"No, I don't want your input," random guy on range

[70sSanO]

On ‎7‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 8:36 PM, WUTiger said:

He says he's an 8 HDCP, and knows what he's talking about.

Hmmm... That is usually not a HC that garners a lot of bragging rights on the finer points of golf instruction.  Sounds like he just threw out a number.

John

[MrFlipper]

How hard is it to say "hey man, I'm fine, no thanks"?

OTOH, I've only been offered unsolicited advice once in my life. I was maybe 18 or 19, living in Denver, and often went to an open space inside one of the munis to hit practice balls. The old fashioned way, you hit your shag balls one way, go pick them up, and hit them back. I'm doing that one day and another guy was there too. Really nice swing, really compressed the ball. We started talking and he offered some advice, which was accurate. We ended up being golf buddies and played together for years until I moved away and lost touch. Found out a little while after we met that he was an amateur player of some repute, had even lost in the club championship final one year at Hiwan (those who have lived around Denver prob can vouch for how difficult that course is, the Colorado Open was there every year back then). This guy could really play, and was a good guy to boot.

So if I got offered advice, I guess I would see the guy's swing, how he holds the club, etc. before I'd tell him to get lost. You never know who it might be.

[Mixon]

As a female and a beginner, I get this a lot from older men. I assume it means I'm pretty bad ?. At the moment I see it as free coaching but they do give conflicting advice. 

Usually I try to stand in the back bay so no one but the occasional lefty can see me!

[rehmwa]

1 hour ago, Mixon said:

As a female and a beginner, I get this a lot from older men. I assume it means I'm pretty bad ?

 

I suspect it means you're a female and they want to talk to you (and the hobbie is still full of well meaning sexist types)

free coaching is usually random, even when it's good stuff - that's the problem with it - without a plan, even the best and highest quality input is sporadic and doesn't drive the lessons to completion and muscle memory......

[Papa Steve 55]

21 hours ago, SavvySwede said:

A lottery ticket only costs a dollar, but we all know it's a terrible investment.

Two minuets of time costs less. Your not at work, your on the range.

I like the headphones idea, that's my don't bother me signal when I fly.

[Machine528]

One of the guys I occasionaly play with is like this.   We were playing in a better ball last month and the team we were playing with had an awesome player.  Shot a 33 on the front 9 of a super hard course.  Hole 10 my partner says " I noticed something about his head" I laughed and thought this guy may break the course record and my partner that shot a 47 is going to give him advice!!?? He stopped him after his approach shot and gave him his tip... The other player recieved it well and it didn't become awkward. 

[gregsandiego]

7 hours ago, Mixon said:

As a female and a beginner, I get this a lot from older men. I assume it means I'm pretty bad ?. At the moment I see it as free coaching but they do give conflicting advice. 

Usually I try to stand in the back bay so no one but the occasional lefty can see me!

It's all my complaints and more @Mixon. Nothing to do with your skill level since the world is filled with us amateur golfers. I suggest you go with @GolfLug advice and hand them the 3 iron. If you don't have a 3 iron get one.

 

7 hours ago, MrFlipper said:

How hard is it to say "hey man, I'm fine, no thanks"?

 

How hard is it to leave people alone.

[gregsandiego]

12 hours ago, Machine528 said:

One of the guys I occasionaly play with is like this.   We were playing in a better ball last month and the team we were playing with had an awesome player.  Shot a 33 on the front 9 of a super hard course.  Hole 10 my partner says " I noticed something about his head" I laughed and thought this guy may break the course record and my partner that shot a 47 is going to give him advice!!?? He stopped him after his approach shot and gave him his tip... The other player recieved it well and it didn't become awkward. 

I appreciate all you guys making my case with all these examples of people that just can't keep their opinions to themselves.

Your partner was totally out of place. There's a strawman argument that seems to have entered the thread - how well the recipient reacts to the unsolicited advice. For what it's worth I gave a polite "No" to the random guy next to me. It didn't become "akward". That doesn't mean it was appreciated - quite the contrary. 

Taking what your partner did to the extreme, I guess some of us could give Bubba Watson advice, based on the commentary we've heard about his unorthodox swing.

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2016 by gregsandiego
typo

[Sidehatch]

On 7/2/2016 at 5:02 PM, gregsandiego said:

I was at the range today working on what my instructor has taught me, wearing earphones to keep out distractions. I guess I paused and turned around long enough for the guy behind me to ask:

"Do you want some input ? "

Why should I? I don't know him. He's not a PGA instructor is he? At best he's going to tell me what I already know and probably the same things I'm working on.

I know what you guys are going to say - "Oh I never pay attention to anything else....."

Not me. It pisses me off when some random person volunteers free advice. What I really think he is saying is " hey I'm better than you and I want to prove it by diagnosing your swing faults."

And for what it's worth, as amateur as I am, I can look at anyone's swing and find a fault. It's fairly easy to see someone else's swing issues. The hard part is what to do about them.

 

 

 

Saw this happen to someone else at the range last week. When he returned to his friend's spot on the range, the friend asked, "Getting some free tips over there, eh?"

The golfer said, "Yeah, I just didn't feel like being rude to the old guy."

While the golfer wasn't hitting the ball well, that is not indicative of much. For example, I can recall having about 300 piss poor shots after a lesson. Eventually, I started hitting the ball well - it just took me 300 shots to incorporate what the instructor taught me. That would not have been the time to incorporate some rando's advice.

In general, I am hesitant to offer advice to anyone I don't know very well. I prefer to presume that most golfers know more than I do, or that what works for me may not work for them.

[gregsandiego]

1 minute ago, Sidehatch said:

Saw this happen to someone else at the range last week. When he returned to his friend's spot on the range, the friend asked, "Getting some free tips over there, eh?"

The golfer said, "Yeah, I just didn't feel like being rude to the old guy."

While the golfer wasn't hitting the ball well, that is not indicative of much. For example, I can recall having about 300 piss poor shots after a lesson. Eventually, I started hitting the ball well - it just took me 300 shots to incorporate what the instructor taught me. That would not have been the time to incorporate some rando's advice.

In general, I am hesitant to offer advice to anyone I don't know very well. I prefer to presume that most golfers know more than I do, or that what works for me may not work for them.

Agreed - that what works for you might not work for them.

Besides that, I have good days and bad days on the range. If I'm not making good contact for some unknown reason, random advice is not going to help.

[newtogolf]

I just got back from the range.  A father and daughter (approx 16-18) were practicing together.  The daughter had an amazing swing, she swung like a pro.  I watched her hit 10 balls to the same exact spot 150 yards out with her 7i.  

The fathers swing was average to poor at best, he chunked and thinned more balls than he hit cleanly.  The entire time she's practicing (and hitting amazing shots), he's giving her instructions and tips that made no sense but she was polite and kept working on her swing.  

Watching them made me think of this thread.  It may be bad to have a stranger offer you free advice but it's got to be even worse when it's your relative and you're stuck with them the entire time you're at the range or on the course.  

[metbid]

On ‎7‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 8:45 PM, Patch said:

There's another side to this coin. First let me make it quite clear, that 99.9% of unsolicited help from strangers is usually a dead end street. I have had it done to me, and didn't care much for it either. 

But just for the sake of discussion, what if the person butting in, actually knows something that can help? What if the nuisance guy drops a little diddy on you, and your golf planets totally align, giving you that answer for your swing no one could before? The one you have been trying to find to shave a stroke or two off your game? 

My chipping was so erratic, even after taking a Chipping Class at my local club,  Then one day I had gone down to the practice green to try again.  There was another person there already practicing chipping that I knew VERY casually (basically all I knew was his name).  After I chipped a few, he asked if I minded him offering a tip or two.  I was not in the mood to really listen, just warming up before playing.  But I figured 'no loss' and did work with him for about 15 minutes, totally changed the way I set up, the club I used, and my 'chip' swing.  I am now at least 100% better and more consistent than I have ever been.  One of the best 15 minute lessons I ever had.

If someone wants to offer advice, just be kind whether you choose to listen or not, after all...."Golf is a Gentleman's game"

[gregsandiego]

1 hour ago, metbid said:

 

If someone wants to offer advice, just be kind whether you choose to listen or not, after all...."Golf is a Gentleman's game"

Back to that #strawman again. I'm almost always polite unless someone starts out rude. Same for this case.

It's not gentlemanly in my opinion , to offer strangers advice.

1 hour ago, newtogolf said:

I just got back from the range.  A father and daughter (approx 16-18) were practicing together.  The daughter had an amazing swing, she swung like a pro.  I watched her hit 10 balls to the same exact spot 150 yards out with her 7i.  

The fathers swing was average to poor at best, he chunked and thinned more balls than he hit cleanly.  The entire time she's practicing (and hitting amazing shots), he's giving her instructions and tips that made no sense but she was polite and kept working on her swing.  

Watching them made me think of this thread.  It may be bad to have a stranger offer you free advice but it's got to be even worse when it's your relative and you're stuck with them the entire time you're at the range or on the course.  

You should have offered him a few tips!

 

Just kidding.

[Lime Shark]

On 7/2/2016 at 9:45 PM, Patch said:

...99.9% of unsolicited help from strangers is usually a dead end street.

But just for the sake of discussion, what if the person butting in, actually knows something that can help?

 

99.9% = a 1 in 1,000 chance they have good advice.

Or, to put it another way, there is a 999 in 1,000 chance their advice will either be worthless or will screw up your swing.

Those are worse odds than Russian roulette (1 in 6).

IMHO, the best answer is a simple, polite reply of "no thank you".

[newtogolf]

19 hours ago, gregsandiego said:

Back to that #strawman again. I'm almost always polite unless someone starts out rude. Same for this case.

It's not gentlemanly in my opinion , to offer strangers advice.

You should have offered him a few tips!

 

Just kidding.

I was hoping she'd offer me some tips, she had an awesome swing.  

[Patch]

1 hour ago, Lime Shark said:

 

99.9% = a 1 in 1,000 chance they have good advice.

Or, to put it another way, there is a 999 in 1,000 chance their advice will either be worthless or will screw up your swing.

Those are worse odds than Russian roulette (1 in 6).

IMHO, the best answer is a simple, polite reply of "no thank you".

How did you arrive at that 99.9% number?

[bubble]

On July 2, 2016 at 8:02 PM, gregsandiego said:

"Do you want some input ? "

Quote

no I dont lol.

happens a lto me even though in europe people are less "knowitall". the thing is my swing is pretty personal.

so no is the answer. I may ask back what does your pro ask you to work and what is your handicap ? 

without surprise the guys who ask the question have a lame handicap like 10 and over and dont see a pro and dont work on anything in particular but just hit balls.

[Sidehatch]

I was thinking of this thread today, and the reason why most "tips" don't work is that the average tipper isn't going to stand and watch you hit 100+ balls while critiquing you. Your instructor will. 

I noticed that the few success stories out there feature an intelligent tipper who was patient enough to watch the tippee hit balls for a while. When incorporating change, the hardest thing is to do it correctly. It isn't going to happen on its own, which is why the golf instructor is seeing more success than the average tipper.

That being said, what works for my swing definitely doesn't work for my friends. If I tell them one thing based on my timing, it will simply screw them up because they usually have different timing in their swings.