Learned or taught...

On the back of the GPS debate and how do you judge a shot...

Have we, the golf consumer, fallen victim to the biggest load of marketing hype or are we standing on the edge of greatness? Is golf so complicated that we need custom fitting and micro-managing to reach handicaps we never thought achieveable?

I started playing with two other school friends in the late 60's, and got out on the course proper in 1971. We each had a mixed bag of clubs. We didn't have lessons, and in fact didn't even look at a golf book for a few years. All 3 of us were off single figures before we left school, without any teaching at all. But we had learned loads through experince and experiment.

Just a quick aside, an example if you wish, to show what we would get up to when we were bored. Back at the club during a break from uni we'd played 36 holes and were back at the lake near the clubhouse. "Let's have a go at bouncing the ball across the lake." Now bearing in mind we would experiment on the practice ground when we were bored after 3 rounds in a day, this sort of 'fun' was the norm. And so we practiced "dambusters" across the lake as though hitting a low stinger was just another shot... but I digress.

Fast forward to a few years back and after not seeing each other for donkey's years we caught up with each other and had a game or several. So 3 guys who'd first swung a club before they were in their teens set off to do battle. 3 guys, who have had 6 lessons between them in 40 years of golf, went out on a course that only one of them had played before and shot scores in the mid 70's(gross scores).

At the time of that reunion match we each had off the shelf clubs and no GPS, and getting close to 50yrs old. Typically of any golfers we discussed our games, our clubs and the state of golf in general. We got around to talking about how we used to learn to hit the ball a particular way, whether it was a high draw or a low stinger, and how we actually learned to play.

And so the comclusion to our discussion; a bottle of malt whisky and a taxi to the hotel. But before that we really put the world to rights. We decried the taught golfer as opposed to those that learned through feel and experience. We decried the planned obsolecence that manufacturers bring out year on year to dupe us into buying the next new shiney thing. We decried yardage markers, course planners and GPS devices that de-skills the modern golfer. We decried USGA stadium courses that only test a few aspects of the game. And by the time we'd finished the bottle we decried the Govt of the day.

Progress is what we have today but I do question how much is actually progress and how much is marketing hype.

What a beautiful post, Brian. I was in dreamland reading that. I could relate to everything you said.

Brian, I picked up a club cak handed at and only changed to the 'correct' way at 15. I never had a lesson and got down to 6. I often wondered what if I had have done but I always concluded that I'd go back to my 'natural' swing again.

Patrick, one of the guys I used to play with got down to scratch playing cak handed, and another down to 9. It may not look pretty but as with many (quirky) pro's, if it works go with it.

There was an Irishman member of Wansted gold club who played off scratch and represented Essex. He too was a Cack hander, but a beauttiful striker.

Patrick, What did it feel like to play orthodox for the first time? If  I hold a club correctly I honestly think I would not break 150 if i played a round like it. I think I am a bit long in the tooth to start from scratch, When I am playing well I am very happy and I dont think I would enjoy the year or so transition period.

Dave CAC handed Geordie.