Just how important is natural ability when learning to play golf?
I ponder this quite often, because frankly, I know myself, and I know I do not have a lot of natural ability for the game I love so much. I just don't.
Yes, it's hard to admit, especially because I'm constantly being told, "you're so athletic - you should be really good at golf" but athleticism and golf ability do not necessarily go hand in hand.
This is my third season and I'm hoping to break 100. I think that's pretty normal. But I have a couple of friends who've been playing just over a year and already break 100 routinely. They practice and play about half as much as I do. And rarely, if ever, take lessons. So what's that all about?
I think it's about a certain natural aptitude...or lack thereof. They have it - and I don't. So, naturally I
Now, what does this natural ability consist of ? They say golf requires flexibility. I've got that. So much so that If I weren't a marketing executive I'd probably be employed by Cirque du Soliel as a contortionist. Seriously. Flexibility isn't my problem.
Neither is balance. I was a gymnast in school, and the balance beam was my event. Strength and endurance? I run 5Ks and 1/2 marathons, and work out on my Bowflex every other day. Yes, I'm in excellent physical shape. So it's not that at all. It's something much more subtle.
I think it has to do with a combination of inborn senses; like spatial perception and positional sense. These senses allow one accurately and intuitively judge speed and distance, and to feel how hard to hit the ball and know what direction to aim it in. And you see, I'm lacking in those areas, that's why it's so hard for me to parallel park (I don't - ever) ...and why when I toss a crumpled paper towards the trash bin it's likely to end up on the other side of the room. That's just me. And other things like focus, imitativeness and muscle memory...not my fortés either, though I do try to work on them. And my
I guess what I'm saying is that, with golf, not everyone's created equal, and I'm living that clearly this summer. Not that I'm not enjoying every single round... I am. In fact Nick will always insist that that's way I'm not improving faster, because I'm not agonizing over it enough, but I don't buy that. I am having fun, but I'm also applying myself on the course, at the range and on the putting green. I'm just a little...slower...than some others. So be it.
I would love to hear what other golfers of all levels think on this. How important is natural aptitude in golf?
A lot of your observations about YOU may be correct. Still, there's a pattern I've seen in beginning female golfers. An ex-girlfriend started the game with me. She'd never played before and was average I'd say in athleticism. She experienced much of what you describe. By the end of the 1st year I had her in the 90s. She may be a scratch player now! Who knows?
ReplyDeleteA couple of thoughts I've developed about female beginners....
Their swing is too long and loose. I try to get them to play the entire game with 1/2 swing back and 1/2 swing through. Trust me, what you think is 1/2 is really 3/4 in practice. They make much better contact with the ball and gain distance with a shorter swing. Next is excessive movement. Women are more loose then men. They need to steady their bodies, especially lower, throughout the swing. Pretend you're in cement from the waist down. Don't worry, you'll move regardless. You'll "return" to the ball on the downswing more consistently. Changes feel weird to begin with, so don't expect too much too soon.
Also, the one thing you can do as well as Tiger Woods is set up, grip, and posture. Worry more about aiming when you're consistently hitting better shots. You know, the crisp ones! When it feels effortless and the ball jumps off the club. You know 'em when you hit 'em.
Good Luck!
Here's another theory for you to mull over.
ReplyDeleteBoys, for the most part, grow up playing games with balls, so we learn hand eye coordination and depth perception of moving objects at an earlier age than most girls. Boys who grow up playing stick and ball games like baseball or tennis learn the feel of swinging a club/bat/racket as children, so it feel much more natural as we grow up. (I can still pick up a tennis racket and play without too much effort - or play softball and not strike out)
I'm not saying that boys (or girls) who grow up playing baseball or tennis will automatically be good golfers - but I think there is a natural advantage in knowing what it feels like to swing a stick and hit a ball with some reasonable amount of power and/or accuracy.
The worst tennis students I had were usually guys who played basketball and sometimes football because they didn't play a game with a stick. They were terrific athletes, but the coordination was very different.
As we get older, learning these skills is much harder, and sometimes never really gets mastered.
You were a gymnast growing up - you learned incredibly complex body movements combined with balance and spacial relation - but not depth perception or the feel of swinging a stick.
Now, at the age of, what are you now ? 24 ? :-) - you are trying to learn a completely new skill after your body and nervous system have "settled in" to the skills you learned as a kid. No small task - but not impossible - it just takes a lot more work and discipline.
When I picked up clubs for the first time, I stopped counting strokes at 110...through 15 holes. But a month later I broke 100 and just a few months after that I broke 90. That was all on "natural ability" - more like the skill I had developed as a kid playing baseball. Since then, I have struggled to break 80 regularly because I don't practice like I need to in order to get better.
You're learning how to be a GOLFER after a few years of being a gymnast/girl with golf clubs -- I've been trying to be a GOLFER after years of being a baseball/tennis player/boy with golf clubs. I swing like a mad man sometimes - and (I'm guessing) you swing with a loose, flippy swing like most women who don't know how to control the club (yet).
I'm not real fond of those USGA "I swing like a girl" commercials. All the girls they show in that commercial don't "swing like a girl" - they swing like a golfer. I understand the sentiment - but it sure makes an over-simplification of the game.
Isn't golf great ?
IMO, Natural Aptitude is a huge factor in golf. All you have to do is watch Tiger to see that he's just got a natural feel for the positions and the way he needs to hit the ball. Yes, he's practiced relentlessly since he was two but it goes beyond that to some kind of golf-perfect chemistry. It's natural aptitude.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I like though, is your attitude you seem to be dedicated to getting better at golf but committed to enjoying it. The two shouldn't have to be mutually exclusive.
i started at age 40 and struggled for the first few years - i didn't take lessons and ingrained a few bad habits - mainly a very steep outside to in swing which caused a slice. probably a reasult of years of baseball, batting w/ an open stance and hitting to right centerfield.
ReplyDeleteat the end of last season i changed my swing to a single plane swing - ala tommy armour, matt kucher to name a few pro's who have adopted this swing.
the best single swing system i have found is natural golf (search on moe norman to discover its origins). go to naturalgolf.com and check out their web site - they have a great instructional video series that is simple to learn and very intutitive for anyone with athletic ability.
the swing conforms to a lot of the advice that bobbio gave in his post. the main things that this method helped me is as follows:
-a simple grip
- a simple set up
-how to consistantly square the club face - i am now an extremely straight hitter
-tighter swing
-much less movement
-my swing is very repeatable
-i can quickly make adjustments when old habits creep back in at the course.
-no more lower back pain after playing - the single plane swing involves much less twisting.
as bobbio said, any changes you make will take time before you see improvement. what helped me most w/ natural golf is the "drills" dvd that comes with the package - it's 10 drills that reinforce the swing methodology and principles of the single plane swing. I use the 10 drills as my warm up on the driving range before i go out to play. this consistancy has helped me tremendously.
results: i have a usga handicap. i was stuck between 19 and 21 for years and couldn't seem to break 90. i dedicated myself to this methodology at the end of last season, worked on the fundementals all winter at home and driving range and this season. I struggled in the beginning of this season posting scores in the same range as always - 90's - but i was hitting much straighter, esp w? lower lofted clubs. in may my scores began to drop - i'm now consistantly shooting sub 90's and have shot under 85 several times - my handicap is trending down - i'm now a usga 16 and trending downward and my expectation is now to shoot under 85. a very big improvement in my mental attitude towards my game. i have a long way to go but i now have a very strong expectation that i can get my game into the low 80's very soon. i recently shot a 37 on the front nine at my course, of course that was followed by a 47 on the back but boy did it feel great- and my partners are looking at me very strangely - they don't understand what happened - they can't understand why i'm not slicing like i used to- i just laugh at them. only one of these guys has noticed the changes in my swing, grip and set up. he keeps saying, your doing things very different - who are you taking lessons from? i just tell him my new swing "came out of the dirt", like hogan's. he loves that line...
note: natural golf is a marketing machine. they will try to sell you their clubs, grips and other stuff - but none of this is necessary - just the dvd package. understanding and practicing their methodology is the key improving your game. the rest of their stuff is just hype.
I've been playing for 13 years now. About 4 years ago I finally decided to start taking some lessons. I've gotten down to a 14 handicap, and I seem to be stuck hovering there while certain friends around me keep lowering their handicaps.
ReplyDeleteSome of them play more frequently than I do, sure. But I think some of them just have a natural knack for it.
To take the opposite side of the spectrum, my father-in-law has been playing for 40 years, and I think he told me once that he's never broken 90. I tried to get him to take some lessons, but he resisted saying "you can't fix 40 years of bad habits, and this old body just physically can't do some of the things it would need to do to get better".
Something Bobbio and Anon said got me laughing and thinking about my brother. He is one of the best tennis pros in south Florida, and is annoyingly left handed. (lefties pull shots out of their hind quarters that we righties just can't make)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, when he gets time to play more than once a month, he pulls out a golf book or goes to a pro for a tip or two - and almost immediately he's shooting in the 70's. When his scores go back up, he gets another tip and his scores go back down. They don't last more than a few weeks at a time - but I keep telling him that if he'd practice and keep 52 golf books in the house (one for each week) he'd be on the PGA Tour in no time.
Oh - e is right about "Natural Golf" being a big marketing company. However, there is one thing that they recommend that is helpful to the swing they teach - oversized grips. Moe Norman's swing takes the wrists out of the swing, and oversized grips do help in limiting wrist release. Luckily, you don't have to go to Natural Golf people to get big grips.
I beleive genetics play a large role in your athletic potential but not your ability. Ability comes from practice- years of it. And I'm not just saying golf. Baseball, hockey, tennis and golf are all hand-eye coordinated sports. It sounds like you have great potential but are just "behind the curve" in your experience.
ReplyDeleteI think natural ability plays a large role in golf from the tee box. As a young girl I grew up playing the game. I have always been complimented on having such a solid swing and my ability to play a long ball.
ReplyDeleteI think proper swing technique was ingrained in me as a young girl and is second nature.
That being said, I play only once a month or so and can hold my own on the golf course. Where I lack is consistency with my putting and short game...something that I believe any age golfer can master with practice.
I am thirty seven years old and in my ladies league, the older women stand their ground on the course by their abiltiy to play consistently straight and they have a great short game. You rarely see these type of golfers in hazzard trouble and then it save them strokes in the end.
The most important natural assets for excelling at golf are good hand/eye coordination and timing. Athleticism, flexibility, and strength can help you get a few extra yards out of a good swing, but hitting it straight and not giving away strokes on and around the green is mostly technique, feel, and hand/eye.
ReplyDeleteBeating thousands of balls at the practice range without making sure you're practicing the right way is VERY counterproductive. You could simply be ingraining some very bad habits that will just take longer to undo. You seemed to indicate that you DO take lessons, but didn't mention how often. I'll take several lessons a year, with about a month or two between lessons to give me time to really work on ingraining whatever new technique I've learned.
Finally, prioritize what aspects of your game you'd like to work on. My plan of attack for game improvement is to first figure out what outcomes are causing me the most frustration on the course. I'm such a mental-case on the course that frustration at certain aspects of my game leads to mental meltdown that affect my focus on executing and course management. For me most recently, it was hitting the ball fat/thin and a tendency to shank that drove me bonkers. That gave my pro a guide on what to look for and correct. As that problem has improved, I've started looking at my game more statistically -- where am I giving away most of my strokes? off the tee? around the greens?
Anwyay, find a good golf pro, and take lessons somewhat regularly to make sure your practice is productive as it can be. Dropping a few hundred dollars a year on lessons is money well spent when I consider how much more enjoyment I get out of my $50-$150 golf rounds.
Patrici, I can relate very well to what you're saying. I started playing four years ago with three friends of mine none of us had ever played before and we started with a series of group lessons. It was very clear from the beginning that one of our group, my friend Ellen, had a talent (aptitude, ability) that the rest of us didn't have. From the start she was able to hit solidly and the golf swing seemed natural for her where it was totally unnatural for the rest of us. We're all still playing. And Ellen is still playing on a different level from us. She's hitting ing the 80s regularly whereas I just broke 100 for the first time a few months ago the other two girls are still not quite there. So I think what you say is spot-on. You're normal...and there ARE some people out there with exceptional ability. Oh - Ellen practices much less often then we do (bee-otch). :-)
ReplyDeleteMy guess would be hand/eye coordination. The Gent tells me that I am a "natural" and I don't think he's just saying that to get into my golf shorts; he can already have that for free. Heh. However, having said all of that, we shall see how much natural ability I have when I get on a real course.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a USGA study only one tenth of one percent of all male golfers shoot par golf consistently. Only two-and-one-half percent are below a five handicap. Why do so few golfers produce good results? The reason is clear, it's because the golf swing is impossibly hard!
ReplyDeleteIt's very reasonable that most recreational golfers are frustrated by the game. The traditional golf swing demands an extremely complex, unnatural swing action that can never be mastered. The body, arms, hands, club head and club face must be rotated on multiple planes in both the backswing and the downswing. These completely unnatural and complex rotary movements make it extremely difficult to square the club face consistently at impact, even for a golfer of the highest proficiency.
The margin for error in the golf swing is minuscule. A golfer is only allowed about two degrees of club face error when hitting a golf ball to keep it in the fairway. Not to hit it where it is exactly intended to go, but just to keep the ball somewhere in the fairway.
Unless a golfer is genetically blessed with world class tempo and timing and has at least 5 hours a day to practice, they can never hope to join the golfing elite who regularly play at par or better. For the vast majority of golfers who are not so blessed at birth, a frustrating fate awaits.
I started playing the game of golf because I was told I have a natural ability to swing the club. The first time I ever hit with a drive, the ball flew straight down the fairway 150 yards. I definitely agree that there are people that have a natural talent and then those that work at it. I am by no means a Tiger Woods but I practice and play very little and have broken 100 twice.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do have games where I can't do anything right. Those are the days I am convinced that athletic ability has very little to do with how good of a golfer you are. It is just as much a mental game as a physical game and as soon as my head is not in the game I suffer.
It is a very frustrating sport but one that I have grown very passionate about over the past year. I love playing and would spend every day on the golf course if time allowed me to!
I also will comment on what "bobbio" mentioned about the half swing. I was struggling a few months back and a Pro told me to start taking what I perceive as 1/2 swings when hitting the ball. Sure enough...my balls went straighter and further than ever. Now whenever I am on the course, I constantly repeat..."Take a 1/2 swing" before each shot. It helps me from making errant tee shots or poor iron shots. I've become much more consistent!
Hmm one could go on and on about this and that. Yes, there is a natural aptitude for golf, some have it some do not. That is purely simple to see, just go down to your local driving range and see some of the swings out there. That would be the obvious. Now there are also those that can perfect themselves and create the natural aptitude (which was not natural to begin with) but with a lot of dedication is possible. Then there are those who just want to be able to hit the ball a fair distance, and proportionately straight. Kudos to them, enjoy and have fun. This is of course why you play golf....to have fun, correct? You will find your groove...at that is how you play. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteGolf is a game you can play the rest of your life. So why worry about getting good now? Enjoy your progress as the years go on! If you reach your potential already, you won't have many milestones to look forward to.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy breaking 100 for the first time, then a few weeks later for the second time. Enjoy birdying your first par-4 or par-5 hole. Savor the moment you win your first tournament trophy - even if it's third low net in the fourth flight! The worse you are when you start playing, the more of these fun moments you get to have!
This is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your tips and opinions and encouragement. I'll be using your suggestions to try to get past my "slight shortcomings".
I'm a 3 handicap and probably only play about 15 rounds per year... and I would say I'm able to maintain that consistently largely for two reasons:
ReplyDelete1. Natural ability.
2. I played a TON of golf in high school (in tournaments, etc.) so the swing muscle memory is deeply ingrained.
However, I think there's a huge distinction between ball striking and scoring. Natural ability plays a larger role in ball striking than it does with your short game, which I think is more dependent on practice and has more of an effect on your score/handicap. Feel is overrated. Most players simply do not practice their putting and especially chipping as much as they should when compared to how much time they spend on the range.
Jay
ReplyDeleteI think you are full of shit. I don't believe you are a 3 if you only play 15 times per year. Do you know how to count strokes? Do you realize mulligan's count?
I love guys like you. You remember what you did in High School (when you probably cheated even more than you do now) and apply the lie to today.
A 3 playing only 15 times per year? ha! You must have had a reality bypass years ago.
I think golfers who have good eye hand coordination and music training advancing in golf skills faster. There are no natural golfers. The golf swing is the most unnatural motion the human body can make and it is only with the right mechanics or set-up made of the rest of the body before the swing can be accomplished with any accuracy. Once the set-up is made then it all because timing and eye hand coordination. That is some of the basics golf schools drill into beginners over three or four full boot camp type days.
ReplyDeletedear mr biz golf
ReplyDeleteyou continue to amaze me. do you play cello or flute?
Wow... my handicap was challenged on a blog comment by someone who's anonymous. How ridiculous... it's not that absurd to only play 15 times per year and hold a 3 or 4 handicap (that's still a LONG way from scratch). Say you take off November through February, which I tend to do, that means I golf 8 months of the year, and play approximately every 2 weeks and hit range balls a few times between rounds. Not that hard to believe you douche bag. Man, people can be such assholes on the net...
ReplyDelete