Your most unpopular Golf opinions?

[Double Mocha Man]

6 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Players who get caught using range balls on the course should be escorted off the property, and banned from the course for a month for the first offense. Keep the range balls on the range. If one can't afford a handful of cheap, used golf balls then maybe pickleball is a better sport for you.

 

 

I would suggest that their punishment should be to have to pick the range once in one of those little golf carts... without any protective screening.  With Argonne and I on the range drilling 3-wood stingers toward them.

[PNWGuy]

9 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Players who get caught using range balls on the course should be escorted off the property, and banned from the course for a month for the first offense. Keep the range balls on the range. If one can't afford a handful of cheap, used golf balls then maybe pickleball is a better sport for you.

 

 

Playing a range ball is punishment enough—you might as well be using a big ball bearing.

[mshills]

7 hours ago, act0fgod said:

Lets say you win charity auction and get to play one time at a nice course, would you consider foursomes?

 

I think it's a cool format for an event or to switch things up at the home club when playing with friends but no way I play it at a course I don't get to play regularly.

Sure. If we are talking a one opportunity bucket list course, I’m down for any format you can name. 

[mshills]

3 hours ago, Greenie said:

 

lol....I remember a range ball incident that happened to a guy in my group some years ago. He had found a range ball on the course we were playing. We come to a par 3 over water and this guy pulls out the range ball he had found a few holes back to use. He pulls his shot so bad that it ends up in the adjacent fairway. One of the guys coming down the other fairway asks him what ball he is playing and he says it was a range ball. This guy goes off on him. It really pissed the guy off that he was using a range ball. I thought it was hilarious this guy was blowing a gasket over a range ball. In all fairness the guy found it in the weeds on a hole no where close to the driving range.

 

I find plenty of balls on the course and pick up most of them. I never pick up a range ball. One reason is I would never play a range ball and another reason is I think of the time that guy went ballistic on that guy in my group. I can't imagine someone stealing range balls and playing them during their round.

Putting a range ball in play is weird, but getting that bent about it is far beyond weird. Life is way too short to get upset about stuff like that. 
 

What is it about this game that makes players worry so much about what someone else is doing?

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, PNWGuy said:

 

Playing a range ball is punishment enough—you might as well be using a big ball bearing.

 

I find range balls in the craziest places. I don't think these players are actually playing them. Sadly, it seems they're simply wacking them around the course. 

 

[Archimedes65]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I find range balls in the craziest places. I don't think these players are actually playing them. Sadly, it seems they're simply wacking them around the course. 

 

 

I’ve found them on the patio outside the restaurant at our clubhouse.  Which is uphill, diagonally, from the driving range…in the opposite direction…

 

I sometimes think that the odd-location range balls likely got there in the hands of some young kids who came out with their parents.

[JimmyC59]

3 hours ago, mshills said:

Putting a range ball in play is weird, but getting that bent about it is far beyond weird. Life is way too short to get upset about stuff like that. 
 

What is it about this game that makes players worry so much about what someone else is doing?

Yeah, who cares what anyone else is playing.

[Scottder1100]

"Take lessons" or "get a club fitting" as advice for people who only just started to golf is actually terrible advice. What they need to do is buy a used set of game improvement irons from Marketplace with a stiff shaft and go to the range and hit 5,000 balls while watching YouTube videos and making swing adjustments to improve. 

 

A fitting is absolutely useless if you don't have some kind of a repeatable and consistent swing, and in lessons you really have to give them a baseline to work with and adjust from, otherwise you're just throwing your money away having them show you very slight adjustments you can make yourself.

 

With that being said I've only been playing for a year and 3 months, I build and reshaft all my own clubs, and I'm down to a 12 handicap because I'm a member at a local Par 3 with Stadium lights so I'm playing all the time and that's basically what I did to get where I'm at.

 

I'll be thinking about a fitting or lessons when I'm sniffing single digit I think. 

Edited December 29, 2024 by Scottder1100

[Archimedes65]

55 minutes ago, Scottder1100 said:

What they need to do is buy a used set of game improvement irons from Marketplace with a stiff shaft and go to the range and hit 5,000 balls while watching YouTube videos and making swing adjustments to improve. 

 

 

…don’t know if serious…

[Bad9]

1 hour ago, Scottder1100 said:

"Take lessons" or "get a club fitting" as advice for people who only just started to golf is actually terrible advice. What they need to do is buy a used set of game improvement irons from Marketplace with a stiff shaft and go to the range and hit 5,000 balls while watching YouTube videos and making swing adjustments to improve. 

 

A fitting is absolutely useless if you don't have some kind of a repeatable and consistent swing, and in lessons you really have to give them a baseline to work with and adjust from, otherwise you're just throwing your money away having them show you very slight adjustments you can make yourself.

 

With that being said I've only been playing for a year and 3 months, I build and reshaft all my own clubs, and I'm down to a 12 handicap because I'm a member at a local Par 3 with Stadium lights so I'm playing all the time and that's basically what I did to get where I'm at.

 

I'll be thinking about a fitting or lessons when I'm sniffing single digit I think. 

 

I don't disagree with the gist of what you're saying but anyone who thinks they are making adjustments to their swing based on watching YT videos (especially new golfers) are deluding themselves. Pros who practice for hours a day often comment about ingraining swing changes takes a year or more for it to become natural. Thinking that one are changing our swing because we THINK we are is just silly on its face. I know a bunch of guys (and dozens on WRX) who say they changed their swing after one range session and in some cases from the last swing they made when in reality it is exactly the same.

[jda]

As a guy who taught countless HS kids (and sometimes their parents are a result), you need to get the ball into the air and make consistent contact somewhere on the face before lessons and certainly fittings will help you much.

 

Taking a video of yourself and then comparing to some videos can be a great help in the beginning.  You should be able to see if your hips are turning, your arms are not bent weirdly and all of that.  Even a beginner should be able to see if their head is staying mostly still.  A video series like Paddy puts out can help anybody with a phone who can video themselves by just comparing the two since he is so good at explaining.

 

Anybody who thinks that macro and micro changes are the same likely has not taught anybody or seen this at work.  You can make macro changes much faster than micro.  Of course, some do not pay attention to the details enough to ever teach themselves anything, but these folks are usually hard for anybody to teach.

 

A video on how to grip a club is sufficient for a beginner.  A video on how to address/stance the driver through the wedges should be enough for nearly anybody who is smart.  There is a lot that you can learn on YouTube about golf basics.

[mshills]

Unpopular: anyone serious about improving should block himself from YouTube. Does far more harm than good.

[Scottder1100]

On 12/29/2024 at 11:14 AM, Archimedes65 said:

 

…don’t know if serious…

Thank you for your valued contribution. Which part are you unsure of so I can explain it to you in more simple terms? 

[DifferentKinda]

On 12/29/2024 at 1:16 PM, mshills said:

Unpopular: anyone serious about improving should block himself from YouTube. Does far more harm than good.

 

no s***. have fallen down that rabbit hole way too many times than i'd like to admit

[Archimedes65]

On 12/31/2024 at 12:05 PM, Scottder1100 said:

Thank you for your valued contribution. Which part are you unsure of so I can explain it to you in more simple terms? 

 

Did you miss the part of your post that I quoted? 🤣

 

Oh, and I wasn’t in need of an explanation.  I know what you said.  I just wasn’t sure if you were being serious or going for comedy.

 

Edited January 2 by Archimedes65

[Golfbit2X]

38 minutes ago, Archimedes65 said:

 

Did you miss the part of your post that I quoted? 🤣

 

Oh, and I wasn’t in need of an explanation.  I know what you said.  I just wasn’t sure if you were being serious of going for comedy.

 

I agree with Archimedes as I think Scottder1100's approach not to take formal lessons isn't really a conventional approach. 

 

On the other hand, there are a few special individuals who have been self-taught including some professionals like Bubba who have had success. 

 

However, I think most people may require formal lessons.

[DifferentKinda]

28 minutes ago, Golfbit2X said:

I agree with Archimedes as I think Scottder1100's approach not to take formal lessons isn't really a conventional approach. 

 

On the other hand, there are a few special individuals who have been self-taught including some professionals like Bubba who have had success. 

 

However, I think most people may require formal lessons.

 

For the most part have been self-taught but that only went so far. Started taking lessons last year (have been on/off golf for a bit due to moving) and it's greatly increased my playing ability. Still lots to work on but would not have made those improvements without a trained professional identifying root causes of some of my problems (vs my self-diagnosis a-la Youtube per a prior comment lol.)

[Archimedes65]

On 12/31/2024 at 1:51 PM, Golfbit2X said:

I agree with Archimedes as I think Scottder1100's approach not to take formal lessons isn't really a conventional approach. 

 

On the other hand, there are a few special individuals who have been self-taught including some professionals like Bubba who have had success. 

 

However, I think most people may require formal lessons.

 

It wasn’t so much that I was saying that lessons are necessarily the way to go for everyone, as it was that I think that just banging 5,000 balls while watching YouTube videos is decidedly NOT the path to becoming a good golfer.  I really wasn’t sure if the poster was serious or was saying that tongue in cheek.

[Mitchell]

Multi-material construction is not necessary in any clubhead in order to play good golf. 

[PedronNiall]

Certain things just need to be banned from having any presence on the golf course:

 

• Broccoli haircuts
• Crypto bros, stock bros, finance bros, property bros, and any other real life memes
• Showing up at the course or hanging out on the range on your phone with iDiks hanging out of your ears talking about the latest IPO or financial certs you're going for like you have a modicum of know how and aren't being spoon fed free money by your parent's friends. You're not rich, you're not successful, you're not discussing anything of importance on the phone, and you're not really there to work on your game as showcased by you topping every "shot" you take while on the phone

[Double Mocha Man]

34 minutes ago, PedronNiall said:

Certain things just need to be banned from having any presence on the golf course:

 

• Broccoli haircuts
• Crypto bros, stock bros, finance bros, property bros, and any other real life memes
• Showing up at the course or hanging out on the range on your phone with iDiks hanging out of your ears talking about the latest IPO or financial certs you're going for like you have a modicum of know how and aren't being spoon fed free money by your parent's friends. You're not rich, you're not successful, you're not discussing anything of importance on the phone, and you're not really there to work on your game as showcased by you topping every "shot" you take while on the phone

 

You should write the screenplay for this...

[Scottder1100]

On 1/2/2025 at 3:53 PM, Archimedes65 said:

 

It wasn’t so much that I was saying that lessons are necessarily the way to go for everyone, as it was that I think that just banging 5,000 balls while watching YouTube videos is decidedly NOT the path to becoming a good golfer.  I really wasn’t sure if the poster was serious or was saying that tongue in cheek.

 

I was absolutely being serious. For the most part, nobody starts off with the ability to swing in any kind of decent way when they first pick up a golf club and they need to just go out and do it to start getting comfortable. If someone starts playing basketball, do they need shot coaching right away, or to go out and try to get comfortable with dribbling and some shooting movements before throwing money away? 

 

If you decide to go get lessons from day one, all you're going to be doing is paying somebody $60 to $100 an hour to tell you to move your arms some more or keep your left arm straight, rotate your shoulders, and strike down on the ball instead of scooping.

 

I started off hitting 200 to 300 balls every range session and figure things out well enough that I was finding the center of the face more often than not pretty quickly. That's only about 18 days of range sessions to get to 5,000. Once a person is able to actually hit the ball with some consistency I would 100% recommend they start getting lessons. Otherwise what could have been a few hundred in range balls is going to be a couple thousand so some guy can watch you hit the hosel every third swing. 

 

My game could 100% drastically improve with lessons right now. But I don't think I've maxed out my own personal improvements befor needing more guidance for fine-tuning so I don't think I'd get great value out of it just yet, but I'm close. 

Edited January 4 by Scottder1100

[DifferentKinda]

5 hours ago, PedronNiall said:

Certain things just need to be banned from having any presence on the golf course:

 

• Broccoli haircuts
• Crypto bros, stock bros, finance bros, property bros, and any other real life memes
• Showing up at the course or hanging out on the range on your phone with iDiks hanging out of your ears talking about the latest IPO or financial certs you're going for like you have a modicum of know how and aren't being spoon fed free money by your parent's friends. You're not rich, you're not successful, you're not discussing anything of importance on the phone, and you're not really there to work on your game as showcased by you topping every "shot" you take while on the phone

I transition to a new firm a couple years ago and before the rest of my team started due to their garden leave, I was playing golf almost every day. One day I’m out on the course and start getting multiple pings from a team member asking about random files - I had forgotten this guy’s garden leave was only 30 days vs the required 90 for the higher ups. Wasn’t talking on the phone but I was doing a bunch of random s*** in Outlook etc. and felt bad for my playing partner…

 

I will still have days like that, when I’m playing what I thought was going to be a slower WFH weekday, but then it blows up. But I’m typically solo walking and since it’s a private club, won’t feel like I’m missing out if I have to cut it short. 
 

Definitely not rich nor successful, but I try to not be a jackass when I’m playing when I should technically be working lol.

[PedronNiall]

16 hours ago, DifferentKinda said:

I transition to a new firm a couple years ago and before the rest of my team started due to their garden leave, I was playing golf almost every day. One day I’m out on the course and start getting multiple pings from a team member asking about random files - I had forgotten this guy’s garden leave was only 30 days vs the required 90 for the higher ups. Wasn’t talking on the phone but I was doing a bunch of random s*** in Outlook etc. and felt bad for my playing partner…

 

I will still have days like that, when I’m playing what I thought was going to be a slower WFH weekday, but then it blows up. But I’m typically solo walking and since it’s a private club, won’t feel like I’m missing out if I have to cut it short. 
 

Definitely not rich nor successful, but I try to not be a jackass when I’m playing when I should technically be working lol.

 

I assure you I'm not pointing the finger at someone like you. That was towards guys who are out there very vocally pretending like everyone else needs to know all the details of the amazing business deals and moves they're "making". It's mostly 20-somethings who for whatever reason need attention despite already having a life where most things have centered around them. 

[DifferentKinda]

2 hours ago, PedronNiall said:

 

I assure you I'm not pointing the finger at someone like you. That was towards guys who are out there very vocally pretending like everyone else needs to know all the details of the amazing business deals and moves they're "making". It's mostly 20-somethings who for whatever reason need attention despite already having a life where most things have centered around them. 

Good thing I also turned 30 last month haha. But I totally get where you were going - saw it more when I was back home playing around the Los Angeles area and thankfully Tampa doesn’t have the same vibe.

[betarhoalphadelta]

On 1/4/2025 at 2:36 PM, Scottder1100 said:

 

I was absolutely being serious. For the most part, nobody starts off with the ability to swing in any kind of decent way when they first pick up a golf club and they need to just go out and do it to start getting comfortable. If someone starts playing basketball, do they need shot coaching right away, or to go out and try to get comfortable with dribbling and some shooting movements before throwing money away? 

 

If you decide to go get lessons from day one, all you're going to be doing is paying somebody $60 to $100 an hour to tell you to move your arms some more or keep your left arm straight, rotate your shoulders, and strike down on the ball instead of scooping.

 

I started off hitting 200 to 300 balls every range session and figure things out well enough that I was finding the center of the face more often than not pretty quickly. That's only about 18 days of range sessions to get to 5,000. Once a person is able to actually hit the ball with some consistency I would 100% recommend they start getting lessons. Otherwise what could have been a few hundred in range balls is going to be a couple thousand so some guy can watch you hit the hosel every third swing. 

 

My game could 100% drastically improve with lessons right now. But I don't think I've maxed out my own personal improvements befor needing more guidance for fine-tuning so I don't think I'd get great value out of it just yet, but I'm close. 

 

Frankly, I couldn't disagree with you harder on this. Figuring out how to hit a golf ball completely on your own is [usually] a recipe for picking up a BUNCH of completely wrong things in your swing and making them ingrained habits that your instructor will have to fix, and will be harder to fix because you've already learned to do it the bad ways. The golf swing is full of a lot of things that feel right and powerful and are actually inefficient and weak. 

 

For a true adult beginner, I'd instead recommend instead of individual lessons, a group clinic aimed at beginner golfers. With that, you will get the level of instruction necessary to start off on the right foot and learn the basics of an efficient swing instead of just trying to go it alone. And because it's a group clinic, the cost of the instructor is shared amongst multiple students so you're not paying true individual rates. 

 

For example, relatively near me is a very nice course that offers adult beginner group lessons, in a 4-week 1 hour per week structure. You may balk at the $299 price as that works out to roughly $75/hr, but the instructors at this course charge $130-$145/hr for individual lessons, so it's a little over half price vs their normal rates. (SoCal is expensive af...)

 

[JimmyC59]

On 1/6/2025 at 11:16 AM, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Frankly, I couldn't disagree with you harder on this. Figuring out how to hit a golf ball completely on your own is [usually] a recipe for picking up a BUNCH of completely wrong things in your swing and making them ingrained habits that your instructor will have to fix, and will be harder to fix because you've already learned to do it the bad ways. The golf swing is full of a lot of things that feel right and powerful and are actually inefficient and weak. 

 

For a true adult beginner, I'd instead recommend instead of individual lessons, a group clinic aimed at beginner golfers. With that, you will get the level of instruction necessary to start off on the right foot and learn the basics of an efficient swing instead of just trying to go it alone. And because it's a group clinic, the cost of the instructor is shared amongst multiple students so you're not paying true individual rates. 

 

For example, relatively near me is a very nice course that offers adult beginner group lessons, in a 4-week 1 hour per week structure. You may balk at the $299 price as that works out to roughly $75/hr, but the instructors at this course charge $130-$145/hr for individual lessons, so it's a little over half price vs their normal rates. (SoCal is expensive af...)

 

I agree completely. Most beginning golfers have terrible grips, getting that right at the start makes a huge difference. In my opinion, changing a grip you're used to is one if the most difficult changes you can make.

Edited January 9 by JimmyC59

[jda]

Have any of you ever taught or instructed?  You have to have something somewhat static to change or fix - a foundation.  Having helped countless HS and some college kids (and as a result, their parents), we let them have at it until they can get the ball in the air and make contact somewhere on the face.  Then, you can instruct and change things.  Anybody who is worried that they have made some sort of life-long error in their swing that is not correctable in this short time, is just beyond wrong.  Comparing a pro who is dialing in a .0001% change after decades of honing is also wrong.

 

3 minutes to show how to hold the club and where to address the ball from driver down to wedge is enough until they can get the ball in the air and find the face - pamphlet, online video or in person can do this quickly and accurately for nearly everybody.

 

Some of you are talking like these people have a foundation to start from.  Most of these people are never going to use their hips right, keep their front shoulder in the right spot, etc. and there is no need to nearly ever talk to any of them about it.  This is true of most of the people on WRX.

 

If you want your golf life to change forever, go and volunteer coach at the local high school - many of them are lacking in coaches and need help.  Everything that you ever thought about the game can be turned on it's head.  You likely will have to pass a background check... so this is not for all WRX'ers, of course (kidding.)

[Bad9]

I'm always amazed that so many self described "good' and/or low index players can't figure out how to hit a game improvement iron. Not that they have to if they could just that they can't figure out how to. especially since so many refer to being able to work the ball on command.

Edited January 6 by Bad9

[Old Tom Morris]

1 hour ago, Bad9 said:

I'm always amazed that so many self described "good' and/or low index players can't figure out how to hit a game improvement iron. Not that they have to if they could just that they can't figure out how to. especially since so many refer to being able to work the ball on command.

Better players generally don't want the high launch low spin iron shots that game improvement irons provide.  Low spin=lack of distance control.