Cameras and other fan disruptions...

One of the take-aways I've gotten from working the WAPL all week is golfer focus and concentration. Even at this level they have incredible focus. It's like they set up, visualize the shot, and it all becomes like a completely still pool of water, as they start their down stroke..... and then, CLICK or FLASH! A drop of water disrupts the stillness. Some, like a few I've seen here, and like Tiger Woods did this morning, are sometimes able to stop their swing. They glare at the perpetrator and maybe say or mutter something, and then restart their focus. Here, there were no overs for the fan. He/she was immediately escorted to the exit gate. They should always do the same thing at PGA/LPGA events. No second chances. You're gone. Clearly, a golfer could get a serious injury from stopping a down swing suddenly. I have no sympathy for the ousted fan.

Part of me thinks they should practice with noise distraction and get over it.

blugold said:

Part of me thinks they should practice with noise distraction and get over it.

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I suspect I might have felt that way before this past week's experience. Not any longer.

blugold said:

Part of me thinks they should practice with noise distraction and get over it.

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exactly! Set some up in practice and deal with it! If you're a real pro then you can concentrate through it not be a baby about it. They get paid to golf he can deal with it. He just doesn't want to. Tiger should focus more on his overall come back game and not get his panties in a bunch about flashing sounds from photographers.

malemotives said:

I suspect I might have felt that way before this past week's experience. Not any longer.

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If I have to play by their rules, they can play by some of my conditions. It's a simple trade off

I play with fighter jets and JSTARS flying around, so....

The whole cellphone camera thing cracks me up a bit...first of all mine takes pictures without making a sound...are people so proud of their phones and so anxious for everyone to see their new Iphone 37 that they would purposely turn on the shutter click sound full bore and risk getting kicked out or having bubba glare at them on TV just so others can see how awesome their phone is?...Oh yeah, after hearing MASHED POTATOES, THATS MY BOAT, and GET IN THE HOLE at 95db on every par 5 teeshot I guess the masses really are starved for any type of attention....

The irony is how often guys complain about someone taking a pic with their phone compared to how many times I hear a firetruck siren blaring or a ship honking or an airplane flying over while watching on TV and the guys don't ever back away from the shot or wait to start their stroke...just doesn't make sense to me

In some ways I can sympathise with the golfers when they are confronted by the sudden noises of camera clicks (whether that is mobile phones or cameras) that could be enough to disturb the swing. I expect that people all want the mid-swing action shot, rather than the finish position of the golfer, hence it will probably never stop

Yes, there will always be ambient background noises, but I suspect that a lot of people could learn to filter that out - it is the sudden noise that causes the disturbance

Take for example, you are standing on a noisy street concentrating on watching the traffic lights while you wait for them to change so you can cross and somebody walks up nearby and pops a balloon - how many people will subconsciously flinch/react to the sudden sound of it popping? (not necessarily the best example I could think of, but the best I could come up with to illustrate my point on ambient/sudden noises)

I am not taking one side or the other in the the debate of cameras on the course, but this is how I feel that golfers can be affected by it

It was the same in bowling. There was an instance of a pro playing with a water bottle while another guy was starting his approach or in the middle of his backswing. I have never had anything happen during my swing that has caused me any significant distraction. And that goes for bowling as well, which paid my bills for a while. As a professional, you should be able to block out certain things. I always liked to think of it like for love of the game and block everything outside of my own head out.