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Golf - Born with it, learned or somewhere in between?

motoo344

motoo344

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THP has been around for a long time so I am sure this has been discussed before, so I apologize if this has been a recent discussion. I was watching the DJ video posted in the Honda Classic thread and got to thinking are you born to play golf because of a natural build or skill set (or with a talent of any kind) or do you learn it? You see golfers of all shapes and sizes so what makes you be able to hit the ball close to 300 yards consistently? what makes you able to be a musical prodigy? or be able to dunk the basketball? Is it skill, practice or just dumb luck?

For me personally, I started to take the game seriously when I was 23/24 years old and its only since 2013 that I've really developed a swing that is reliable enough to get my consistently 'lower' scores...mid 80's consistently. I often wonder if I had stuck with golf from when I started lessons at 6 years old till now where I would be?

I read a stat recently about basketball, if you are between 6'6 and 6'8 you have just a .7% chance of being pro but if you are 7+ you have a staggering 17% chance of being pro. Really makes you think!
 
At our level, 80% born with it, 20% learned

Guys on tour, 98% born with it.
 
Nice avatar! That's Duf with his wife at Oak Hill right?

For me I'm a combination of both. I played baseball growing up my whole life, then played a short time in college before blowing my shoulder out so I had some natural athletic ability. With that ability I got to a point where I could break 80 pretty consistently, but it wasn't where I wanted to be. With the proper instruction I continued to keep lowering the scores. Just recently I switched teachers in the winter and we're working towards a goal. My goal since I started taking golf seriously was become scratch. I knew without proper instruction I couldn't get there by myself even tho I could still score pretty well without instruction. So I am a mix of both. Natural athletic ability now with proper instruction.
 
blugold said:
At our level, 80% born with it, 20% learned

Guys on tour, 98% born with it.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with this. The guys on tour work at it day in and day out their entire life. Are there exceptions to the rule? Of course there is in everything, but to say 98% of the PGA Tour plays are born with their ability is a bit ridiculous. They might be born with the work ethics they have, but no way they got to where they're at with just born talent.
 
Six4three5 said:
I don't agree with this. The guys on tour work at it day in and day out there entire life. Are there exceptions to the rule? Of course there is in everything, but to say 98% of the PGA Tour plays are born with their ability is a bit ridiculous. They might be born with the work ethics they have, but no way they got to where they're at with just born talent.
Click to expand...
I agree to an extent. They have to work to get better in order to be successful. But that ability to take coaching and commit a movement to memory is not a learned skill. It's an Allah given talent at their level.

But have you ever seen the videos of 3 year old tiger, rory, Phil? There is a cliché, whatever motion you made with your first ever golf swing is your natural swing.
 
I think both. Pretty evenly matched.


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blugold said:
At our level, 80% born with it, 20% learned

Guys on tour, 98% born with it.
Click to expand...

Six4three5 said:
I don't agree with this. The guys on tour work at it day in and day out their entire life. Are there exceptions to the rule? Of course there is in everything, but to say 98% of the PGA Tour plays are born with their ability is a bit ridiculous. They might be born with the work ethics they have, but no way they got to where they're at with just born talent.
Click to expand...

blugold said:
I agree to an extent. They have to work to get better in order to be successful. But that ability to take coaching and commit a movement to memory is not a learned skill. It's an Allah given talent at their level.

But have you ever seen the videos of 3 year old tiger, rory, Phil? There is a cliché, whatever motion you made with your first ever golf swing is your natural swing.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to side with Blu on this. How many of these guys on the PGA tour have been insanely good at golf since they were teenagers or younger? That's not hard work, that's natural talent. You're not a scratch golfer at 13 just because you work hard at it. I've seen way too many people try their butts off to be good at a certain sport and fail miserably.

How many guys even go to college to play golf? Then how many of them are all americans every year and still can't sniff the PGA tour? You're either born with that level of skill or not. I agree that you have to work hard to tap into it...but you have to have "it" to begin with.
 
cbaker2882 said:
I'm going to have to side with Blu on this. How many of these guys on the PGA tour have been insanely good at golf since they were teenagers or younger? That's not hard work, that's natural talent. You're not a scratch golfer at 13 just because you work hard at it. I've seen way too many people try their butts off to be good at a certain sport and fail miserably.

How many guys even go to college to play golf? Then how many of them are all americans every year and still can't sniff the PGA tour? You're either born with that level of skill or not. I agree that you have to work hard to tap into it...but you have to have "it" to begin with.
Click to expand...

I think guys are born athletes with athletic ability and hand eye coordination yes. But I don't think people are born golfers. I think the guys are tour would excel at other sports had they given the time and energy they put into golf. I think some people are born with more athletic ability than others, but I also think guys aren't born "golfers" just my opinion of course.
 
I think that there's way more "Born with it" than there is "learned" for most golfers. All the lessons and practice in the world don't guarantee anything.
 
blugold said:
At our level, 80% born with it, 20% learned

Guys on tour, 98% born with it.
Click to expand...

Hunter Mahan just did an AMA on Reddit and said he practices between 5-6 hours a day. These guys must play A LOT of golf. At the same time, it sounds like he had been doing that for a long time so I would imagine this combined with a natural athletic ability aided him tremendously.

Six4three5 said:
Nice avatar! That's Duf with his wife at Oak Hill right?

For me I'm a combination of both. I played baseball growing up my whole life, then played a short time in college before blowing my shoulder out so I had some natural athletic ability. With that ability I got to a point where I could break 80 pretty consistently, but it wasn't where I wanted to be. With the proper instruction I continued to keep lowering the scores. Just recently I switched teachers in the winter and we're working towards a goal. My goal since I started taking golf seriously was become scratch. I knew without proper instruction I couldn't get there by myself even tho I could still score pretty well without instruction. So I am a mix of both. Natural athletic ability now with proper instruction.
Click to expand...

Yes sir!

Interestingly enough, I played baseball as well at a very young age. Golf and baseball were my dads two passions but he never forced golf on my while he pushed baseball. I use to train a lot for baseball but I never truly enjoyed it, I genuinely enjoy golf and practicing golf. I must have thought golf wasn't cool enough and gave up at some point because I pretty much had to start over in my early 20's.
 
Six4three5 said:
I think guys are born athletes with athletic ability and hand eye coordination yes. But I don't think people are born golfers. I think the guys are tour would excel at other sports had they given the time and energy they put into golf. I think some people are born with more athletic ability than others, but I also think guys aren't born "golfers" just my opinion of course.
Click to expand...

I can agree with that absolutely. I think "it" can transfer to whatever that person puts their mind into to an extent. How many pro football and basketball players do you see were all americans in the other sport as well? Or even the ones who played professionally in both? Russell Wilson has been both a pro Football and Baseball player, and I don't think that's a coincidence at all. It's just freakish athletic ability. You can't train for that though, you have to have it to begin with. Heck I mean Rickie Fowler could have been a pro motocross rider as well.
 
But to follow up my previous posts. On top of having to be born with it..you have to work your butt off to actually get to your potential. Because I also believe there are plenty of people who actually have "it" but never do anything with it and waste it.
 
cbaker2882 said:
I can agree with that absolutely. I think "it" can transfer to whatever that person puts their mind into. How many pro football and basketball players do you see were all americans in the other sport as well? Or even the ones who played professionally in both? Russell Wilson has been both a pro Football and Baseball player, and I don't think that's a coincidence at all. It's just freakish athletic ability. You can't train for that though, you have to have it to begin with. Heck I mean Rickie Fowler could have been a pro motocross rider as well.
Click to expand...

Completely agree! I think what I was saying wasn't coming through clearly. I think the guys on tour were definitely born with "it" not born golfers. Meaning the guys on tour would excel at just about anything they wanted to. Completely agree with what you're saying.
 
motoo344 said:
Yes sir!

Interestingly enough, I played baseball as well at a very young age. Golf and baseball were my dads two passions but he never forced golf on my while he pushed baseball. I use to train a lot for baseball but I never truly enjoyed it, I genuinely enjoy golf and practicing golf. I must have thought golf wasn't cool enough and gave up at some point because I pretty much had to start over in my early 20's.
Click to expand...

See I used to love baseball when I played. I could take ground balls all day long. Never enjoy hitting all that much, because I was never a power hitter but I could play defense with the best of them. I was a middle infielder then. But looking back now. Knowing the work ethic I have for golf now at 25. I wish I started playing golf when I was 8 or 9 like I did with baseball. I think I could have done a lot more with it than I did with baseball.
 
For me, I was not born with any appreciable golf skill other than having the drive to succeed. I'd say a square face at impact for me is 90% sweat and 10% luck.
 
I think it's a combination. Golf is a sport that one has to work hard at to become good or great. I agree with what Jimmy (six4three5) is saying.
 
emart2173 said:
I think it's a combination. Golf is a sport that one has to work hard at to become good or great. I agree with what Jimmy (six4three5) is saying.
Click to expand...

Some would argue that golf is not even a sport unfortunately but I suppose that is for a different thread!
 
my grandfather started me on golf when I was 12. he told my mother I was a natural golfer. then I got a job picking up range balls at the local course when I was 12. had proper instruction with my "natural" swing and was scratch when I was 18. I would never had been scratch had I not put the work into the game. I believe you are born with the ability to be athletic and may naturally have some basic skills but you also need to work your ass off. like most things in life, if you desire to excel at something you must be willing to commit or just be satisfied at the level you worked to attain
 
I think it's a learned skill.

Sure the rare case where someone just has it naturally...but I think that would be really rare.

There also might be the odd rare case where someone is so uncoordinated, they just aren't going to get it.

Even when I think of the regular 'hackers' I see at the range...the guys I see the most often are the ones with the best swings.

It's the old story where someone says "I'd give anything to be able to ___ (in this case 'play golf'). In reality, they wouldn't ever come close to making the same sacrifices as the person they are talking about. They just want the result without the work that went into it. It's easier to call it a 'gift' or 'special talent'.

I had a mentor years ago tell me a story about meeting Arnold Palmer.

Him and a friend went to watch Palmer hit balls (it was some type of special event). After the event was over they waited around hoping to get a chance to speak with Palmer.

They actually did get that opportunity. After some point in time, my mentor said to Palmer "I'd give anything to be able to play golf like you." Palmer laughed and said "no you wouldn't".
 
IMO, the full swing is a learned skill but great putters are born. Colleges and the mini tours are full of great ball strikers that are average or below average putters. Last year over 42% of my stokes in golf were putts. If I putted like Ben Crenshaw my index would drop to a +4 or lower right away. Having a natural ability to hit a golf ball long and straight is a much more common skill than being able to putt like the guys on the PGA or European Tours.

Mental toughness is also more important than god-givin physical talent in golf than in other sports. Look at guys like Tom Kite or Zac Johnson - they are not physically gifted in any way yet they have had great golf careers on the PGA Tour. It's their mental edge and putting/short game ability that largely determined their success.
 
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To me its 50/50. I don't care how much you practice or how many lessons you take, if you don't have natural talent you will never be a pro. At the same time I don't care what type of talent you are born with, if you don't practice or put in the effort you will never make it.
 
It's hard for me to say which percentage. I have always been a great athlete, except for batting I was too aggressive. If you wanted someone with a strong arm in the outfield and pitch I am the guy. Same with hockey I had a wicked slapshot, but liked rough body checks. That being said most is natural is partly true but practice to perfect your craft is always a must


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I think a lot of it is mental, the ability to keep calm and perform when you need to. To have the confidence to perform at that level and the confidence you need to be at that level. I'm not saying there aren't people that are more athletic but I kinda think they believe they can get to that level, they know it. Confidence is everything IMHO.
 
I think some are definitely born with "it." How do you explain guys like Bubba who never take a professional lesson and yet they can win the Masters? How about guys like Ty Tryon (sp?) that are handed EVERYTHING to be successful and never get there? You have to be born with a natural ability to some degree. Some people will never break 90 no matter how hard they work. Others break 90 within a year of playing. You have to be born with that special something for all sports IMO.

For me, the game has come quite natural overall. My dad tells me that ever since I was little that I could swing a club and my swing is basically the same now as it was then with some minor tweaks from the lessons.
 
I think, FOR ME, it's 60% athletic and 40% learned skill. I'm not a super fast swinger, 104-110 max, but I do my best to control my game and play golf, not golf swing. I make a lot of pars that I probably shouldn't, hit creative shots when it's called for, I do my best to play smart when needed and aggressive when it makes sense, so those, to me, are learned skills. The guys that can swing 120+ amaze me because if I ever try to swing that fast, I can barely make contact so there are many that have an insane skill that I never will.
 
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