no. I felt bad about that answer later but I still don't know what I should have said.

[inthehole]

What, putting is one of the easiest things to learn, practice, and improve in golf. It's a slow, small, identical movement each time, not sure if srs.

My point is as a natural athlete, I developed an average swing very quickly - I think if I continue playing at the rate I have the last few years, my ball striking will easily be single digit capable.   Putting is what will keep me from getting there.   I still can't putt my way out of a paper bag.   Putting IMHO has very little to do with being a natural athlete...

[David in FL]

I just looked up Romo. He's +.3, not +3.3. Awfully good, but not tour level good......

[tmac20]

I just looked up Romo. He's +.3, not +3.3. Awfully good, but not tour level good......

You're probably right, but according to this website , he was a +3.3 in 2009. Maybe he's 3 strokes worst now.

[newtogolf]

My point is as a natural athlete, I developed an average swing very quickly - I think if I continue playing at the rate I have the last few years, my ball striking will easily be single digit capable.   Putting is what will keep me from getting there.   I still can't putt my way out of a paper bag.   Putting IMHO has very little to do with being a natural athlete...

Not sure what you mean by "can't putt".  If I set up the ball on a flat surface that's 6' from the cup how many times can you sink the putt out of 10?

What efforts have you made to improve your putting and green reading compared to practicing your ball striking.

I get that ball striking has more to do with natural ability but ball striking means a lot of different things to people.  Can you work the ball left to right, right to left.  Can you control the height of the ball and amount of spin?  Hitting a golf ball far might involve athletic ability, the rest is instruction and practice.

[APrince]

i guess it depends on the sport they played. baseball players and perhaps hockey players may pick up a swing quicker. basketball, i doubt it. if anyone remembers chuck in basketball, he wasnt very graceful. athletics may play a smart part, but i think body control plays a bigger part. i say give chad ocho cinco a club and he'll pick it up quicker than your avg person - considering he had great body control and eyes.

[Lihu]

I think GOOD tennis and hockey players would be naturally good ball strikers.

Of course, like Erik stated golf has so many more aspects that it is difficult to naturally have the gift for all of them.

[Wally]

Obviously not.  Some people are good at golf, some are good at other sports.  Some are good at multiple sports ... sometimes golf is one of them (Romo), and sometimes its not (Barkley). Now I have that "sum, sum, summertime, sum, sum, summertime ..." song in my head thanks to my crappy prose. ;)

"Let's just sit back and unwind. Summer time!" And no, being an athlete doesn't mean you'll be good at golf.

[pepsiplusconker]

My point is as a natural athlete, I developed an average swing very quickly - I think if I continue playing at the rate I have the last few years, my ball striking will easily be single digit capable.   Putting is what will keep me from getting there.   I still can't putt my way out of a paper bag.   Putting IMHO has very little to do with being a natural athlete...

I agree with you, of course putting has less to do with being athletic than ball striking.

Putting is the most robotic stroke in golf I would say, if you can't learn and improve putting, I don't, know what you can improve on.

It sounds like you just don't putt the effort into putting, and practicing it.

[inthehole]

I agree with you, of course putting has less to do with being athletic than ball striking.

Putting is the most robotic stroke in golf I would say, if you can't learn and improve putting, I don't, know what you can improve on.

It sounds like you just don't putt the effort into putting, and practicing it.

not to derail this thread, but given basic technique is established, seems to me putting is all about reading greens and feel.     I don't think this can be taught - seems to me you clearly either have this ability or you don't.    I don't spend hours practicing putting, but I will spend a goodly amount of time at the course before the round trying to get a feel for the greens.      It's not like I don't give it my best either - on shorter putts, I'll walk around both sides, try to read the greens, go through the whole pre-shot routine I've established, etc.       I am just a ham fisted putter - have no touch/feel - more than once I've had people actually laugh at how bad my putting is compared to the rest of my game... it's to the point where it doesn't even bother me anymore.     Which all leads me back to my suspicion that being a natural athlete has nothing to do with putting...

[saevel25]

not to derail this thread, but given basic technique is established, seems to me putting is all about reading greens and feel.     I don't think this can be taught - seems to me you clearly either have this ability or you don't.    I don't spend hours practicing putting, but I will spend a goodly amount of time at the course before the round trying to get a feel for the greens.      It's not like I don't give it my best either - on shorter putts, I'll walk around both sides, try to read the greens, go through the whole pre-shot routine I've established, etc.       I am just a ham fisted putter - more than once I've had people actually laugh at how bad my putting is compared to the rest of my game... it's to the point where it doesn't even bother me anymore.     Which all leads me back to my suspicion that being a natural athlete has nothing to do with putting...

wrong you can teach both. reading greens can be learned, and you can learn feel as well. most people struggle because their mechanics are bad. it's not you either have it or not.

[inthehole]

wrong you can teach both. reading greens can be learned, and you can learn feel as well. most people struggle because there mechanics are bad. it's not you either have it or not.

well, based on the amount of time I've spent golfing in the 3 years I've been playing (if I fessed up, most wouldn't believe it), if I haven't learned how to read greens and established some remote sense of feel by now, it's not in the cards ... just seems logical to me that some people have an aptitude for it & some just aren't wired for it - especially with regard to feel.

[Dave2512]

I don't think the poll is a good example. Don't have to look any further than the local courses to see lots of good and bad golfers of varying athletic abilities. In some instances being athletic hinders people. I see lots of young guys trying to muscle the ball around the course with really bad form. It's not that they can't learn but far too many are reluctant to leave their ego in the parking lot.