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Playing with someone better.

Luchnia

Luchnia

You will never conquer golf.
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In most disciplines it is good to seek out someone better and work with them so that you get better. Do you ever seek out better golfers and try to play with them so that you can get better, or is golf one of those things that this does not work?
 
Great question - I’ve always enjoyed playing with better players but it isn’t because of the swing or because I learn anything. I try to push myself to play around their level (and it backfires plenty)
 
I don't know if playing with better players has any impact on my game, but I got to play with 2020 Grandaddy Captain @MattyD-MPLS (aka Dimples) at the Budget Golf Championship last year, and it was a great time. It is fun to watch someone that good play the game, on the same course, at the same time as you.
 
The better the players around me, the better I play, so yes~
 
Do i seek them out? No. But i also dont avoid it. I typically play better when playing with much better players. Thats not always the case but I always learn something from them when playing together
 
I think playing with better players helps me to focus and I often will play better. While it may not help with your actual striking you can definitely learn more about course management. One of the big reasons they are good players is because they know what their miss is and how to play it depending on what the best miss for that shot is.
 
I have two groups I play with. I tend to be toward the back of the pack with each. Do I play better when I'm playing with better golfers...Typically no. What tends to happen is I play tee boxes I wouldn't play otherwise. I don't hit it long. If the other three are going to play 6500 and I'm more comfortable at 6200...I play that tee. Naw, That's not gonna happen. So I end up pressing a little. Another group I play with where I am one of two good golfers. And the guys want to play as far forward as allowed. I usually kick butt with those guys...
 
Luchnia said:
In most disciplines it is good to seek out someone better and work with them so that you get better. Do you ever seek out better golfers and try to play with them so that you can get better, or is golf one of those things that this does not work?
Click to expand...

For golf playing with more skilled players is absolutely 10000% helpful to improving one's game. That said, a good student of golf, one who watches and learns, is a rare breed.
 
Sometimes I feed well off them & play better then normal and other times I try to hard to keep up with them and we all know where to goes.
 
I always seek out the best players i can play with. It changes my focus and drives a different level of performance. If I play with people who are complete casual players, I tend to get distracted and just get into having a good time which usually doesn't make me shoot better. With that being said, I am not saying serious/better golfers aren't having a good time, it's just a different feel.

Also, "best players" don't always equate to a specific index. One of the best golfer I play with plays to a 8-9. Why? because he's 63, retired, hits in 200 down the middle on his drives and can't always take advantage of Par5's. But from 150 in, he's deadly. Wedge, short irons, putter. Just unreal. Love playing with him because I absorb a lot on how he approches short shots.

There's another guy who plays to 5 that I can't stand playing with. Blasts music, talks non stop, always giving "free advice". etc.
 
I tend to be uncomfortable when playing with better players. I usually feel like I'm slowing them down with my lousy game so I rush and make mistakes which makes my game lousier. At leas tI don't say "I normally play better than this".:)
 
i have noticed the few times i have played with someone "better" then me it was not a lot of fun. when i think of "better" i am thinking someone under 10. of course those people play a different game then me. but it was the way they acted towards me.....like they were better. i felt like they were (sounds stupid) but leaving me out. joking with each other and just going through the motions, with me, because i was there. got to a point where i would just sit in the cart between shots as they joked around with each other. on 18 only 1 out of the 6 (we teamed up with another group of their "friends" to play the 18th) shook my hand. terrible experience.
 
I won't seek them out, but happy if paired up with them.

I learned a valuable lesson a couple years ago from a scratch player. He had never played our little 9 hole muni, so I just gave him the hole layouts as we went and where to miss on the greens. He shot a 4 under 68 and I shot a 76 that day. After the round he asked me about one particular hole that I had chosen to try to create a shot over/thru the tree and ended up with a double bogey because I didn't pull it off. He scolded me politely that I had been playing well and to next time take my medicine, said I could have just punched out sideways and possibly still mad par or at worst a bogey because of how well I was playing. It was a very good lesson in course management that day and playing smart. It is something I always think back on when a shot like that arises now.
 
I love playing with better golfers, it helps me learn course management and they usually have some good tips.
 
I don't purposely play with better golfers, but most of the time the rest of the players in my group are better.
 
I don’t go seeking them out but do enjoy playing with anybody including those better then me. I find I play better golf when playing with a better player and worse when I play with someone worse. I do find that sometimes just watching a solid player on the range can show you things that you can learn from as well.
 
A lot of people swear by it.

I think variety helps more than anything. Exposure to different levels and types of play teaches us more about our own game, and the game in general imo.
 
Most everyone I play with is better than me. It's a fun challenge for me to try and step my game up and I attain to get to their level. With that said, I have never really sought advice from any of them, just used them to push myself to get better.
 
Outside, I usually play with people around the same skill level as me since all my friends and I are relatively in the same HC range. Being in a winter sim league though, I've been playing with a scratch college golfer pretty regularly and it's just crazy the consistency he has with his clubs. I am able to hang score wise with him sometimes because simulators aren't really a good judge of skill since the lie never matters and conditions are always exactly the same. Saying that though, it does give me some (hopefully not short lived) confidence for when we are able to get back outside that I am getting a little more consistent in my ability.
 
I enjoy playing with all levels of players, but playing with better players than me always seems to bring out the best in me.
 
I like playing with better players which is almost all the time. Even if I can't copy their swing I can learn how they see the course and how they play it or see a shot.
It is also fun to watch someone who can really hit a ball.
 
The friends I play with are better than myself at golf. I do like to play with all skill levels as long as they play ready golf and don't get too worked up. I do like to play with better players than not. We usually play some kind of game and go off hadicap so that is fun.
 
My normal golf partner usually beats me by 20 strokes or more so yeah, I like to play with better players. It’s super interesting to see how they attack the course, sure he hits further than me but how he thinks about shot set up, club selection, when to be aggressive and when to lay up.

Along with that, he knows my game both when I’m playing well and when I’m in my cut swing ruts so he can offer advice, he knows when I’m not in the mood for it or when I’m open to listen so that helps, and he knows when I start laughing over a questionable lie to hide behind the cart or talk me off of the hero shot ledge.

I think a lot of it is that we are really good friends and sometimes we’ll play aggressive rounds, just fun practice rounds, or play for money but we simply get along.

In general there are several guys I play with semi-regularly who are better than me and I enjoy it. I do think it helps me focus a bit more sometimes while other times it makes me chase and lose my swing. The more I do it though the more likely I think I’ll play more consistent golf regardless of playing partners. It hasn’t yet but hopefully it will.
 
I find that playing with better players helps my game - if I know them/am comfortable with them. With strangers, it makes me nut up and play worse - which is paradoxical because my whole thought process at times like that is to play my best so I don't look like a jackass to them. With guys I know, I can relax and just try to feed off them and maybe see if I can keep up with them, without worrying about what they're going to think if I'm having a bad day or flub a shot here and there.
 
I don't seek them out, but I do enjoy playing with them when I do, it's great to try and learn/observe as much as possible.

My normal playing group is a mix from a single digit, a 10, a 15 and me as a 14. And we have a couple others that mix in from time to time that would be in that 10-16 range.
 
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