Quitting golf???

[paininthenuts]

On 1/5/2008 at 9:39 PM, denver_nuggs_15 said:

I am seriously considering quitting golf. I am by no means good at it (20 hcp) but lowered my handicap by 10+ this year. In 2008 i was hoping to lower it again to about a 15 but now im not so sure. i went to the range for the first time in 2008 and shanked about 90% of my shots. (at worst i have 2 shanks per 18 holes when i play.) i dont get it.... i slowed my swing down, took 3/4 swings, 1/2 swings, loosened up like 5 times, tried pitches but nothing. kept on shanking and could not hit the sweet spot. should i just stop?

Probably a good decision

[Rainmaker]

Well . .the OP hasn't been seen since July 2010 . .so maybe he did quit?

I think a lot of people start out in golf thinking that they can get as good as they want, if they just practice enough.  It's a hard reality when you finally learn enough about the swing to start to understand what your limitations are going to be.  Sure, you can always get better...but once you realize there is a limit to how good you're going to get, something about the game just changes . . .  

[Ex-golfer]

I found this thread on a search engine and decided to set up an account specifically to reply with my experience of it.

I played golf very regularly from 2000 to 2015. I was totally into it - played whenever I could, bought expensive gear if I thought it would help, had lessons, joined a club. I thought about the game when I wasn't playing it, bought magazines, went on forums. I entered comps, represented my club, got my UK handicap down to under 7. In short I lived and breathed golf. Only work and a young family got in the way.

Well around 2012 I started to question what I was doing. The only way I'd got my ok handicap was by obsessing over the game. I wasn't maximising my output with my work and more importantly I wasn't being the attentive father I should've been. I was being thoroughly selfish - family life had to fit around club medals etc. I was spending thousands of pounds a year on golf club membership, equipment, clothing and golf holidays with friends. I was hanging around with people who behaved the same.

Gradually the guilt got the better of me. I knew that to even stay on the same handicap my obsession could not waver - I couldn't drop a game here and there, or skip putting practice etc if I wanted my handicap not to go up. I felt trapped by the game. I also noticed that most of the the lower handicap golfers I played with took themselves incredibly seriously. They'd be furious if the had a bad game and would fire blame out at all and sundry. Golf was not making them or me happy.

One day I got home after a particularly annoying experience of one Category 1 golfer having an absolute hissy fit because he'd putted badly. I sat on my sofa and suddenly it hit me - I knew I was never going to play golf again, once I had got my final commitments out of the way. I had two more rounds I couldn't get out of, then I quit totally and for good. That was summer 2015 and my life has improved massively since. I've done much better at work, I put my wife and children first, I almost never see anyone have a hissy fit and certainly never see anyone throwing golf clubs in anger! Post-golf life has been truly fantastic and I'll never return to that treadmill I was on. Sometimes I think people can't picture life without something, even when that something isn't enhancing  the quality of their lives.

I now keep fit and have a couple of other interests I can dip in and out of as time allows.

I'm not saying anyone else should quit, I'm just letting you know how much it has improved my life and the lives of my family.

[Lihu]

25 minutes ago, Ex-golfer said:

I found this thread on a search engine and decided to set up an account specifically to reply with my experience of it.

I played golf very regularly from 2000 to 2015. I was totally into it - played whenever I could, bought expensive gear if I thought it would help, had lessons, joined a club. I thought about the game when I wasn't playing it, bought magazines, went on forums. I entered comps, represented my club, got my UK handicap down to under 7. In short I lived and breathed golf. Only work and a young family got in the way.

Well around 2012 I started to question what I was doing. The only way I'd got my ok handicap was by obsessing over the game. I wasn't maximising my output with my work and more importantly I wasn't being the attentive father I should've been. I was being thoroughly selfish - family life had to fit around club medals etc. I was spending thousands of pounds a year on golf club membership, equipment, clothing and golf holidays with friends. I was hanging around with people who behaved the same.

Gradually the guilt got the better of me. I knew that to even stay on the same handicap my obsession could not waver - I couldn't drop a game here and there, or skip putting practice etc if I wanted my handicap not to go up. I felt trapped by the game. I also noticed that most of the the lower handicap golfers I played with took themselves incredibly seriously. They'd be furious if the had a bad game and would fire blame out at all and sundry. Golf was not making them or me happy.

One day I got home after a particularly annoying experience of one Category 1 golfer having an absolute hissy fit because he'd putted badly. I sat on my sofa and suddenly it hit me - I knew I was never going to play golf again, once I had got my final commitments out of the way. I had two more rounds I couldn't get out of, then I quit totally and for good. That was summer 2015 and my life has improved massively since. I've done much better at work, I put my wife and children first, I almost never see anyone have a hissy fit and certainly never see anyone throwing golf clubs in anger! Post-golf life has been truly fantastic and I'll never return to that treadmill I was on. Sometimes I think people can't picture life without something, even when that something isn't enhancing  the quality of their lives.

I now keep fit and have a couple of other interests I can dip in and out of as time allows.

I'm not saying anyone else should quit, I'm just letting you know how much it has improved my life and the lives of my family.

This is a great post!

Yes, family comes first then work.

I also spent too much time on it, and got reasonably good at it by playing twice a day. When I exceeded my original goals, I got bored with it and put family and career first. Quit for a few months then got back into it, but planning on continuing playing 1 or 2 times a week and squeezing in practice when I can. That’s where being more efficient comes into play.

Agree that Life is a balance. Golf should only be a part of it.

[Ex-golfer]

5 minutes ago, Lihu said:

This is a great post!

Yes, family comes first then work.

I also spent too much time on it, and got reasonably good at it by playing twice a day. When I exceeded my original goals, I got bored with it and put family and career first. Quit for a few months then got back into it, but planning on continuing playing 1 or 2 times a week and squeezing in practice when I can. That’s where being more efficient comes into play.

Agree that Life is a balance. Golf should only be a part of it.

Thanks for appreciating it. A balanced life is much better isn't it? I'm glad things are going well for you too, Lihu.

[Lihu]

17 minutes ago, Ex-golfer said:

Thanks for appreciating it. A balanced life is much better isn't it? I'm glad things are going well for you too, Lihu.

What's funny is with a better balanced life, I feel like my overall game is better even though my scores are not. That is, I feel like I've never hit the ball better in my life before, and enjoy the game a lot more when I do play even though I don't score as well as I did at one point playing every day.

 

[NM Golf]

I played over 100 rounds of golf a year from 2001-2015. My middle daughter's club basketball commitments have lowered that total dramatically in the past two years. I am at basketball games pretty much every weekend, I help run the club as the director and treasurer, and I even coach from time to time. I even went on a complete hiatus for 5 five months in 2017, I did not pick up a club from Jan 1-May 6.

Did I miss it, yes, but not enough to skip my daughter's games to play golf. I did gain a great deal of weight, as sitting watching a game does not burn the same amount of calories as walking 18. 

I did still play over 50 rounds of golf last year, but I fit it in when I have free time, I just have a bit more free time than others I guess. I could never quit golf, its part of who I am.