Do you really have to play golf as a kid to be really good?

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Jared Willerson

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I ask this question because of all the stuff you read about how after 3 years you really don't get any better and about how golf is a game you have to learn as a kid to be really good at and by really good, I mean a + handicap, breaking par in local and state tournaments

Is it possible or just luck that someone who takes up the game in their 20's progresses to that level?
 
GL,

Larry Nelson comes to mind??

Although, I grew up taking lessons and eventually working for George Knudson. I've played the game since the age of seven or eight. I remember asking George why one of his most dedicated and hardest working students wasn't getting much better than a 7 or 8 handicap (This guy hit a ton of balls). George replied, "watch him walk to his car....not to graceful is it."

He believed that people had inate rythm and talents and some people had a ceiling. Some ceilings were higher than others.

I teach a lot of adults and some highly skilled kids. Most kids develope lag without having it taught to them. That's a serious bonus as most teachers don't have a clue how to teach lag. BM's exceptional.

Adults have the strength to get results (albeit poor ones) without lag and can break 100, 90 and 80 with a leaky, weak swing.

So to answer your question.....most adults don't get out of thier way enough, don't have the right coach and NO, will never break par in a serious stroke play event.
 

Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
I believe Greg Norman started playing golf in his early or mid teens and became #1 in the world.

So my answer is no. It's about talent and your work ethic.
 
One more thing...

I do have an amazing woman at my club that took up golf at 52 and is now a 6 handicap (I think she's around 60 now). I think that is as good as it will get for her. She can't seem to let the club "lag" effectively into the pitch position. She has a "closed mind" for this level of discussion or instruction.

Glass ceiling - 6 handicap.....
 
Greg Norman's mom was a Provincial Champion....that's pretty good osmosis...he may not have been playing, but that's pretty good imprinting on the old coconut.
 
Our ladies club champion (16 years running!) is in her 50s. She took up the game when she was in her 20s or 30s I believe. She also won our state's women's senior amateur last year.
 
Calvin Peete took up the game when he was 23. I would say that it's much easier to do play to a high level when you start out as a kid, but it isn't a requirement. I think that what cmartingolf said was on point, in regards to kids developing lag, and adults being strong enough to get away with swinging the club without it.
 

Leek

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I ask this question because of all the stuff you read about how after 3 years you really don't get any better and about how golf is a game you have to learn as a kid to be really good at and by really good, I mean a + handicap, breaking par in local and state tournaments

Is it possible or just luck that someone who takes up the game in their 20's progresses to that level?

I think the earlier you start, the better off you are. My friend started at 40 and at 45 he's a 2 hdcp. He'll never get better than that and he works his butt off. On the other hand, how many recreational players ever get to a 2?
 

Jared Willerson

Super Moderator
Good points.

I wonder what the best way for adults to learn to play. Most instructors learned as a kid, so I really don't know if they can relate sometimes.

BM is the exception, he played as a kid, but he seems to know what holds me back and how to get me there. I feel if I had access to him on a monthly basis, instead of yearly, I would be a lot closer to my goals.
 
I started in my late teens and don't think it affected me at all...what affects me the most of finding the time to practice..I think it may have some to do with your athletic ability.... I think a decent amount of pro athletes are pretty good at golf and had a late start...
 
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rwh

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I wonder what the best way for adults to learn to play. Most instructors learned as a kid, so I really don't know if they can relate sometimes.

Most of the really good junior players that I know received solid instruction on the fundamentals and then spent literally all summer practicing and playing golf with their friends. Year after year. The advantage of playing with, competing against and being challenged by your golfing "pack" day after day is very underestimated.

It's the same formula for touring professionals - they receive solid instruction and spend all year practicing, playing with and competing against others.

Most players who take up the game as an adult simply don't have the time, resources or inclination to devote their waking hours to nothing more than golf. Unfortunately, many of them also get their "instruction" from the 20 handicapper at work.

By the way, I don't believe that you've reached your peak after three years. After 20 years in the game, I was playing three times a week to a 15 handicap. After working with several TGM instructors, including Brian Manzella, I am down to 5.
 

Brian Manzella

Administrator
;)

Thanks Bob.

Anyhoo, if we are talking playing the PGA TOUR, then, obviously playing a lot in your yourth is a big advantage.But, getting to around scratch, no problem until OLD age gets you.

Don Villavaso was improving well into his late 50's, and early 60's!!!

There is NO SUBSITUTE for hours on the course (court, field, rink) when you are little. Esp. playing in competitions.

Here are some estimates from my youth:

Time spent playing football by age 17 (The year I graduated from high school): 6000 hours • Official games played in competition: 200

Time spent playing golf by age 17: 2000 hours • Official games played in competition: 50

Plus, I never had a lick of good instruction in golf until I was 25!

No way to make up that ground. The things you can learn when you are in the "learning mode" of youth in the HEAT OF BATTLE are very hard to replace.

But, hitting a ball and shooting a score—in other words G O L F, is learnable at almost any age.

"Golf and Tournament Golf are as different as horseshoes and hang granades." —Ben Hogan

(I'm talking TOUR, not local scratch events) ;)
 
I thought it was quite interesting today at the U.S. Amateur. The winner, Colt Nost, didn't start playing golf until he was 16. I think he is 22 now.

That's proof that if you have some talent and are willing to put in the time and effort, you can be a very good golfer.

At least I HOPE so. LOL!!!

See ya in September Brian.
 
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Lots of room for improvement most of the time.

I always think of all the good players out there who are flippers and don't even know it.
 
Interesting thread. I actually got down to a 5.74 official handicap. In trying to get better, I started messing with my swing and have actually gone the wrong way in the last year. Now I'm playing to around an 8-9.

I started playing when I was 28 and now I'm 37. I would like to get to scratch, but need two things. One, I need to quit thinking, analyzing and get a swing I can trust. Two, i need to learn to get up and down, short game is huge to really improve.
 
Why can't adults get out of their own way enough and trust? What holds us back mentally?


Because we try to figure everything out intellectually. Kids just go out and play. I think that adults who get well quickly probably do the same thing. Using myself as an example, I've been the classic magazine/internet/golf channel junkie since I started. I've always tried to figure it out from an intellectual standpoint. But I know players, who started only a few years earlier than me, who are single digit. Now, I know more about the swing and swing theory then both of them combined. But you know what my main goal is when I play with them? Keeping the scoring differential under 30 strokes. Just like kids, they just play; they know what feels produce good shots for them, and they stay with it. They don't tinker, even though both of them think that their swings are ugly. They wish they had prettier, more classic swings, but with a club in their hands, they go with what works, and are satisfied with it. Most adults are looking and listening for something else. Kids (and adults like the guys I mentioned) just get the ball in the hole.
 

Jared Willerson

Super Moderator
I am 31, and started playing in 1997, and I am really good.;)

Cool. I am 32 been playing since '01. 4.8 handicap, have broken 80 in tournaments a bunch, nearly every time I tee it up, but never broke par in a tournament and broke par for the 1st time this year.

How did you get to the "really good" level?

Bigwill, I know totally where you are coming from. How can we just learn to be satisfied with our swings and "get it in the hole", but still satisfy our natural curiosities?
 
I started golf when I was 14 and was terrible - can remember shooting 140 for 18 hole. By the time I was 19, I could shoot in the low 80s.

When I turned pro and 23, I was at best a 5 hdcp - 75 was a good score for me.

When I was 48 and 49, I was the MAPGA Section Player of the year (and playing my best golf of my career).

Qualified for exempt status on the Champions (Senior) Tour in 1993 and 1998.

Currently retired from competition and carry a +2 hdcp.

No junior program when I started and I "tried to learn it by myself" - Hogan's 5 Fund. Developed the flattest, tightest swing - no freedom - misinterperted a lot of the book.

Fortunate to work for several head pros who were good players who helped me along. I like Big Will always devouring all availble info.

Spent 3 hrs with Brian in mid June this year. Probably swinging better than ever and hitting a lot of quality shots. Now if only the putter will come around.

Bruce
 
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