11 Reasons You Stink at Golf

[Piz]

If the cart is being used as a beer wagon...that will definitely hold you back.

[iacas]

9 hours ago, DrMJG said:

Longer?  Adding something as simple as "except for handicapped golfers" or "unless if needed"?

That's longer, no?

Plus, again, it's assumed that this is for people who have a choice. You're still taking this far too seriously. It's a stupid clickbait list. It's not about racial tensions in the U.S. or whatever you've chosen to compare it to.

9 hours ago, DrMJG said:

I will grant both you and the author are of strong opinion here. I just do not see it as major of a factor as he does. 

It's a stupid clickbait list.

And I'm not of a strong opinion on this at all. When have I commented to indicate as such? I haven't.

[Missouri Swede]

Quote

10. You’re don’t hit it far enough

Sorry, but size matters. A good way to get better is to swing the club the faster to hit the ball longer. “Any good coach can correct crooked,” Tattersall says. “Getting the ball to go farther is a tougher task.”

I get what he’s going after: faster clubhead at impact will give you greater distance. 

But I suspect that suboptimal impact conditions with the driver also decrease distance for many of us. (E.g., point of impact on clubface, angles in-out/up-down)

[nevets88]

The hard honest truth that's not mentioned because it'll put people off:

No talent.

[Carl3]

I am offended that this guy thinks I stink at golf

[Lihu]

On 9/14/2018 at 10:17 AM, NM Golf said:

Along the same lines as the 14 etiquette rules from Golf Magazine here are the 11 reasons why you never get better at golf. 

11 Reasons Why You Stink at Golf

Surprisingly enough I find most of these reasons to be factual. Some (#2) have been discussed on here at length. I think #11 is debatable at best.

Love the hero shot and the 150 yard stuff.

I often wonder if I should carry another hybrid and wood and dump the 56 and 50 wedges or not? I rarely use them, and can easily pitch my PW those distances. Seems like a driver/mini-driver/3W/5W/3H/5H/5i-PW/60 could work better than my current driver/3W/3H/3i-PW/56/60/putter? I’d possibly use the top end clubs a bit more than my 52/56? Even though I carry my driver 245 on average, I rarely hit it optimally. A 220 carry with even a light headwind is still iffy, so a layup position with a mini driver in my hand could come in handier.

OTOH, I really don’t belong on a course at or over 6400 yards 😂🤪😂

So, I’d add “you don’t belong on a course over 6000 yards” 😁

 

12 reasons why you suck at golf:

12) You’re playing the wrong tees...

[DrvFrShow]

Seriously?

I never practice. Big one. I hate to practice. But then, taking up the game at 59 and expecting to be better than a bogey golfer is kind of a pipe dream.

Carrying more wedges than hybrids? Considering how often I use wedges versus hybrids, I think I'm justified in carrying 5 wedges. I may hit my 5H once per round, on a second shot on one of the par 5s. I could be hitting a wedge shot of some sort on every hole. I carry D, 3W, 4i, 5H, 6-9i, P,G,S,L,64, P. That's my bag. That 4i was a left over from Cobra that actually could have been part of my set. It's 20 degrees and I paid $65 for it. It's my driving iron. I use it on one hole per round, usually the first hole because that's most likely where I'll bottle a drive, and I always put this in the fairway... always.

The hero shot.... lmao.... everyone tries those.... everyone.... until they learn the lesson. 

Statistics.... lies, damned lies, and statistics. What statistics are really valuable? I think the only one that's of any real use is GIRs. And possibly if you had to chip on, did you get the ball within 6' of the hole? This would help you better interpret your Putts Per Round if you keep your putting stats.

Putts per round? Is your low putting round the result of chipping it close to the hole, good approach shots, or simply good putting? Is your "poor" putting round the result of leaving yourself on the green 60 feet from the hole multiple times? If you get 18 GIRs and 36 putts I'd say that was a pretty darn good round.

FIRs - useless. A 60 yd roller that makes the fairway counts as a hit, while a 250 yd drive that's 5 yds into very playable rough is a miss.

And which shots you bottled during the round mark those down. 

So what statistics are actually useful? Keeping useful statistics will help you focus your practice, especially if you don't practice a lot. For example, if you messed up bunker shots, you might just want to get a small bucket and head to the practice bunker at the driving range and spend your time in there getting out of the sand. Yeah, that's fun. But once you get that down, it'll really save strokes.

[cutchemist42]

My thoughts on a few that really relate to me.

• When I play at my home course, it took a month but I figured out I just cant make a swing out of the extreme rough farther than 50 yards or topping it. I just concentrate on getting a hard pitch 30-40 yards sideways onto the fairway instead of attempting a hero shot.  I think it has saved me strokes not trying hero shots.
• I dont track it, but I would honestly guess my cart rounds have slightly higher scores than my carrying scores, maybe 2 strokes higher. I find I dont see the green shape as well when driving up, as walking up I see it better. As well, I think about my game more when walking. I dont do well when I feel rushed. I only do carts when my freinds insist, 3-4 times a season.

Edited September 15, 2018 by cutchemist42

[NM Golf]

On 9/15/2018 at 9:56 AM, nevets88 said:

The hard honest truth that's not mentioned because it'll put people off:

No talent.

There is a lot of truth to that, but yes it puts people off. Just like any other sport, if you don't have some natural talent you can practice till the cows come home and you will never be a good player. I realize that is not a popular opinion, but I believe it to be true.

On 9/15/2018 at 1:41 PM, Lihu said:

Love the hero shot and the 150 yard stuff.

I often wonder if I should carry another hybrid and wood and dump the 56 and 50 wedges or not? I rarely use them, and can easily pitch my PW those distances. Seems like a driver/mini-driver/3W/5W/3H/5H/5i-PW/60 could work better than my current driver/3W/3H/3i-PW/56/60/putter? I’d possibly use the top end clubs a bit more than my 52/56? Even though I carry my driver 245 on average, I rarely hit it optimally. A 220 carry with even a light headwind is still iffy, so a layup position with a mini driver in my hand could come in handier.

OTOH, I really don’t belong on a course at or over 6400 yards 😂🤪😂

So, I’d add “you don’t belong on a course over 6000 yards” 😁

 

12 reasons why you suck at golf:

12) You’re playing the wrong tees...

I play a lot of golf with 15-20 handicappers. One thing I notice a lot is the fact they continually come up short of the green. They hit their 8 iron 170 yards once in their lives now every time they have 170 yards they pull 8 iron and leave it 10 yards short. 

On 9/15/2018 at 5:45 PM, DrvFrShow said:

Seriously?

The hero shot.... lmao.... everyone tries those.... everyone.... until they learn the lesson. 

Statistics.... lies, damned lies, and statistics. What statistics are really valuable? I think the only one that's of any real use is GIRs. And possibly if you had to chip on, did you get the ball within 6' of the hole? This would help you better interpret your Putts Per Round if you keep your putting stats.

Putts per round? Is your low putting round the result of chipping it close to the hole, good approach shots, or simply good putting? Is your "poor" putting round the result of leaving yourself on the green 60 feet from the hole multiple times? If you get 18 GIRs and 36 putts I'd say that was a pretty darn good round.

FIRs - useless. A 60 yd roller that makes the fairway counts as a hit, while a 250 yd drive that's 5 yds into very playable rough is a miss.

And which shots you bottled during the round mark those down. 

So what statistics are actually useful? Keeping useful statistics will help you focus your practice, especially if you don't practice a lot. For example, if you messed up bunker shots, you might just want to get a small bucket and head to the practice bunker at the driving range and spend your time in there getting out of the sand. Yeah, that's fun. But once you get that down, it'll really save strokes.

Well I hate to tell you but if you don't practice then statistics are of no use to you. If you do practice, they are invaluable to help guide you to improve the areas of you game that need the most help. Bad example by the way, practicing bunker shots will have little affect on your score, there is no separation value in it. 

[nbar]

#8 Really try walking in 98 degrees and humid days. Don't think so I walk in the cooler months but no way in the super hot days.

#10 Guess I need to give up the game. At 75 I'm not going to get more distance but I except that and more forward on the tee base. Can still play the game mid-80's with 180 - 200 yard drives.

[mcanadiens]

No. 2 rings the truest for me ... It's not that I don't try to practice. I'll even try to come up with something specific I want to work on. Too often stuff just degenerates into trying to pound the ball as hard as possible. 

No. 10 is less of a problem now than it used to be, but my distance still has a long way to go to approach the better players.

On 9/15/2018 at 11:56 AM, nevets88 said:

The hard honest truth that's not mentioned because it'll put people off:

No talent.

Some of us are definitely working with a lot less than others. 

[DeadMan]

This is actually ... pretty good. I don't necessarily agree with #8 (walking vs. riding). I think that depends on the person. I find that I play better when I walk. But even that depends on the temperature. I like to have a little bit more time in between shots. I also have shot some really good rounds in a cart, so it's not the be all and end all.

I also have no idea what #11 means.

[Jeremie Boop]

For me, the list is about 50/50. Half are off base and the other half pretty close to spot on. But it's just another list of opinions for the most part.

[billchao]

2 hours ago, NM Golf said:

There is a lot of truth to that, but yes it puts people off. Just like any other sport, if you don't have some natural talent you can practice till the cows come home and you will never be a good player. I realize that is not a popular opinion, but I believe it to be true.

There's a difference between being a better golfer than you are today and having enough talent to be scratch. Most people don't have the latter but that shouldn't be a reason not to work on improving.

I think most people who have played seriously for a few years have a good grasp of how much talent they possess.

[NM Golf]

20 minutes ago, billchao said:

There's a difference between being a better golfer than you are today and having enough talent to be scratch. Most people don't have the latter but that shouldn't be a reason not to work on improving.

I think most people who have played seriously for a few years have a good grasp of how much talent they possess.

I was careful not to say someone couldn't improve, of course with lessons and hard work anyone can improve. But, as you yourself said, not everyone is good enough to get to scratch and even fewer to elite Tour pro status.

[billchao]

2 hours ago, NM Golf said:

But, as you yourself said, not everyone is good enough to get to scratch and even fewer to elite Tour pro status.

Yea but that's not what the article is about. It's basically a what you do wrong and what you can do about it article.

If the article was "Why You're Not Scratch," the list would be much shorter for most of us and talent (or lack thereof) would absolutely be on it.

[DrvFrShow]

18 hours ago, NM Golf said:

Well I hate to tell you but if you don't practice then statistics are of no use to you. If you do practice, they are invaluable to help guide you to improve the areas of you game that need the most help. Bad example by the way, practicing bunker shots will have little affect on your score, there is no separation value in it. 

Most people don't have time to practice a lot. And if you ended up playing on the beach for 5 or 6 holes during your round and took two strokes to get out half the time, that's a lot. But then you obviously practice a lot from your HC, so you're a world apart from the average bogey golfer or the person trying to break 100.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, DrvFrShow said:

Most people don't have time to practice a lot.

That actually makes practicing the right things the proper way even more important for them than the players who have more time to spend on practice.