The place of feel

[revkev]

About six years ago I started a thread on another site about feel being over rated.  It went viral and at times got very nasty.  It also enabled me to have a lengthy chat with a pro at the Dave Pelz academy.  Honestly I really should  have started the thread with feel is deceptive since my concern was that at times we feel as if we are doing something very right in our golf swing when all the while it is very wrong.

 

Certainly there is a place for "feel" in one's golf game although I also understand now that feel is as much a function of the sense of hearing as touch.

 

In fact from the Pelz people I think there is a distinction between "feel" the feedback that we get after the shot and touch - the combination of senses that we use to determine how to swing, how hard to hit a putt, chip what have you. 

 

So for me feel is significant for feedback through the green, where did the ball strike the club face, did my left side clear, etc.  I really don't care whether the ball that I hit is soft or hard although I seem to prefer firm because it affords more usable feedback for my taste.

 

How about you?  What part does feel play for you?  Please don't confuse it with touch - that's a topic for another thread.

[PlaidJacket]

Feel is most important to my game. After any decent round where I scored well I can usually think back on the majority of my shots and recall how good they felt. Solid. Crisp. Normally a good feeling shot is, well -  a good shot. Oh sure we've all hit a pulled hook that felt great. But that was a poor swing. From the moment my club strikes the ball I know where it's going. I can tell you almost exactly where on the face it was struck too. I feel it from the head right up into my hands. So yes, feel is most important. If you don't think feel is important then go out and play one day wearing a pair of winter gloves. You may hit the ball ok but you'll know right away something is missing. It's feel. I need to say too that I believe feel (feedback) is the result of a good swing resulting from good tempo and timing.

[revkev]

Does the feedback help you correct errors?

 

For me that's the most important aspect of feel particularly in the short game. The SLDR surpresses feel to the point that I can't tell the difference between a good shot or bad shot sometimes until I reach the ball. High on the club face hits feel terrible but they go for me particularly down wind.

[PlaidJacket]

Yep. Feedback (feel) is kinda everything in a way. Could you imagine playing a round and never really knowing how you struck your shots other than watching the ball flight? Feel confirms to me that I struck a shot well. Or didn't. And... with feel I know where it was struck. That helps me make adjustments and work on the swing mechanics later on. You?

[RoverRick]

How about you?  What part does feel play for you?  Please don't confuse it with touch - that's a topic for another thread.

 

There is more than one type of feel. Sure there is how the ball feels when it compresses off the face or how the iron feels when it slices through the turf.

 

But there is the feel of how hard you need to hit the ball based on practice swings, past experience and hand to eye coordination.

 

There is also how you feel about a particular shot or club. You hate bunker shots, well, you probably won't like them any more after you hit the next one with that attitude. You can't hit a driver, once again, this feeling will not get better after the next one.

 

Also, if you look at a particular club, a blade iron, or cavity back and it instills confidence then you will probably hit a good shot.

 

There is the feeling that the putterhead is aimed properly and how hard I need to hit the putt or the chip to get in into the hole.

 

And also, there is how you feel about life in general that determines how well you will play.

 

This is one I can really identify with. I have been unhappy with life, well, not on suicide watch unhappy, but not please with the way some stuff has been going. It began to trickle into my golf game and as it got worse, so did my game. This has been going on for the past 18 months or so. A couple of weeks ago, I shot a 96 and a couple of good friends said they could not believe how bad I had gotten. I was usually able to get it together for a couple of holes and ended up at least covering my losses. But I would bet that I made other feel like not being around me. So I was determined to not let that happen anymore.

 

The last couple of weeks, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I have felt better about things and played better. Wednesday, I played 36 holes and shot 71 and 73. (Yes, I am now reading Zen Golf and am a believer but I proved this before I started reading it yesterday.) I am hoping that the weather permits this weekend because I FEEL like I am going to make pretty good money.

 

So, "feel" in my opinion is one of the most important parts of the game.

 

As an aside, 8 or 10 years ago, I had been in the bar far too long to drive home, so I decided to go play 9 more holes, and empty my mind, and play by feel only. It was astonishing. At the time, I could break 100 on a good day, on this day, I bogied the second to last hole and the rest were pars. And there were probably 10 things wrong with my swing at the time.

[silver & black]

 

And also, there is how you feel about life in general that determines how well you will play.

 

This is one I can really identify with. I have been unhappy with life, well, not on suicide watch unhappy, but not please with the way some stuff has been going. It began to trickle into my golf game and as it got worse, so did my game

 

I completely understand and sympathize with this. Like you, I'm starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel and my life has gotten a bit better. I'm just hoping/praying that light isn't another train. 

[sp0rtsfan86]

There's two types of feel.

 

Feel as in swing. I don't prefer to use the Pelz system of half 3/4 and full swings for different distances. I like playing by feel. I don't even use a rangefinder inside 85 yards, because I generally grab a 60 wedge and open and close the face plus take the club back on feel. The same for shots with irons. Do I want to hit a full wedge or a 3/4 knockdown 9 iron? Feel is key on a lot of my shots. That doesn't count the putter where it's totally feel, from line to speed.

 

Then there's feel on the shot impact. did I catch it right. Felt off the toe... etc. Today I didn't have a great shot impact on most hits. Even two of the wedges I hit perfectly I thought I didn't hit right. That part is overrated. I've hit good feeling shots that went 40 yards right and shots that haven't felt great that were exactly what I wanted. There is a point it's useful but tends to be like you said overrated. 

[Blade]

He differentiated between the "feel" of the feedback you get from the shot and the "touch" it takes to execute shots that are less than full in his first post. "Touch" is a better way to describe it I think.

[revkev]

He differentiated between the "feel" of the feedback you get from the shot and the "touch" it takes to execute shots that are less than full in his first post. "Touch" is a better way to describe it I think.

Agreed, also in light of RRs reply I'd like to eliminate the emotional function of feelings. They are a factor but it's not what I had in mind. It seems to me that at one time players either considered themselves to be mechanical or feel players. If Imoearned anything from that discussion of a numbers of years back its that feel has to be carefully defined and that many people use it in a catch all way.

[TheDIYGolfer]

It's definitely not surprising that a post like that went viral!  It's a matter of how we describe certain words. 

 

On one hand, you've got the golfer who describes feel in an abstract way: "I feel the sensation of happiness when I strike the ball pure, and I feel the a sense of harmony and the body working as one part to deliver the club-face squarely at impact" 

 

On the other hand (might I add that most people will describe it in this way), you've got the golfer who is concrete in their description of feel:  "I feel the club hit the ball, and I feel my feet pivot in the dirt, and I feel which part of the clubface I hit." 

 

It's a never ending discussion that I hope nobody ever thinks they are going to "win."  

 

Personally, I feel in more of an abstract way.  A pure strike gives me more than just the feeling of a solid strike.  It ignites a much greater feeling, almost in an emotional, euphoric way.

 

I also would describe "feels" in my swing as mental pictures.  I get this little mental picture of what it feels like to hit the ball from the inside, and I get a little mental picture of what I feel at impact. 

 

In regards to "touch," I feel that this is more of a learned thing.  It is the result of practice, and without practice, you really don't have much touch. 

 

Just my two cents!

[Mike Z]

Feel is important to me,  I can feel how I hit a shot and where on the fact I hit it.  That feel seldom lies.

 

But how I feel my swing - that can lie to me.  It's taken a tremendous amount of learning and practicing to learn to interpret the feel of my swing - and it often takes a long time to get it right.  At times it is as if what I am feeling is the opposite of what is actually happening.

 

Then there are times that I just get a "feel" for a shot in my mind and in my hands and the result is seldom different than what I felt.  What I would give to be able to do that more than once or twice a round.

 

All in all, "feel", however you define it, is important to golf because its one of the main ways we interact with the game.

[wbealsd]

Just my 2 cents, but I think it takes a certain amount of time and experience to really understand how to develop a sense of "feel" that provides beneficial feedback.

 

Until I learned HOW a well struck ball was SUPPOSED to feel and WHAT I had to do to make that happen with some consistency, the feedback I got wasn't really all that helpful.  Some really bad strokes could "feel" as good as great ones.

 

Lessons, constructive practice and regular play IMHO are essential to understanding and maintaining a useful sense of feel.

 

Someday, I hope to be able to keep that "feel" for more than a couple of rounds at a time!

[Kenny B]

Just my 2 cents, but I think it takes a certain amount of time and experience to really understand how to develop a sense of "feel" that provides beneficial feedback.

 

Until I learned HOW a well struck ball was SUPPOSED to feel and WHAT I had to do to make that happen with some consistency, the feedback I got wasn't really all that helpful.  Some really bad strokes could "feel" as good as great ones.

 

Lessons, constructive practice and regular play IMHO are essential to understanding and maintaining a useful sense of feel.

 

Someday, I hope to be able to keep that "feel" for more than a couple of rounds at a time!

 

I went through a period this summer where I would hit a bad shot (I mean shank!) and the swing felt exactly the same as one that I stuffed the pin.  When I went to see my instructor in Vegas in September, I found out what I was doing and I can definitely feel the difference now.  I know what the shot is supposed to feel like and now when I do shank one, it feels wrong and is an easy fix.

 

If you figure out how to keep the feel for more than a couple of rounds, please let me know the secret!!!

[sp0rtsfan86]

Bah... missed the touch and feel part. I have on occasion of bad swings felt the mistake (taking it too far inside..etc). We all can feel the golf ball after we hit it. I think it is incredibly deceptive though, mostly because I've thought I hit great shots only to watch the ball balloon and drop way before the target. The topic of "feel" makes me have some weird feelings.

[NiftyNiblick]

For me it's all about muscle memory and being able to visualize a shot.  I try to visualize the shot and hope that my body still remembers how to make it. 

 

Feel is great to have, I would imagine, but with my hands, it's very limited for me.  If I completely mash a shot, I can feel the sting, but other than that, the good ones and bad ones don't feel a hell of a lot different.

[Kor.A.Door]

The feel that I like to describe has nothing to do with emotions, it's more state of mind, the problem with feel is that when there is a problem, sometimes everything feels the same, and it's very difficult to fix because you dont know what you are doing wrong, it is something that you have to know your swing, and what you are trying to accomplish with the swing, my biggest issue is a lazy downswing, trying to make a smooth easy swing, but failing to actually swing the club, and believe me I can feel that, and then everyone gets to see it, because it's usually a 70 yard hook that goes 100 yards. It's amazing how you can warm up and hit good shot after good shot, and then Stand on the first tee and hit it straight Into the woods. Frustrating