"Slow play = bad play"

[Club Rat]

In an article I received today from GolfersRX, Rick Smith talks about the pre-shot routine. The title "Slow play = bad play" reflects a thought, does "bad play = slow play"?

Anyway, it's a very good video of developing a pre-shot routine.

Quote

Slow play - it's a killer. 

 

No one likes to watch it, you irritate your playing partners, and most importantly... it causes you to play worse. 

It's true. And I'm going to tell you why and how to overcome in it in today's video. 

Slow play = bad play. Check it out:  http://golfersrx.com/pre-shot-routine/

 

So, the million dollar question? Does "Slow play = Bad Play" or does "Bad Play = Slow Play"?

[Fourputt]

No to Bad Play = Slow Play.  You can play poorly and still play fast.  What the video is about is saying that the more you overthink a shot, the less likely you are to hit it well.  The longer you stand over the ball thinking, the more you tense you become.  You lose the fluidity that you need to make a good golf swing.  That is all he is talking about there.  

You are trying to read something that doesn't apply - it isn't a mathematical equation where both sides are equal no matter which way you read it.  He should actually be saying that Slow Play results in Bad Play.

The real problem with what he is saying is that while he mentions slow play, that video it does very little to address the issue.  Slow play is usually a result of many factors, of which bad play may be a part, but usually just a small part.  It's all of the time wasting bad habits which have little to do with actually playing their ball that some players have which go to the root of the problem, and a slow preshot routine is not highest on the list.

[Patch]

This has the makings of a half empty/half full question. It's both.

Maybe a person who is slicing every shot into the unknown, and takes lots of time  looking for a lost ball, could be considered a bad player who causes slow play. 

I also suppose a player can play poorly due to slow play, if they let slow play manipulate their own game.

[Dave2512]

Slow play = bad decisions and it can often include bad play. Golf is hard and amateurs tend to make it harder than it could be.  

[David in FL]

I know very good players who are slower than death, and poor players who scoot.

One has little/nothing to do with the other.  Slow play = Slow play.  That's all.

[Golfingdad]

42 minutes ago, David in FL said:

I know very good players who are slower than death, and poor players who scoot.

One has little/nothing to do with the other.  Slow play = Slow play.  That's all.

Correct answer!

[Club Rat]

13 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

Correct answer!

 

56 minutes ago, David in FL said:

I know very good players who are slower than death, and poor players who scoot.

One has little/nothing to do with the other.  Slow play = Slow play.  That's all.

This is not a thread on "Slow Play"

It's more of a discussion of the effectiveness of the pre-shot routine for which one may benefit to make decisions which affect their play.

Or, vise-versa, over thinking, the gremlins which haunt one, or thoughts which leave doubts to situations.

[Dave325]

For me.... The answer is.... It depends. If my shot is erratic and spend time looking for my ball and taking more shot than normal, then the answer is yes (bad play and slow play are one in the same. However, slow play may be that I am working on something in my swing, taking the time to hit a couple extra balls or just enjoying the scenery. 

[colin007]

I think if you're a bad player, then playing slower is just going to make things worse.

[DrvFrShow]

Nothing is that simple. The video doesn't address the issue. What affects slow play.

* spending too much time looking for lost balls? This is on the player. Hit a provisional. If you don't find it in a couple minutes, play your provisional.

* how about courses that sped up greens to say around 12 on greens that were designed to be 7 or 8? This is what my home course did last summer. 9 was fine the year before, but they were downright scary at times last year and I played my first 6 hr round there. My putting went from 33 to 38 per round. If they're going to make the greens fast, flatten them out. The average golfer doesn't want to spend time lining up a 2 foot putt. Do we want the "two foot gimme?" That's not RoG.

* better spacing of tee times, but courses want to pack 'em in like sardines.

* easier pin placements on weekends. If you have a tournament during the week, move the pins on Friday or Saturday morning.

* Yeah, it's nice the guy in the video has a fast preshot routine. He's done it well over thousand of time a month. The average golfer does it on the weekend a hundred times a month. I think if people practiced their preshot routines at the driving range they'd become second nature. Then when they used them on the course, they'd just go through them a lot quicker. It wouldn't be a "new" thing.

* effective cart use.

 

 

 

[colin007]

1 hour ago, DrvFrShow said:

Nothing is that simple. The video doesn't address the issue. What affects slow play.

* spending too much time looking for lost balls? This is on the player. Hit a provisional. If you don't find it in a couple minutes, play your provisional.

* how about courses that sped up greens to say around 12 on greens that were designed to be 7 or 8? This is what my home course did last summer. 9 was fine the year before, but they were downright scary at times last year and I played my first 6 hr round there. My putting went from 33 to 38 per round. If they're going to make the greens fast, flatten them out. The average golfer doesn't want to spend time lining up a 2 foot putt. Do we want the "two foot gimme?" That's not RoG.

* better spacing of tee times, but courses want to pack 'em in like sardines.

* easier pin placements on weekends. If you have a tournament during the week, move the pins on Friday or Saturday morning.

* Yeah, it's nice the guy in the video has a fast preshot routine. He's done it well over thousand of time a month. The average golfer does it on the weekend a hundred times a month. I think if people practiced their preshot routines at the driving range they'd become second nature. Then when they used them on the course, they'd just go through them a lot quicker. It wouldn't be a "new" thing.

* effective cart use.

 

 

 

 

Sorry @DrvFrShow but it is that simple. Slow players will play slowly, regardless of where the pins are, how fast the greens are running, hitting a provisional, etc.

Honestly, I'm rethinking this thread. I'm not sure there's any correlation. But I also don't think a bad player taking their time is helping their game AT ALL.

[gregsandiego]

8 hours ago, Club Rat said:

 

This is not a thread on "Slow Play"

It's more of a discussion of the effectiveness of the pre-shot routine for which one may benefit to make decisions which affect their play.

Or, vise-versa, over thinking, the gremlins which haunt one, or thoughts which leave doubts to situations.

Agreed. It's an interesting discussion but would be better off without the confusing title that sounds like we're talking about multiple things that slow the game.

I like the video but wonder would it would do if I just ran up to my ball like he does. Nothing to lose....

42 minutes ago, colin007 said:

 

Sorry @DrvFrShow but it is that simple. Slow players will play slowly, regardless of where the pins are, how fast the greens are running, hitting a provisional, etc.

Honestly, I'm rethinking this thread. I'm not sure there's any correlation. But I also don't think a bad player taking their time is helping their game AT ALL.

I'm all about testing. Next round I'll try every other hall rapid fire like this Rick Smith guy does.

[Fourputt]

39 minutes ago, gregsandiego said:

Agreed. It's an interesting discussion but would be better off without the confusing title that sounds like we're talking about multiple things that slow the game.

I like the video but wonder would it would do if I just ran up to my ball like he does. Nothing to lose....

I'm all about testing. Next round I'll try every other hall rapid fire like this Rick Smith guy does.

When my game gets erratic, one of the best things I can do for it is to quit thinking too much.  I just set up and swing.  I'll take maybe 10 seconds from picking my line to ball in the air - that includes noting the wind and lie, which I've usually already done anyway by the time the cart stops moving.  I find that doing so sort of resets my swing circuit breaker.  I start swinging instead of just hitting at the ball.

[vangator]

There are plenty of pros that are slow, so Slow Play <> Bad Play.  I think Slow Play = Rude Jerks.  We had a guy on our golf team that was the slowest in the league.  He was defiant that he didn't need to speed up.  We rode him all the time until he quit.  The whole league cheered.

DrvFrShow had a lot of good suggestions. Typically public courses don't have stimp anywhere near 12.  My course this weekend had some fast greens and some really wicked pin placements.  Above the hole was death.  A couple of putts I almost had to putt uphill on a downhill putt.  I've had to do that on a few occasions.  Greens like that WILL slow down play.

[gregsandiego]

This thread by definition tends to veer off topic. But if we insist on talking slow play, it's really on the green where I see all the slow down....

[RayG]

"Slow Play = Bad Play"..? HAH! do you watch golf on TV?

 

[Club Rat]

4 minutes ago, RayG said:

Bad Play"..? HAH! do you watch golf on TV?

Sure, I've watched world top rank players miss cuts and play like shit.

Was it because their over thinking causing bad swings or was it their pre-shot routine changed?

Amateur golfers of all abilities, more often than pros, will fall into a mindset of having previous bad shots affect the outcome of the rest of their play that day. Then they often reflect on the round as a bad golf day, bad swings, bad bounces, etc. and seldom use the experience to relate to good swings, shots, play which should be used to build their game.

I often see friends who really go into a crapper mode of play, tell them to just swing the club and let their basic swing habits happen.

[allenc]

I'm slower than average during my shot routine.  It take me about 10 seconds longer than my playing partners to hit it from the time I'm standing behind the ball with a club.  I've tried speeding it up and no matter what I do to achieve that I play much worse.  So I've stopped trying.  I do move very fast everywhere else though so I don't think I slow down the game.

The thing for me is I'm not spending that time overthinking.  Just grip-grip-wiggle-waggle-wiggle-waggle-toe-heel-toe-heel-left-right-left-righting.  I'm a bit OCD so it's tough to help it.