Is golf really hard?

[70sSanO]

I was thinking about this, and the more I thought about the game of golf, the more I believe that people just make the game hard.

Case in point, tennis can be a hard game to play, but once a person learns the basic shots and can get the ball over the net, it is not that tough… well, depending on the competition.  I’ve seen some pathetic serves and backhands, but by and large I think people out there are having a good time, especially playing doubles.

But take those same 4 people and put them on a golf course and they no longer see themselves as 2.0/D level players that hit more bad shots than good ones.  The mid/high handicap golfer who will resort to adding slice on a backhand or running around to a forehand to make sure the ball stays in the tennis court seems to lose that perspective when teeing up.  The grip it and rip it mentality takes over and then the game becomes hard.  I mean the ball is just sitting there.  It is not moving at you, or away from you, with spin and you have more than a split second to react.

Both sports have equipment technology to match the player, setup, face angles in relation to the ball, angle of attack, etc.

So what causes this?

John

[sirhacksalot]

Golf is easy,  making low scores is hard.  And yes people make it harder on themselves. But moving a stationary object forward with a piece of metal attached to a stick is easy.  300 yards not so, but forward sure.  What are we comparing a base line against for easy and hard.

 I don't know how many times i have been told that if i want to break 90 i should just tee off from the red tees with nothing longer than a 4 iron and not try any cute shots but aim middle of fairway and middle of green.  (or to area that would produce a landing in the middle, shot zone if you will)  And if i cant reach every par 4 in two thats fine reach it in 3 easy comfortable shots and try and make a bogey and let the lower scores of the round come from other holes. 

Sounds good, but I have never done it.  I don't know why but I just haven't.  I have played from the reds, i didn't use driver but did use 3 wood which reached a couple of short bunkers to the green that if I had used the prescribed plan above would not have happened.  

So I don't know after writing this I might try it.  

[saevel25]

36 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

Case in point, tennis can be a hard game to play, but once a person learns the basic shots and can get the ball over the net, it is not that tough… well, depending on the competition.  I’ve seen some pathetic serves and backhands, but by and large I think people out there are having a good time, especially playing doubles.

Not really a good comparison.

In the end golf is a hard game to play at a high level. As you get closer to scratch golf or better, each stroke on handicap is substantially harder to achieve than the previous one. 

[Missouri Swede]

If it weren't difficult, it wouldn't be as interesting.  In other words, the challenge to improve is part of what makes it interesting.

[DaveP043]

45 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

Case in point, tennis can be a hard game to play, but once a person learns the basic shots and can get the ball over the net, it is not that tough… well, depending on the competition. 

Yeah, its easy to move the ball forward.  What becomes harder is moving it a long ways forward.  Even harder, moving it a long ways forward in the right direction.  Harder still, moving it a long ways, but not TOO far, not too short, just the right long distance in the right direction.  

Then, bring on the competition.  I don't mean the people you're playing next to, I mean yourself.  You're not just playing against some other person, you could actually win that match.  When you're playing against yourself, you never actually get all the way there, its never perfect, it can always get better.  That's what makes it hard, striving towards perfection, knowing you'll never get there.

[mchepp]

3 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Not really a good comparison.

In the end golf is a hard game to play at a high level. As you get closer to scratch golf or better, each stroke on handicap is substantially harder to achieve than the previous one. 

Very well said. In addition golf adds a number of complicating factors as well. Different courses, weather, how to set up your bag, I could go on and on. 

[Dave2512]

Given par is the baseline and few get to it yeah golf is hard.

[paininthenuts]

I am now 58 years old, and have played many sports over the years. As a child I was a county champion table tennis player, I was good at tennis, very good at squash, a reasonable footballer, and reached a high standard in the martial arts world. Golf is far harder than all of them. It's frustrating, addictive, punishing, and yet rewarding. What's more, it doesn't do you body much good either. Of course, there are naturals, but in my case there is nothing further from the truth. After 9 months I have got to the stage I am not embarrassing myself. In any other sport I have played, I was far more advanced in my proficiency. All that said, I really love playing it !!  

[k-troop]

1 hour ago, 70sSanO said:

I was thinking about this, and the more I thought about the game of golf, the more I believe that people just make the game hard.

Case in point, tennis can be a hard game to play, but once a person learns the basic shots and can get the ball over the net, it is not that tough… well, depending on the competition.  I’ve seen some pathetic serves and backhands, but by and large I think people out there are having a good time, especially playing doubles.

But take those same 4 people and put them on a golf course and they no longer see themselves as 2.0/D level players that hit more bad shots than good ones.  The mid/high handicap golfer who will resort to adding slice on a backhand or running around to a forehand to make sure the ball stays in the tennis court seems to lose that perspective when teeing up.  The grip it and rip it mentality takes over and then the game becomes hard.  I mean the ball is just sitting there.  It is not moving at you, or away from you, with spin and you have more than a split second to react.

Both sports have equipment technology to match the player, setup, face angles in relation to the ball, angle of attack, etc.

So what causes this?

John

Seems an odd comparison.  Tennis is ridiculously hard if you're playing someone at pro (not even talking touring pro) level.  In golf, every match is against a pro.  The "pro" is par for the course you're playing.  Par is the goal, every hole, every day, every time.  That's really freaking hard.

Additionally the margin of error for a shot in tennis is massive compared to golf.  Essentially you're equating "success" in tennis to getting the ball over the net and between the lines.  So you're hitting a ball about 5-times the size of a golf ball with a raquet about 20-times the size of a golf club, and much shorter, lighter, and easier to control the head.  The golf club is traveling 70-110 MPH; how fast must a successful tennis player swing the raquet to hit one of your "basic shots"?  The speed of the golf swing exponentially magnifies any errors.

And what's your target in tennis?  For a golf shot, your target is roughly 25-yards wide, and it's 100-275 yards away.  In tennis the target for your "basic shots" is 21x27 feet and you're trying to hit it from 20 feet away. 

Makes me wonder if you play golf, and what your HCP is?

[newtogolf]

1 hour ago, 70sSanO said:

I was thinking about this, and the more I thought about the game of golf, the more I believe that people just make the game hard.

Case in point, tennis can be a hard game to play, but once a person learns the basic shots and can get the ball over the net, it is not that tough… well, depending on the competition.  I’ve seen some pathetic serves and backhands, but by and large I think people out there are having a good time, especially playing doubles.

But take those same 4 people and put them on a golf course and they no longer see themselves as 2.0/D level players that hit more bad shots than good ones.  The mid/high handicap golfer who will resort to adding slice on a backhand or running around to a forehand to make sure the ball stays in the tennis court seems to lose that perspective when teeing up.  The grip it and rip it mentality takes over and then the game becomes hard.  I mean the ball is just sitting there.  It is not moving at you, or away from you, with spin and you have more than a split second to react.

Both sports have equipment technology to match the player, setup, face angles in relation to the ball, angle of attack, etc.

So what causes this?

John

Very different games, tennis is played against a competitor, golf for the most part is played against the course.  In tennis you only have to be good enough to be beat the person on the other side of the net but in golf we're constantly measured against par.  

While some people may accept that shooting 110 is good, most won't be content with their game until they break 80 and then they will want to break 70.  

[NJpatbee]

I enjoy every minute while playing golf but it is without a doubt the most difficult sport I have tried to play well.  Perhaps because I started as an old baseball player at age 40, trying to play consistently well (for me mid-high 80's) takes practice and I have no delusions of being a low handicapper.   I also have never had the opportunity to play more than 30 rounds in one season which is not unusual for many people - to get better I know I have to play more often. 

With that being said, the multi-dimensional aspect of golf makes it difficult but extremely interesting - there is always something to work on.  Putting, chipping, pitching, sand shots, driving, hitting long and short approach shots, all using 14 different tools leaves no room for boredom. My other passion is fly tying and fly fishing for trout and after less than 10 years I was teaching others both skills.  But golf is so difficult to master, which to me makes it so rewarding.

[70sSanO]

13 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Not really a good comparison.

In the end golf is a hard game to play at a high level. As you get closer to scratch golf or better, each stroke on handicap is substantially harder to achieve than the previous one. 

Your point is well taken.. but tennis at a high level, say 100... 120mph serves coming to either the right or left of you can be impossible, and not just hard for most people.  I would venture to say that if you took a professional level serve, the average tennis player would just stand there and not have any hope of returning the shot.

In the end, high level is high level regardless.

But this is really about the average player, (you can probably find stats to fit some definition of average), not a single handicapper.

John

[coachjimsc]

In tennis you get 2 shots to get the serve in without penalty. In golf you get 1 shot to get it in play without penalty.

IMO there would be a big difference on the first serve speed if you only had one shot at it.

Someone standing there with a pencil asking what you got, makes golf like no other.

[rehmwa]

Round ball, flat surface.  Simple enough.

How hard can it be?

[bkuehn1952]

The one advantage for people taking up golf is that the game does not require a high degree of athleticism. Certainly an athletic person has some degree of advantage in learning golf but it is not a prerequisite.   

[saevel25]

12 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

Your point is well taken.. but tennis at a high level, say 100... 120mph serves coming to either the right or left of you can be impossible, and not just hard for most people.  I would venture to say that if you took a professional level serve, the average tennis player would just stand there and not have any hope of returning the shot.

No one is saying Golf is harder to play than Tennis. They are just two different games entirely. You can't compare the two. 

23 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

In the end, high level is high level regardless.

But this is really about the average player, (you can probably find stats to fit some definition of average), not a single handicapper.

John

Yes, golf is a hard game to play. In the end you are not competing against someone of equal strength. If I went and played tennis against another complete beginner then it would be a competitive and not over demoralizing experience. In golf you play against the course. A lot of times the course wins by a lot. 

 

[MrDC]

This one is easy- golf is really hard, tennis is not, the two games are not similar in play or difficulty.

Edited May 16, 2016 by MrDC

[9wood]

1 hour ago, sirhacksalot said:

if i cant reach every par 4 in two thats fine reach it in 3 easy comfortable shots and try and make a bogey and let the lower scores of the round come from other holes. 

 I have played from the reds, i didn't use driver but did use 3 wood which reached a couple of short bunkers to the green that if I had used the prescribed plan above would not have happened.  

Before this year I could only dream of reaching a par 4 hole in two or a par 5 in three. Then something amazing happened. I bought some good quality new clubs this past winter and now I have been reaching quite a few par 4's in two and 5's in three. I almost forgot to mention I have been playing from the whites. I would have to attribute my game improvements mainly to the fact that this is the first year I have been able to hit the fairways with a driver, and secondly, I have been able to use my new 3 hybrid on those long 2nd approach shots. I am 67 years old and have been hitting my driver 220 - 250 depending on the condition of the fairways and get about 180 -190 out of my hybrid.