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I Believe That This Is a True Statement, Do You?

Nope....well maybe....but not everyone.
I have been very frustrated at times, but never to tears.
And, I think I am pretty good at the game.
YMMV
 
I disagree with that comment. If you are being reduced to tears because of golf you are doing it wrong. Like any other sport it takes time to get good and part of that journey are the ups and downs.

Telling a new golfer, young or old, something like that does nothing but discourages participation.
 
Nothing I said discouraged the young fellow. I praised him all the way and was genuinely excited for him. We spent two hours together going over all the basics. I was gonna skip sand play but he was eager to try some sand shots.

The option to disagree with me is right there in the title so that's fine...but I must say, for the sake of my argument extreme frustration is analogous to tears. No pain no gain being the point.
 
NEhomer said:
I was meeting a dad and his son yesterday at the range. The kid wants to take up golf and I said the following. One of two things will happen along this journey. You will leave the golf course at some point in absolute tears of frustration or you will never be very good at golf.
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Sure to frustration (don't know about the tears though), but how can you say he will never be good at golf?
 
NEhomer said:
Nothing I said discouraged the young fellow. I praised him all the way and was genuinely excited for him. We spent two hours together going over all the basics. I was gonna skip sand play but he was eager to try some sand shots.

The option to disagree with me is right there in the title so that's fine...but I must say, for the sake of my argument extreme frustration is analogous to tears. No pain no gain being the point.
Click to expand...

It's not really fair to assess two hours on the basis of your original post. How you said it, when you said it, the look on your face when you said it (assuming you weren't wearing a mask) - all not possible to pick up in a single thread post. I still disagree with your premise, but based on your description of the kid's enthusiasm, you were doing a lot of things right.
 
I do not think this a true statement.

If your point is good golf takes dedication and you must overcome big time frustration at times, this is true, but nobody really gets to the point of tears.
 
I would say not true. The only thing to me to get frustrated to the point of tears is over family. Maybe that's why i'm not good at golf?

I just don't place that kind of importance on it and that's something I pass along to my kids. Everything in life can be replaced except for family.

Lose a job, find another one. Lose your house, find a new one. Stink at golf, find another sport. Lose a family member...no replacing that. That is what's truly important in life.
 
not in tears but pretty close and absolutely frustrated a few times after a few rounds but its what brings me back, when im not swinging it well i want it fixed and i want it fixed now.
 
greg19 said:
I would say not true. The only thing to me to get frustrated to the point of tears is over family. Maybe that's why i'm not good at golf?

I just don't place that kind of importance on it and that's something I pass along to my kids. Everything in life can be replaced except for family.

Lose a job, find another one. Lose your house, find a new one. Stink at golf, find another sport. Lose a family member...no replacing that. That is what's truly important in life.
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My thoughts exactly. Getting frustrated to tears is not a constructive way to deal with life. Among the things I have cried over, golf isn't one of them.
 
l've played with many single handicappers, and back a FEW years ago, was one myself. I've never left the course in tears, nor have I ever witnessed any of them do the same. Frustrated? Sometimes.
 
NEhomer said:
I was meeting a dad and his son yesterday at the range. The kid wants to take up golf and I said the following. One of two things will happen along this journey. You will leave the golf course at some point in absolute tears of frustration or you will never be very good at golf.
Click to expand...
Maybe not tears, but yeah. If you want to get good, you need desire, and desire comes with expectations, and you will come up very short sometimes.
 
If I get hit in the head with a ball or club I might be crying, other than that not shaken to that level of frustration about anything. I am much too old to get frustrated. :eek:
 
Everyone has a different personality type and some very successful people and golfers are very calm even in the face of diversity. That would not be me as a youth, but is me now.
 
I'm going to go with no. I'm also one of the people who wouldn't say that to a kid. I try to be encouraging and let them find the frustration on their own. The ones that love it and want to get good surely will.
 
I’d disagree. My handicap had been around a 19 or so the last 5 years, mostly due to not having time to practice or play too much. Prior to that I didn’t keep a handicap, just played for fun, but came very close to breaking 80 a few times.

Fast forward to this year, my son is 8 and wanting to golf more. We’ve joined a club and play or practice a few times a week. I might have been frustrated after a bad shot, but never with any of our play or practice sessions, no matter how crappy I’ve hit it. That time is pure joy. I’m teaching my son that golf is fun, and you can be good and have fun at the same time. My handicap is going down (below 15 now), and no part of the process has been frustrating. I’ve almost broken 80 again on a very tough course, and think I’ll be able to get to a single digit without the frustration (extreme frustration or tears).
 
It definitely applies to some, but not to all. A friend of mine was a scratch golfer at one point, and gave up the game in frustration for several years. He has a bad temper anyway, and he just couldn't handle it when he didn't shoot well every time he played. It completely drove him into a flaming rage. I know several other guys who are single-digit handicaps, and they're cool as a cucumber no matter how they're playing - never even seen them so much as utter a swear word over a bad shot or round.

I'm nowhere near a single digit 'cap and never have been, but while I've certainly had plenty of moments of frustration on the course, it's never driven me to tears or anywhere near it. I refuse to give a game, something I'm supposedly doing because I enjoy it, that much power over me.
 
Kinda a heavy message for the driving range.
I cried once at the course over things going on off the course. Never pertaining to the game itself.
 
Motivation and persistence come from a lot of sources. Frustration is just one of them. Also, I know plenty of people who have been frustrated, but it didn't result in either motivation or persistence.
 
NEhomer said:
You will leave the golf course at some point in absolute tears of frustration or you will never be very good at golf.
Click to expand...
Don't believe in the statement and think there is a better way to communicate to a kid starting out.
 
I never got frustrated to the point of tears, despite working my way to a near scratch handicap in my early 20's. I shot around par, and sometimes under, for quite a while until life intervened. What I got was bit by the bug in my mid to late teens. I played all the team sports growing up, but was still basically a loner. What frustrated me was screwing up and causing my team to lose, or seeing a team mate screw up causing us to lose! Golf was ALL on me!

In my junior year of high school we moved into a new house that was quite close to a driving range and 9 hole par 3 course. I'm 67 and golf was really cheap back then! I hit balls 5-6 days a week, and taught myself by reading instruction articles in Golf digest, back when that publication was still worth reading!
 
I don’t know about crying, but the game certainly can be vexing.
 
I would probably tell a young person that they should look for those rewards that will come in the game and relish them. I would also tell him that it is the greatest sport/game ever invented by mankind.
 
Probably more the opposite. If you get upset to tears by golf, odds you are less likely to be very good. It might be the worst game for a person who is strongly emotional, especially as to the short term.

Strong emotion leads to anxiety and tension. Racing thoughts and not being able to relax are not exactly keys to good golf.
 
Frustration only comes when you really want to improve. If you're happy just going out and hitting some balls with your pals the I really don't think those guys are phased too much by bad shots or high scores. The frustrating part is when you get a bit more serious and know that you could/should be shooting lower but just can't get it going and don;t know why. This game is a desperately cruel mistress...
 
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