For you, what is the most difficult thing in golf ?

[Nibblick Golf 3]

Hi everyone, 

I think the title of the topic has told you everything.

I wanted to start a topic and know, what is the most difficult thing in golf for you ? 

I hope that my post will be useful, that as many people as possible will participate, and that if possible, it will help people to find answers to their problems. 

 

Have a good day,
King Regards.

[tony@CIC 22,313]

That's an easy question: distance, distance, distance! I'm 74, have an aggressive workout/SS program - but father timehas taken it's toll. My solution is to continue the workout program so I don't lose any more distance and continue to work on short game. 

[pulledabill 2,712]

Finding time for meaningful practice in all areas of the game. 

[Larryd3 380]

Mental aspect.  When I start thinking about too many swing thoughts during the round I mess up.  My best games are when my brain doesn't get involved and I just swing the club.  Also just dumb mistakes, like blading short chips, leaving the ball in the sand trap stuff like that.  

[goaliedad30 179]

Making a free, aggressive swing on a tight driving hole ... 

[MNUte 375]

Endurance, both mental and physical. I can have 9 hole stretches of very good play, but tend to wear down as the round goes on. 

[THEZIPR23 6,458]

I apologize to the op for my mini rant...

Personally I think looking at the game this way is a huge detriment to golfers. I think it would be much better to talk about the fun and what works. Golf in of itself is not difficult. It's a ball that doesn't move, everybody on here and almost everybody who has ever touched a club has been able to accomplish moving the ball in a forward direction. That's it that's the game. It is our expectations that make the game hard. It is our ego that gets in the way. It is the judgement we place on ourselves and the perception that we think other golfers are judging us that makes it difficult. Yes improvement of the game and challenging ourselves to get out of our comfort zones is difficult however the game in of itself is not difficult. 

[DiscipleofPenick 4,023]

Imposter syndrome? Just believing in myself, knowing that I'm so close to that next level and can really hit a golf ball.

I carry a 3 hcp, feel like I'm pretty darn good. Thoughts I've caught myself having this year:

Should I really enter this tournament?

Why am I playing Titleist CBs?

Should I really be on the back tees?

[ballplayer002003 1,433]

31 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

I apologize to the op for my mini rant...

Personally I think looking at the game this way is a huge detriment to golfers. I think it would be much better to talk about the fun and what works. Golf in of itself is not difficult. It's a ball that doesn't move, everybody on here and almost everybody who has ever touched a club has been able to accomplish moving the ball in a forward direction. That's it that's the game. It is our expectations that make the game hard. It is our ego that gets in the way. It is the judgement we place on ourselves and the perception that we think other golfers are judging us that makes it difficult. Yes improvement of the game and challenging ourselves to get out of our comfort zones is difficult however the game in of itself is not difficult. 

I think you hit on some very strong points here.  I have always been a very competitive person for better or worse and I have been an upper tier athlete in my younger days.  I have very high expectations when it comes to sports.  This is the one sport that has brought me(along with most of us) to my knees.  I would say I am a decent golfer, not great but I can hold my own.  This is the last sport I picked up.  I've said it a hundred times, I don't consider myself a golfer.  I think how I don't consider myself a golfer is one of the reasons why I, unintentionally, hold myself back from being a better golfer than what I am.  My higher expectations adds a level of stress that I am always playing under.  Why do this to myself...I will never be a tour player.  I think that if I lowered my own expectations and didn't "care" as much as I do, then I would play better.  I am like most of us on here...the less I think about my swing, the better I play.  I just need to do this more.  

[MNUte 375]

12 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

I apologize to the op for my mini rant...

Personally I think looking at the game this way is a huge detriment to golfers. I think it would be much better to talk about the fun and what works. Golf in of itself is not difficult. It's a ball that doesn't move, everybody on here and almost everybody who has ever touched a club has been able to accomplish moving the ball in a forward direction. That's it that's the game. It is our expectations that make the game hard. It is our ego that gets in the way. It is the judgement we place on ourselves and the perception that we think other golfers are judging us that makes it difficult. Yes improvement of the game and challenging ourselves to get out of our comfort zones is difficult however the game in of itself is not difficult. 

For the sake of conversation, let's talk about this. And apologies for my counter-rant

Acknowledging the most difficult aspect of the game for yourself by no means prevents a golfer from simultaneously talking about the fun and what works. It's far from a one or the other, black and white system. In fact, talking about both can be significantly beneficial. Case in point, the easiest part of the game for me is putting and adapting to different greens. The reason for that is that I have a fairly straightforward, simple and repeatable approach to putting. Looking at that strength has helped me work on trying to find ways to overcome my endurance deficiencies, i.e., finding how I can create as many simple and repeatable approaches: clubbing up as the round goes on, forcing myself to talk through every shot, even the simple ones, etc. 

Overly simplifying the game to the point where you're saying it is as simple as moving the ball in a forward direction and that the source of failure is just ego or expectations is far more detrimental than acknowledging difficulties. In creating that black and white summary that "it's not your game, it's your ego and expectations" without acknowledging the unique WHY for each individual golfer's struggles, you're potentially blocking off so many ways for golfers to improve and the chance for them to find what works best for them. The reason I struggle with endurance is because I have bad ankles and knees. So just saying I need to reduce my ego or lower my expectations doesn't do anything for the fact that I deal with more pain as a round goes on, making it harder to concentrate or keep my swing consistent.  Indeed, the argument could be made that the assertion that golf is not difficult fosters a focus on ego and expectation ("if the game is so easy, why did I fat that chip? If the game is so easy, how come I couldn't hit the ball in a forward direction on that shot?").

I'd say if your premise was tweaked to be "acknowledging and working on reducing ego and expectations can help people make significant improvement in their game," I'd be 100% on board. That's been a significant source of my game becoming more consistent. Similarly, if your premise was tweaked to be "golf is a lot easier than we think and tend to make it," I'd be 100% on board. And if your premise was tweaked to be "ONLY focusing on the difficulties in your game and wallowing in them is detrimental to golfers," I'd be 100% on board. But as they stand, I'd say your assertions that "the game in and of itself is not difficult" and its just our expectations and ego getting in the way is far more detrimental than people acknowledging what they find to be the most difficult part of their game.

[cnosil 25,164]

I the summary is that the mental aspect is the toughest:  we set too high of expectations, expect to pull of the miracle shot, lose focus during the round, abandon swing changes because they aren’t working that day, constantly tweak our swing based on the last result, we tell ourselves not to do something and immediately do it. 

[Larryd3 380]

3 hours ago, THEZIPR23 said:

I apologize to the op for my mini rant...

Personally I think looking at the game this way is a huge detriment to golfers. I think it would be much better to talk about the fun and what works. Golf in of itself is not difficult. It's a ball that doesn't move, everybody on here and almost everybody who has ever touched a club has been able to accomplish moving the ball in a forward direction. That's it that's the game. It is our expectations that make the game hard. It is our ego that gets in the way. It is the judgement we place on ourselves and the perception that we think other golfers are judging us that makes it difficult. Yes improvement of the game and challenging ourselves to get out of our comfort zones is difficult however the game in of itself is not difficult. 

Got to disagree with, "golf in of itself is not difficult"   It's a hard game, guess if my skill level was more on par with yours I might have a different perspective.  However I do agree with expectations, I know some years back I got way too serious about having that crazy low index and ended up not having any fun and really disliking golf.  I ended up not playing for 3 or 4 years and now have a different outlook and am enjoying it again.  

[THEZIPR23 6,458]

30 minutes ago, Larryd3 said:

guess if my skill level was more on par with yours I might have a different perspective.  

Thank you for proving my point. Steph Curry shoots the basketball way better than I do. I don't think basketball is hard because of this. 

[Larryd3 380]

25 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

Thank you for proving my point. Steph Curry shoots the basketball way better than I do. I don't think basketball is hard because of this. 

Guess it all depends on what your definition of golfing is.  If it's just knocking the ball forward (most of the time) then it's fairly easy. But that's not really golf, just like banging balls at TopGolf isn't golfing.  For me golf is trying to move the ball forward, keep it in play and break 80 or 90.  That's not so easy for most people.  

[tony@CIC 22,313]

37 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

Thank you for proving my point. Steph Curry shoots the basketball way better than I do. I don't think basketball is hard because of this. 

I think we're off point here. The OP 's thread is "for you - what is the most difficult thing in golf'. Low handicappers will certainly have a different perspective than those of us in the higher end and working diligently to get better. I love the game, have fun at it and am diligently working on the things I need to for better results. The latter doesn't minimize the former. 

[THEZIPR23 6,458]

8 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

I think we're off point here. The OP 's thread is "for you - what is the most difficult thing in golf'. Low handicappers will certainly have a different perspective than those of us in the higher end and working diligently to get better. I love the game, have fun at it and am diligently working on the things I need to for better results. The latter doesn't minimize the former. 

I get that from my perspective it is different because of my handicap. I will remove myself from my soapbox.

 

To the OP, golf is difficult because of the head attached to my shoulders. 

[Nibblick Golf 3]

3 hours ago, cnosil said:

I the summary is that the mental aspect is the toughest:  we set too high of expectations, expect to pull of the miracle shot, lose focus during the round, abandon swing changes because they aren’t working that day, constantly tweak our swing based on the last result, we tell ourselves not to do something and immediately do it. 

Yes, I agree with you, the mental aspect is very hard. Unfortunately, it is one of the most important points in golf. 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Nibblick Golf

[Nibblick Golf 3]

5 hours ago, MNUte said:

Endurance, both mental and physical. I can have 9 hole stretches of very good play, but tend to wear down as the round goes on.

Yes, endurance, consistency and regurality, are things many golfeurs search. But, few can really do it. 

[Tom the Golf Nut 8,171]

Being on the low end of handicaps I find the hardest thing for me to adapt to is playing a course with sand traps that have a different consistency between them. One can be hard packed, another wet sand, then another fluffy sand. I am a pretty decent bunker player but judging the amount of sand to take to get the ball close to the hole is challenging when the bunkers are different from one another. 

[GaDawg 1,605]

Following golfers that either don't know or don't have any golf etiquette. Additionally, golfers that don't play ready golf and stand around or wait in the cart until someone else has played, then ride 10 ft., get out and hit their shot.