one of the biggest reasons golf is so hard....

....or is what helps prove its so hard is the fact there really is no "right" way to go about a lot of it.

Too much of the advise we receive in person, or read about, or view in vids, is often all over the place as for any uniformity. I mean aside from a few basic things that are a no-no, there are far too many different ideas of advice being offered often times for the same part of the game. Often times its even contradicting advice. Whether its a pro, an instructor, or some other well respected authority, a lot of advice can often all over the map. What is said/shown one way by one person pertaining to a specific golf shot is often said a different way by another. Sometimes only parts are different and other times the can even be very contradicting for just how to go about something.

After recent thread I posted about a certain type of shot I also looked it up. And I found 4 different vids from 4 different individuals. 2 had similar advice while a third showed something different, while a fourth showed something contradicting to the first two. Whether its a chip or pitch or a full iron or a sandy, or a driver or whatever, from a specialty situation to a basic swing the info/advice given can too often be on several different pages (meaning not in agreement with each other). Thus is why imo there is no such thing as a text book anything. What works for one (for his/her given shot) doesn't work for another. Technical advice on most all different shot situations given can too often be very confusing when they don't all match who the heck ever knows whats right.

Especially for those who are past the just starting stage and begining to develop further their game and swings. This whole problem can be misleading and filled with misguided advice for that person. It can really be detrimental to further improvement. People who are fortunate enough to advance at the game and get to high levels of performance have their own way of approaching things and then the advice they give for how to do certain things needs to be taken with a grain of salt because it may or may not be whats best for the person seeking the advice. It could actually be a detriment for that person.

The whole process to me is partially why golf is so hard for so many people. Perhaps never finding the technical tips and pointers and advice that truly fits them or often switching between the different pointers that are at times contradicting.

I can go on but I think you get the gist of the thread. Whats really right or wrong is only right or wrong for the individual. The rest is like a lottery and almost up to chance. The game is very hard............ very hard to hit that lottery. Not even to be a pro or something but even just to get darn good for soooo many people.

Your thoughts?

People want easy and free advice. So instead of booking time with a qualified teaching professional for in person and specific lessons, they go to youtube and search "Golf stop slice" or whatever. When there may be something completely unrelated, they take the youtube tip and try to apply it to their current game and just muddy the waters.

The reason why golf is so hard is because hand eye coordination is hard. There are no pills to take. There are no pills to take for spacial awareness. Some people just take to a movement better than others, so people can implement small changes faster than others. Golf is hard because it is hard to hit a small ball with a 45" stick and make it go where you want. That will never change.

People make golf harder by trying the easy way out to get better.

blugold said:

People want easy and free advice. So instead of booking time with a qualified teaching professional for in person and specific lessons, they go to youtube and search "Golf stop slice" or whatever. When there may be something completely unrelated, they take the youtube tip and try to apply it to their current game and just muddy the waters.

The reason why golf is so hard is because hand eye coordination is hard. There are no pills to take. There are no pills to take for spacial awareness. Some people just take to a movement better than others, so people can implement small changes faster than others. Golf is hard because it is hard to hit a small ball with a 45" stick and make it go where you want. That will never change.

People make golf harder by trying the easy way out to get better.

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Get out of my head, blu. My thoughts exactly. I feel like people actually cost themselves money by not getting lessons sooner - they create more issues that now take MORE lessons to fix.

SkiBumGolfer said:

Get out of my head, blu. My thoughts exactly. I feel like people actually cost themselves money by not getting lessons sooner - they create more issues that now take MORE lessons to fix.

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Despite what many may think, I am not a complete dolt.

Rollin' -

Every golfer has an idea about what works for them. It doesn't necessarily translate across individuals well. Which is why, if you ask for advice, you will get many different, maybe confilcting, answers. What one golfer feels, or understands what they believe they are feeling, may be "incorrect" to another who uses different terminology, system, or even pre-shot routine.

That is why it is so important to find an instructor that you like and can relate to, and work with them.

And, what blugold says - golf ain't easy.

Golf is a game involving people who, about once a week, swing metal sticks a hundred miles per hour at a little white ball in an effort to make the ball go hundreds of yards at a time. They do it with the implicit or explicit understanding that a couple of degrees in the face angle or club path at impact can be the difference between success and ruin. I can't blame anyone for looking for any insight into trying to make that happen more consistently, and good for them if they find it. I haven't found it from a YouTube video, but I'm not about to badmouth someone who has.

The fact still remains that any time I feel like I hit a ball away from where I intended, I remember the words of my First Sergeant, "No way, I don't play golf. You kidding? If you hit that thing 200 yards and you can find it, pick that thing up and put it in your pocket, because you won for today." Golf is hard.

I agree rollin...

The problem is compounded because most people starting out have no clue that there are numerous different theories, philosophies and swings.

You learn one small thing and think that is how it is done. Then, you learn something else from someone else...but, quite often what person A and person B told you don't necessarily fit together. Not realizing this, you try and make them work together...and that gets really frustrating really fast.

Just yesterday, in the midst of a great range session, the very nice gentleman next to me starts up a conversation...the conversation ends with him trying to convince me to take the club back his way (inside, which is what I've worked hard on stopping over the last couple weeks).

When I learned to golf, one of the first things I learned about was 'coming over the top'...so I looked up a solution: staying inside was the first thing that came up. What a simple solution. I found a super nice guy, with a great online video library teaching you how to play from the inside. It was probably a week or two later that I learned his method was highly unorthodox, and way outside of conventional thinking.

Incidentally, to this day, I still think that gentleman's way was the easiest way to learn to play the game of golf if you just want to become a mid capper type.

I can agree that everyone has a unique swing and instructors will have different opinions and philosophies. However there are fundamentals that are universal to the game and your swing can look crazy different from someone else's, but those fundamentals need to be there. Look at Furyk's swing, it's very very unique but he hits all the fundamental spots during his swing to make it work fantastically.

The only advice I want or seek is from the same PGA Teaching Pro I have had since 1973. I don't read mags and I don't watch videos. The only way forward is with a real live qualified human.

Build a solid understanding of your swing with a qualified teaching golf PRO and practice, practice, practice and then practice some more! How well would you drive a car if you only got behind the wheel a few times a month a few months a year?
Leave Youtube as a source for music and entertainment....

Golf also is so hard because the game is differant week to week. Basketball courts are all the same, football fields all the same, golf courses are different everyweek

many talking YouTube, but lets not get stuck on that only......that's not the only place at all I mentioned nor should we think is only where this stuff happens. Different peoples advice for the same things can be very different. Books, magazine articles, tv, as well as live in-person instruction and you tube can all do the same thing and many the same people offer all of it. I have received good pointers from youtube as well as some vids posted on THP too and fwiw live lessons and books and articles. But of course the gist of this thread still applies to all of it because some the advice works and some doesn't and even gets contradicting from one to another and can still vary an can present good things for a given student or present the problem (for lack of better word) that we are discussing.

Fwiw I don't believe this topic is nearly the only reason golf is hard. I have my other reasons and theories too. I think a lot has to do with each persons natural build, proportions, and gate. I think some people just are able to more efficiently contact the ball than others but that's a whole other subject for another thread. But for this specific topic at hand it does show us imo that it is indeed very hard. The fact that (aside from some basic fundamentals) there are many ways to "skin the cat" and many aspects don't really have a text book written in stone type of thing that we can all just go by and will work the same for all if we all just did this..or that the same way. There is no "same way" for all of us for so much of the game. Much advice given via the different avenues mentioned may often be dictated and implied as "the only way to do this is like this" at least until you then receive advice that dictates differently. As said before it can be sort of a lottery at times.

I disagree that it is hard because there are multiple ways to swing.
It is hard because it takes a skill both mental and physical.
Fundamentals are fundamentals.
You still need to adapt to your own unique physical stature.
But just because there are more than one way to skin a cat it isn't hard ~ I think that actually makes it easier.

I think it's because everything keeps changing! It starts with us, we are not the same everyday physically or mentally. Add to that the course conditions (wetness, grass type, grass length...etc.), and weather conditions. It's amazing to me we are as consistent as we are!

I'm sure I read this in one of the hundreds of golf books I digested over the years but I don't remember which one.

I think one of the factors that makes golf so hard is it requires 2 types of personalities for most to play well. The pre-shot routine and calculations for wind, lie, uphill/downhill, evaluating all the hazards, body alignment, choking down, etc. require a very analytical brain. Something an engineer would be good at. Conversely, the best personality type to clear all the pre-shot thoughts and pull the trigger would be that of an artist. The engineer is not very good at being creative with the shot or clearing his mind of all the pre-shot thoughts so his muscles can operate most efficiently. The artist type often gets the pre-shot stuff wrong. Certainly both types can succeed, think of Hogan on one extreme or Seve or Bubba on the other. IMO, Mickelson is an example of having a good mix.

blugold said:

People want easy and free advice. So instead of booking time with a qualified teaching professional for in person and specific lessons, they go to youtube and search "Golf stop slice" or whatever. When there may be something completely unrelated, they take the youtube tip and try to apply it to their current game and just muddy the waters.

The reason why golf is so hard is because hand eye coordination is hard. There are no pills to take. There are no pills to take for spacial awareness. Some people just take to a movement better than others, so people can implement small changes faster than others. Golf is hard because it is hard to hit a small ball with a 45" stick and make it go where you want. That will never change.

People make golf harder by trying the easy way out to get better.

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Blu speaks the truth. Well said!

HoosierGolfer said:

The only advice I want or seek is from the same PGA Teaching Pro I have had since 1973. I don't read mags and I don't watch videos. The only way forward is with a real live qualified human.

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A PGA teaching pro is the way to go but some of us stubborn, dumb types prefer to do it on our own.:act-up:


I did get my first set of putting lessons last summer and I wish I would have done it 25 years ago.

I think one reason the game is hard is that we naively believe that what is natural, feels good in a swing is how we should swing. In fact, a good swing comes from many motions that aren't naturally what we would do and it requires good understanding of the swing and a discipline to make the unnatural elements comfortable.

smschulz said:

But just because there are more than one way to skin a cat it isn't hard ~ I think that actually makes it easier.

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I can understand how the logic of (having more ways to skin the cat) as an indication the game is easier. It would make first impression sense that different options means more options which is a good thing. But I don't think the logic really works in this case. I think the fact that there is no one set way or rule to follow for the same shots and shot scenarios makes it harder. Imo.......Because there is no set correct way for a lot of things I believe that shows us a much greater difficulty in being successful at it. One almost has to invent his/her own way or uniqueness to be more successful at a given task. But we often take our thoughts and starts off the advice we learn and if the advice we take is not the better one for us to begin with we then falter from it. We then look to obtain new advice or many times spend enormous amounts of time and effort trying to perfect advice that may not have fit us in the first place. And only then seek different advice and the process may repeat again. So imo its hard very much in part because its often too hard to figure out or even know if what we absorb from our avenues of advice as we make our journey's is correct for us. The whole thing imo works towards indicating to us just how hard the game is.

blugold said:

Despite what many may think, I am not a complete dolt.

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I think you are anything but a dolt and have a wealth of knowledge on plenty of topics on THP. Your delivery though, whether intentional or not, just stinks sometimes.

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moosejaa said:

I think you are anything but a dolt and have a wealth of knowledge on plenty of topics on THP. Your delivery though, whether intentional or not, just stinks sometimes.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

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Noted.

tahoebum said:

A PGA teaching pro is the way to go but some of us stubborn, dumb types prefer to do it on our own.:act-up:


I did get my first set of putting lessons last summer and I wish I would have done it 25 years ago.

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You can get different and even conflicting advice form different PGAteaching pros too.

JMN57 said:

I think one reason the game is hard is that we naively believe that what is natural, feels good in a swing is how we should swing. In fact, a good swing comes from many motions that aren't naturally what we would do and it requires good understanding of the swing and a discipline to make the unnatural elements comfortable.

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We are all so very naturally different in the way we move and in our build. Part of why there is no rights and wrongs. I've had instructors tell me to do things a certain way and yet others tell me to go with my natural movements. But there is one thing to your point I can add. I think the further away ones natural movements are from whats required at point of contact, then the more that person will struggle to be consistent in making proper contact. The craziest looking unique swings can still (for that individual) offer all of it coming together at point of contact via thier natural movements. Many others not so lucky and imo is also in part why golf is much harder for some while comes fairly easier to others.

poor swing plane is a big factor...

Golf is hard because we aren't designed to do it naturally. Consider the evolution of humans, we are designed to roam around foraging for food, throwing stuff at potential food, running from things that want to make us food.

Nowhere in evolution were we required to hit a high cut to a tucked pin for survival of the species.

So, we do this wierd, unnatural motion and wonder why we can't do it well.

Just my thoughts.

There are a ton of good posts in here, but personally I think golf is difficult because of unrealistic expectations. Many golfers take in so much information and expect that by simply reading/watching/listening it should immediately translate to the course. The reality though, is that for an actual change to take place it takes HOURS of practice. If all it took was watching a You Tube video to get rid of a slice then we'd all be touring pros. I think understanding the path to improvement is truly a grind that requires patience helps, but a lot of golfers aren't willing to put in the work required and end up setting themselves up for failure in the long run. To me, golf is hard because many people expect to improve much faster than they actually will.