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Why the constant need to improve?

jdtox

jdtox

Lord Tox
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Why do we try so hard to be good at this game? I'm not going pro, heck I don't even play competitively very often. Yet we spend hours at the range, $$ for lessons with a pro or on the putting green to try and get better. It got me thinking, is it the hdcp number? There are no other sports besides maybe bowling that has a hdcp is there? I used to be a bowler, a pretty good one in fact but I NEVER and I mean NEVER practiced bowling like I have practiced for golf. So what is it about golf that makes you want to improve?
 
It is the wanting to beat the PB just one more time. For me it is wanting to shoot par, I have come close a few times but never achieved it yet. ( I don't practice enough,)
 
Well, I have a desire to be good at most everything I do. Most things I don't succeed, but it doesn't stop me from trying. Like you, I don't really practice bowling, but I only bowl once every 2-3 years. If I were bowling a few times a week and perhaps in a bowling league, you can bet I'd be practicing and probably getting lessons.

Golf is simply more fun when you're hitting good shots and scoring well. We all know the joy of seeing our ball drop into the fairway or land tight to the pin. We all also know the frustration of seeing our ball go wildly offline or the ugly feel of the heavy chunk. And then there's feeling of a well struck shot, a sensation nearly unmatched in the world.
 
For me, I practiced hard when I had an event coming up, either a THP one or at my old home club, because I wanted to play my best during those events. This year I didn't have any competitive events other than the Shaft Up Finale, and not surprisingly, I found myself practicing way less. I hit balls this year to get a break from work or to get out of the house a bit and just clear my head, not really to try to improve.
 
For me it's the competitive part of sports, and when applied to golf makes you want to improve, get better, shoot lower scores, hit longer drives, hit closer approaches and sink longer putts.
 
Why have steak? why not just Spam?

Playing well feels good, and missing a shot feels bad, I prefer feeling good.
 
Why the constant need to improve?

Not wanting to make an a$$ of myself in front of other THPers. Hasn’t worked so far though. In truth I don’t know..other than not being where I’d like to be with my game. I do know it has nothing to do with competing against others and just being the best golfer I can.


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I think it is a drive to improve and that yes a handicap is part of that. We can all tell stories of being good in high school athletics but Golf there is a tangible measure of how good you are, and you are the only factor in that (unlike most other sports besides bowling and track).

I also think it is the reason I have run in to far more vanity handicaps than I have sand baggers. If your friend tells you he is bringing a coworker to play golf, the first thing I ask (and I think many of us) is are they any good? That number is out there and is a representation of you. We all have egos so we want people to think as highly of us as we can.
 
Doesn’t this question get to the root of human nature?
I want to improve because..... that’s both the question and the answer....


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wadesworld said:
Well, I have a desire to be good at most everything I do. Most things I don't succeed, but it doesn't stop me from trying. Like you, I don't really practice bowling, but I only bowl once every 2-3 years. If I were bowling a few times a week and perhaps in a bowling league, you can bet I'd be practicing and probably getting lessons.

Golf is simply more fun when you're hitting good shots and scoring well. We all know the joy of seeing our ball drop into the fairway or land tight to the pin. We all also know the frustration of seeing our ball go wildly offline or the ugly feel of the heavy chunk. And then there's feeling of a well struck shot, a sensation nearly unmatched in the world.
Click to expand...

See thats just it, for years I bowled weekly and even bowled competitively in tournaments. I spent a lot of money bowling and I won my fair share too but even then I never practiced. Golf is a different animal to me
 
Obviously I can only speak for my motivations.

I am VERY competitive. I am also normally very good at most undertakings.

Started racing Motorcycles, and within a year I was consistently on the podium.
Took up SCUBA and earned all the certs you could and became a very good diver, could do it all.
Weight lifted and was one of the strongest guys within 1 year.
Took up flying gliders and was flying in contests and earning badges within 6 months.
Took up long distance motorcycle riding and won my first contest and 8 out of 10 of the subsequent contests.

The list goes on and on.

Now Golf? I am working hard at it. I have made great strides. But I am NOT a good golfer yet. And even when (if) I get good, there is always better. The constant strive to do better, and the ability to know I can do better is what attracts me and pushes me. I am glad I did not get very good very quickly. This is a game where you can never win. You can only work hard and execute well. Watching a well struck shot fly out, and land where you wanted it, is just too rewarding to not strive for that sight and feeling every time.
 
Competitive nature, always wanting to be the best I can at something.

That changed this year though. I knew that the number of rounds I would get to play would be way down. So, I've started to just take the game for what it is and just enjoy it out there. In fact my handicap only went up by a shot even though I had zero range practice this year and played only about a 1/4th of the number of rounds compared to the previous 4 years.

So, I guess I could say that those years of practice got me to a point to where I'm comfortable with my game and it allows me to enjoy it without too much frustration.
 
Gambling. I do not play super high stakes with playing partners but losing 10 bucks here 20 bucks there irks me. It is the only thing I do where you can gamble and have some control over the outcome.

I also play in a competitive league that pays pretty well. My goal every year is to win back at least 50% of my fees (greens/prize fund/skins).
 
I don’t expect to ever be “good” by most people’s standards. Too old and out of shape for that. But I want to at least play consistently at a certain level.


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My competitive nature says....improve.
 
If I am going to do something, I want to do it well. Golf just happens to be one of those activities that requires more effort than most.
 
When I really sucked, it was always that one good shot that brought me back.
Now that I suck less, its shooting below 80 that gets me excited.
I would like to suck even less and shoot below par, its what brings me back, and makes me want to improve.
 
I actually used to bowl and practice a good amount but I lived a mile way. Golf I don't practice as much per say but I play a ton of rounds that could be called practice. I think it mostly comes down to golf is much harder and bowling is easy(house shots, not actual sport shots, short flat oil ect)

In golf I want to get competitive and hopefully win some local gross events. That is why I play tons. That and I love golf and have access to free golf if I walk.
 
To get the chicks.
 
IceyShanks said:
For me it's the competitive part of sports, and when applied to golf makes you want to improve, get better, shoot lower scores, hit longer drives, hit closer approaches and sink longer putts.
Click to expand...
Yep, I can't really do anything without getting competitive, even when I know doing so makes no sense.

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I’d say it’s never wanting to settle. When I start to score consistently in a range, I want to work to get down a few more strokes. I’m realistic in my goals as I don’t expect to break 80 or even 85 overnight.
 
It's an interesting question that's for sure. I have no good answer other than I freaking love hitting good golf shots, good chips/pitches, and rolling good putts. It makes me happy and gives me a sense of accomplishment - however misplaced it may be in the grand scheme of things.
 
Game is more fun when well played.
 
Simple answer here for me. I’m competitive. I’m especially competitive against myself trying to beat my last score or beat score. Don’t get me wrong it’s still fun 100% of the time but I like a challenge and golf gives me the opportunity for both. A challenge and to compete against my peers still as well as myself.


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The addictive nature of the game just screams for the desire to improve. Heck, I'm no bowler by any stretch but I can go a decade without playing and when I finally do, I'll likely not suffer one gutter ball. The rest might not be a thing of beauty but it won't be completely awful either.

Not so with golf and my pea-brain simply cannot accept not being able to do what I want with that little white ball, reasonably speaking of course.

I've always been a good athlete, nothing great but very good hand/eye coordination especially. I'm used to trying something once, twice, maybe three times and then realizing at least a functional acumen as to the necessary motion and base fundamentals. But golf is maddening in that even when you finally, after an arduous length of time, iron out the fundamentals and have a pretty good idea of what you're doing, so much is still to be determined out there.

It's an incredibly hard, amazingly amazing game. Brain crack.
 
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