More skilled or works harder?

luvagoodshot

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Do you think that the PGA players who are in the top 10 most often are more skilled, or are they the ones that simply work harder and put in the extra effort to get there?
 
Do you think that the PGA players who are in the top 10 most often are more skilled, or are they the ones that simply work harder and put in the extra effort to get there?

I would say both.... but with the caveat that work = staying power.... all these guys are skilled... the ones that have 3, 4, 5, 10 years in the top 10 work their tails off as well as being supremely gifted and skilled.
 
I would say both.... but with the caveat that work = staying power.... all these guys are skilled... the ones that have 3, 4, 5, 10 years in the top 10 work their tails off as well as being supremely gifted and skilled.

That about sums it up.
 
I've coached youth sports for the last 20 years and a few years ago I found a quote that I love and use often.

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard"

I think any pro athlete has loads more skill than the average joe or even those in the "minor leagues" trying to make it up to the show, but if that pro doesn't spend time crafting and perfecting that skill then they can get passed up by some one with lesser skills but a better work habit.
 
Do you think that the PGA players who are in the top 10 most often are more skilled, or are they the ones that simply work harder and put in the extra effort to get there?

Golf is a mental game.
There are thousands of players who can strike 300 yard tee balls and frozen rope 5-iron shots. It is mental strength/ mental skill which distinguishes successful Tour pros. That is, mental factors including choosing lines of play, smart club selection, ability to be relaxed and tension free when faced when playing green side shots and putting, ability to bounce back from a bad swing and, or, bad score on a hole, consistently perform well when faced with a pressure packed shot or round, keen awareness of what type shots the swing is producing on any given day etc...
 
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It's always some combo of both. More talent for some more work for others. The top 10 golfers in the world though are in the in the .01% for talent and I'm sure they are in the top 10% of hard workers on tour.

I think Rory is a great example. I feel like for the last 2 or 3 years he has kind of been trying to do just enough to stay in top form and it shows. He isn't winning like he was and he has fallen out of the top 5 in the world. Justin Rose however has been working his tail off for the last 2 or 3 years and has been playing above his talent level imo. I always thought Tiger was the most talented and hardest working golfer back in the day, thus the dominance. Now he is the 20th most talented golfer due to the wear on his body and there are several players working as hard as he works (not because he works less, but because they work more).
 
To be on that level, you cannot have one without the other.
 
A secondary question - Do you think the players who seem to constantly hover below the top 10 never making it up to the top 10 are players who are satisfied with not making it into the top 10 and are simply satisfied with their earnings without being top 10 players.
 
Moved to Golf on Tour.
 
A secondary question - Do you think the players who seem to constantly hover below the top 10 never making it up to the top 10 are players who are satisfied with not making it into the top 10 and are simply satisfied with their earnings without being top 10 players.

Highly doubt it. You don't get to be at that level without some serious dedication.

Anyone with that mindset wouldn't stay at that level for long because of how many others are trying get to the top.
 
I think it's a combination but feel work is most important at that level. I've always viewed talent as the highest possible level of performance a person is able to achieve but that the work is still required to get anywhere near it. Of course some people's bar is much higher than others, but still I think what mostly differentiates the very best from their extremely good peers is work and proper "effective" practice. The very best golfers are meticulous in pretty much every facet of their life, let alone the time they appear to put in practicing actual golf.
 
A secondary question - Do you think the players who seem to constantly hover below the top 10 never making it up to the top 10 are players who are satisfied with not making it into the top 10 and are simply satisfied with their earnings without being top 10 players.

I think you underestimate just how good those players from outside the top 10 all the way down into the multi-hundreds really are at this game.
 
Do you think that the PGA players who are in the top 10 most often are more skilled, or are they the ones that simply work harder and put in the extra effort to get there?

I think that they work hard to do what they do but I really think that there just has to be a natural talent at work here i think physically and mentally there has to be a natural ability that boost them up the ladder in certain parts of the game you either have the gift or you don’t and and I don’t think it can be taught. Steve Stricker has the gift with a putter in his hands Others are great drivers of the ball and others incredible with an iron this stuff has to have a natural aspect to it just my 2 cents


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Golf is a mental game.
There are thousands of players who can strike 300 yard tee balls and frozen rope 5-iron shots. It is mental strength/ mental skill which distinguishes successful Tour pros. That is, mental factors including choosing lines of play, smart club selection, ability to be relaxed and tension free when faced when playing green side shots and putting, ability to bounce back from a bad swing and, or, bad score on a hole, consistently perform well when faced with a pressure packed shot or round, keen awareness of what type shots the swing is producing on any given day etc...

Bingo^^^^ this is so true. There are two types of players in professional golf. Those happy to be there, and those who think they belong there. There are so many kids on the Mackenzie, Latin American and Canadian Tours that can win on the PGA Tour you wouldn't believe it. Difference is the ones who make the transition believe in the most inner, deepest part of their heart that they can beat anyone. This is truth.

Tiger beat everyone because he knew he could beat them and they knew he could beat them. Look at Tiger's final round scores throughout his career. He never had to go deep to win, he just waited on everyone else to fade away.

Many guys fail at professional golf 20 years ago for this very reason. Just trying to hang on. The working n your game doesn't occur because youre trying to get better, it becomes an obsessions because your trying to hang on.
The top guys don't work as hard you would think. But man do they work smart.
 
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Talent is there for anyone on the tour. They are unbelievably good. The top 25 have to work at it to stay there. I have seen DJ's workout. Extreme!
 
A player could have played in the 2018 PGA Championship and finished in 31st place and still received a $63,500.00 pay-out, or in 65th place and still received a $20,100.00 pay-out even though 70 other players either tied him or out scored him. Not a bad pay-out for finishing so low on the totem pole.
 
The guys on tour are supremely talented, especially considering only the top 125 get to keep their card and there are about 50 that have had their card for a decade or two straight. That doesn’t leave many spots for newcomers each year. To put it in perspective, there are 1900 Americans in the NFL each year and only about 100 American golfers that get to keep their card each year.


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Do you think that the PGA players who are in the top 10 most often are more skilled, or are they the ones that simply work harder and put in the extra effort to get there?

These two are VERY interrelated. Most of our skills are learned and come from many hours of instruction and practice.

This would make more sense if you were asking about innate characteristics/abilities versus learned skills. Examples of the former would be: a player's height and build, and hand/eye coordination.
 
I think it's always a bit of both, but say 70/30 hard work/skill. Skill if the foundation then hard work and practice take the person to the next level

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A secondary question - Do you think the players who seem to constantly hover below the top 10 never making it up to the top 10 are players who are satisfied with not making it into the top 10 and are simply satisfied with their earnings without being top 10 players.

A lot of the pros think so and have said as much. A few have even admitted this describes them. But this clearly isn't the case for all of them--only some. There are, for example, some who are to be greatly admired for getting way more out of what they were given through hard work and grit.
 
A lot of the pros think so and have said as much. A few have even admitted this describes them. But this clearly isn't the case for all of them--only some. There are, for example, some who are to be greatly admired for getting way more out of what they were given through hard work and grit.

Not much different than other professions such as a business executive at a Fortune 100 C-suite level. In the case of executives at the largest public companies I think many of them are content making let’s say $5 million per year and don’t want the hassles that come with being a CEO making $15 million or more per year. Today’s pro golfers ranked 30th in the world are very wealthy and maybe they get a bit content or soft once they’ve reached a comfortable lifestyle.
 
This topic, or really the topic of extreme success, is covered in the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. Pretty good read whether or not you fully buy in to his overall philosophy.
 
I think the Top 10 have more talent. Let's say 65 skill/35 hard work. But as others have stated, mental talent is key.

As for your secondary question, I think a lot are content doing well and cashing checks. If I were a pro golfer I would fall into that category. I'm pretty content. I'm competitive and ambitious, but not enough to grind and not enjoy life. My wife is the opposite. She wants every promotion, every pay raise.



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Do you think that the PGA players who are in the top 10 most often are more skilled, or are they the ones that simply work harder and put in the extra effort to get there?

I think there is a 3rd component: they are mentally tougher.
 
A lot of the pros think so and have said as much. A few have even admitted this describes them. But this clearly isn't the case for all of them--only some. There are, for example, some who are to be greatly admired for getting way more out of what they were given through hard work and grit.

Thanks for confirming my beliefs
 
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