"Slow play = bad play"

[RayG]

2 hours ago, Club Rat said:

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.

BIG DIFFERENCE between "guys like us" playing like shit, and a tour pro "playing like shit". 

I would consider them "good players", yet they can linger over a shot that they have made 1000's of time before for what seems like forever, change clubs twice, back off, adjust their shorts, get over the ball and freeze before actually taking the shot. This behavior gets transmitted to the "rest of us" and is then considered normal. So, while that pro might shoot 73 instead of 72, the rest of us can shoot 90 with the same behavior and there's your 5+ hour round. He might be "good", but he is STILL slow.

[Lihu]

4 minutes ago, RayG said:

BIG DIFFERENCE between "guys like us" playing like shit, and a tour pro "playing like shit". 

I would consider them "good players", yet they can linger over a shot that they have made 1000's of time before for what seems like forever, change clubs twice, back off, adjust their shorts, get over the ball and freeze before actually taking the shot. This behavior gets transmitted to the "rest of us" and is then considered normal. So, while that pro might shoot 73 instead of 72, the rest of us can shoot 90 with the same behavior and there's your 5+ hour round. He might be "good", but he is STILL slow.

We should all enforce rule 6-7 with 40 seconds as the limit once the golfer is at the ball.

[Club Rat]

4 minutes ago, RayG said:

He might be "good", but he is STILL slow.

This is not a thread about "slow play"

The article pertains to the benefits of changing the pre-shot routine.

I know the thread title leads to assuming bad play causes slow play, but didn't want to change the article description.

[Patch]

I use my own preshot routine on my longer, full swing shots. Not so much on my shorter pitches , and chips. This is something I just started doing a few months ago. 

I have also found, that except for course management thoughts, that other swing thoughts are best left on the range. As posted above. Just swing the club and let your natural tendencies take over.

Doing both of the above allows me to consistantly play well, which in turn helps with my own pace of play.

[RayG]

30 minutes ago, Club Rat said:

This is not a thread about "slow play"

The article pertains to the benefits of changing the pre-shot routine.

I know the thread title leads to assuming bad play causes slow play, but didn't want to change the article description.

What I described IS a pre-shot routine. it is a SLOW pre-shot routine for a "good" golfer. A 'slow' pre-shot routine for a "bad" player can make that player think too much and precede bad play. If you are thinking about your swing, you aren't swinging. That's what practice is for. On the course, you shouldn't have to think about it. Maybe a pre-shot that doesn't involve thinking is best. 

[rehmwa]

On 2/15/2016 at 11:38 AM, David in FL said:

Slow play = Slow play

we have a winner

[Club Rat]

1 minute ago, RayG said:

What I described IS a pre-shot routine. it is a SLOW pre-shot routine for a "good" golfer. A 'slow' pre-shot routine for a "bad" player can make that player think too much and precede bad play. If you are thinking about your swing, you aren't swinging. That's what practice is for. On the course, you shouldn't have to think about it. Maybe a pre-shot that doesn't involve thinking is best. 

That's a much better analyses of a benefit for players who may tend to struggle at times....

[DrvFrShow]

40 minutes ago, rehmwa said:

we have a winner

in response to slow play = slow play

And once again the problem with no solutions. Gridlock. Because on a Saturday or Sunday no one is going to put groups on the clock. 

 

[Fourputt]

2 hours ago, RayG said:

What I described IS a pre-shot routine. it is a SLOW pre-shot routine for a "good" golfer. A 'slow' pre-shot routine for a "bad" player can make that player think too much and precede bad play. If you are thinking about your swing, you aren't swinging. That's what practice is for. On the course, you shouldn't have to think about it. Maybe a pre-shot that doesn't involve thinking is best. 

One issue with these discussions is the difficulty of agreeing one what actually constitutes a "pre-shot routine".  To me, my routine doesn't start until I've got the club in my hand, my distance is locked in, and I'm standing behind the ball sighting my line of play.  I have a fast routine from that point, but I also don't screw around before then either.  

Once I get to my ball I'm all about the business of hitting my shot, unless there is some reason that I have to wait, whether for  the group in front or for someone in my group.  I use that waiting time to make sure that once the way is clear, my ball will be gone in 15 seconds or less.

[9wood]

In my observations, slow playing is often the result of badly sliced tee shots that don't come close to hitting the fairways and people spending more time than they should looking for their lost ball or fishing others balls out of water hazards and holding players behind them up.

[Howling Coyote]

30 minutes ago, 9wood said:

In my observations, slow playing is often the result of badly sliced tee shots that don't come close to hitting the fairways and people spending more time than they should looking for their lost ball or fishing others balls out of water hazards and holding players behind them up.

Ah!!!

So you mean that bad play then causes slow play, but the opposite is not necessarily true.  

Some people feel that slow play is rude play.  My only comment is that if another group is behind you and they are in a hurry, let them play through.

[Club Rat]

3 hours ago, 9wood said:

In my observations, slow playing is often the result of badly sliced tee shots that don't come close to hitting the fairways

In your observations did the result occur from the player's routine having an adverse effect of the bad shot?

 

 

[RayG]

As was pointed out- this wasn't necessarily a thread about slow play, but the pros and cons of switching up a pre-shot routine that can affect scores. 

My point is that a player who agonizes over club selection, wind, yardage, what he's ordering for lunch and wondering what he needs to score 'such and such', needs to change that. The fact that it slows everyone down is a side effect overall. Whether it's a 3 hdcp or a 23, too much brain can be a killer.