10 Problems Every Golfer Can Relate To

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Joel Tadman runs through the 10 biggest problems only golfers can relate to. Whether it's temporary greens or leaving a club behind on the previous hole, we know how frustrating certain things can be to a golfer and we highlight them all here. Hopefully you haven't had to deal with too many yourself!
Transcript
00:00 - Hello everyone, Joel Tabman here from Golf Monthly,
00:02 and in this video we are counting down
00:04 the 10 biggest problems that all golfers can relate to.
00:08 Now, at this point I need to remind you
00:09 to click the subscribe button
00:10 to the Golf Monthly YouTube channel
00:12 so you don't miss any of our videos.
00:14 Make sure you click the like button
00:15 if you like what you're watching,
00:16 and also comment on the video.
00:18 Tell me if there's any problems that we've missed
00:20 in this video, I'd love to hear from you.
00:22 But for now, let's head on to the golf course here
00:25 at Burley Park Golf Club in Stamford, Lincolnshire,
00:27 and count down the 10 biggest problems
00:29 that golfers have to deal with,
00:31 starting with playing partners offering advice.
00:34 (upbeat music)
00:37 We've all got that one person in our foreboard
00:41 who watches one instructional video on YouTube
00:44 and suddenly he thinks he's Butch Harmon.
00:47 And while I'm sure they mean well,
00:48 I do have two main issues with this problem.
00:52 The first is that this person is almost certainly
00:54 no better qualified than any other Tom, Dick, or Harry
00:57 to dish out swing advice,
00:59 and therefore I would advise you to take it
01:01 with a pretty heavy pinch of salt.
01:03 And the second issue I have is that people
01:04 really shouldn't be giving advice during the round.
01:08 Fair enough if they wanna offer some sort of tip
01:10 or a bit of feedback after the round,
01:12 because if you do it during the round,
01:14 that can really play havoc with your mind,
01:16 you start to think about it during your swing
01:18 and it can have an adverse effect
01:20 on the shots that you hit afterwards.
01:21 So my advice to you would be that if you are thinking
01:24 about giving advice, really think about
01:26 whether it's necessary, and if you're all
01:29 in the receiving end of some advice,
01:30 maybe just politely ask them to wait
01:33 until after the round to give you that advice.
01:35 And hopefully you won't have to experience this problem
01:38 that much out on the course.
01:40 (upbeat music)
01:42 Now the next problem on our list refers to putting
01:52 on temporary greens like this one, or holidying greens.
01:54 Now I'm of course aware that temporary greens
01:57 are important to maintain the integrity
01:59 of the actual playing surfaces in wintry conditions,
02:02 but it is a frustrating problem.
02:03 You see the pins in the fairways 20 yards short of the green,
02:07 you get that instant deflation knowing
02:08 that you're gonna be playing
02:09 on some pretty substandard surfaces, let's be honest.
02:12 Yeah, the surfaces are a lot bobbly, they're a lot longer,
02:15 and it really is difficult to judge the consistency
02:17 of the roll and hole out from short range.
02:19 And the level of ice and frost that thaws during the round
02:23 is really difficult to judge when you're pitching
02:24 and chipping onto those greens.
02:26 Sometimes you get a really firm bounce
02:27 that shoots over the green,
02:28 and sometimes it digs into a soft patch.
02:30 It's impossible to judge.
02:32 And the other problem I have with temporary greens especially
02:34 is that it really does equalize the kind of handicap.
02:36 So the high handicappers have much more of an advantage
02:40 because the course is a lot shorter,
02:42 and the skill that is required for chipping and putting
02:45 is taken out of it from the lower handicappers.
02:46 It is more luck based, so really high handicappers
02:49 do have a much bigger advantage
02:51 when playing on temporary greens.
02:53 Similar for holidying greens to be fair,
02:56 although you are as likely to see a putt bubble back online
02:59 as you are offline.
03:00 Hopefully they kind of even itself out
03:02 during the course of a round.
03:03 That's just another problem that golfers
03:05 have to deal with unfortunately out on the course.
03:08 (upbeat music)
03:10 So the next problem golfers have to face
03:15 relates to the rules of the game.
03:16 And I would say golf compared to pretty much
03:18 every other sport out there
03:19 has one of the most complicated sets of rules.
03:22 And USGA and the RNA have made some changes for this year
03:26 attempting to make them simpler.
03:28 But even then, the players edition of the rule book
03:30 has 24 different categories over 120 pages.
03:34 So it's gonna be impossible for golfers
03:36 to know every single rule.
03:37 For example, I've hit my ball in this penalty area now,
03:40 it's called, it's got red stakes.
03:42 How are they different to yellow stakes?
03:44 You start dropping it from shoulder height
03:46 and then you realize you've got to change to knee height.
03:48 There's an awful lot to remember.
03:49 And obviously you're playing an outdoor sport
03:51 and your ball can get in a whole host of different scenarios
03:54 and there's been situations where I've been
03:56 asking my playing partners for advice
03:58 and none of them know what the actual rule is.
04:00 So, it's an incredibly frustrating problem
04:03 that golfers have.
04:04 They'll end up calling the pro shop asking for advice,
04:06 shuffling through the pages of their rule book,
04:08 maybe going on the app, which is really good by the way,
04:10 but still can be difficult to find the ruling that you want.
04:13 So my advice to you would be try and learn
04:15 kind of the basic ones, the simple one
04:17 that you're gonna be experiencing most
04:19 out on the golf course.
04:20 The Golf Month YouTube channel has some great rules,
04:23 videos that you should definitely check out
04:25 to swat up on your knowledge.
04:26 And if you do that, hopefully you won't face these problems
04:28 and you'll become the John Paramore of your foreball.
04:31 Right, so the next problem on our list relates to lessons,
04:39 which will usually take place on a driving range
04:42 as you can see here.
04:43 And the big problem golfers often have with lessons
04:46 is the fact that often they make you play worse
04:49 before you play better.
04:51 Now I'm not for one second advocating the idea
04:53 that golfers shouldn't have lessons.
04:55 Lessons are really important to improve your golf
04:57 and they're definitely the fastest way
04:59 of improving your golf over things like club changes
05:01 or other methods.
05:03 But the problem with lessons is you have that phase
05:06 of unfamiliarity with a swing chain.
05:08 So maybe you change your grip or your posture
05:10 or your swing plane, and there is that inevitable
05:13 kind of transition period where you're going
05:15 from your old swing to your new swing
05:17 where everything feels alien, it feels strange.
05:21 And on the golf course you feel like you're not even
05:22 gonna make contact with the golf ball,
05:24 let alone hit a good shot.
05:25 And often golfers fall into the trap of going back
05:29 to their old ways just because it feels comfortable for them.
05:32 Obviously my bit of advice for you around lessons
05:35 would be to really stick with it, have a plan,
05:37 and really accept the fact that maybe your results
05:40 out on the golf course aren't gonna improve straight away.
05:42 There is that period of bedding them in,
05:45 getting them ingrained so that they feel more natural.
05:47 And if you do that, hopefully those changes
05:50 will then produce better, more consistent results.
05:53 Also think about when you have lessons.
05:55 So maybe peak height of summer isn't the best time to do it
05:59 because that's when all the competitions
06:00 and you're gonna be playing a lot more golf.
06:01 So think about having lessons during the off season
06:04 and don't space them too close together.
06:06 Give yourself a few weeks apart so you can really work on it
06:09 and embed it in time for your next lesson.
06:12 If you do that, hopefully you won't experience
06:14 the problem of lessons making you worse
06:17 before you get better.
06:18 (upbeat music)
06:21 Right, so the next problem that golfers often face
06:25 relates to leaving stuff behind without you realizing.
06:29 There's a lot of things that can potentially fall off.
06:31 For example, your range finder, if you haven't zipped it up
06:33 probably might fall out of its holder.
06:35 You might, you drop your towel,
06:37 the head cover might fall off.
06:38 Or the most common one is you've taken a wedge up
06:41 with your putter to do a chip by the green here.
06:44 You hole out, you walk off without realizing
06:46 you've left your wedge by the side of the green.
06:49 You might only realize that you've done it,
06:50 say four or five holes later,
06:52 when you come to use that wedge for your next shot.
06:54 And obviously there's two problems there.
06:55 The first problem is you haven't got that wedge
06:58 that you really like to use for that next shot
07:00 and therefore you have to use a different one
07:01 you're unfamiliar with and the performance
07:03 and the results could suffer as a result.
07:05 But then you've got the other problem,
07:07 the fact that you're worrying about where that club is,
07:10 who's got it, whether they're gonna hand it in
07:12 at a pro shop, whether they're gonna try
07:13 to give it to you during the round.
07:14 And that can affect your concentration
07:17 and affect the quality of your shots after that.
07:19 Obviously the problem is compounded even more
07:21 by the fact that product is often worth quite a lot of money
07:25 and you're kind of worrying about whether
07:26 you're even gonna get it back at all.
07:27 But hopefully you will rely on the good nature
07:30 of your fellow members.
07:32 They would try and give it to you
07:33 or hand it back at the pro shop afterwards.
07:35 Often golfers will get into a bit of a flap
07:37 and a panic and start waving at people frantically
07:40 or two fairways across in some sort of unwritten,
07:43 awful golfing code as to, have you got my club
07:46 or towel or whatever it is you've dropped?
07:48 And it all can get a bit embarrassing.
07:49 But the problem that golfers face, it is annoying,
07:52 but I guess the moral of the story is try and keep track
07:55 of all your bits of kit and hopefully your playing partners
07:57 will spot it if you have dropped something behind.
08:00 (upbeat music)
08:03 Right, so the next problem relates to winter mats.
08:09 Now I know they are there to preserve the integrity
08:11 of the actual tees and they are in use
08:14 during the winter months.
08:15 But there's a lot of problems I have with winter mats.
08:17 The first is that they generally get a lot of wear and tear
08:20 and they can become quite muddy and therefore quite slippy,
08:24 which is not what you want when you're trying
08:25 to hit a drive.
08:26 But my main issue with winter mats is how it can be
08:29 very difficult to get the correct tee height
08:31 for the club that you're using.
08:33 Now obviously a lot of golfers have different tricks
08:35 on this and there are a lot of different heights
08:37 of tee you can use.
08:38 So for example, I use this pink castle tee for my driver.
08:43 It's the perfect height for it.
08:44 So if you can get it in the ground fully,
08:46 then that's problem solved.
08:48 But if you're hitting, so for example,
08:49 this hole is a risk reward par four here at Burley Park,
08:52 the fourth hole, I like to hit a three wood.
08:54 So I need to get the ball teed up ever so slightly,
08:56 but it can be quite difficult to do it,
08:59 especially if the mats are quite firm
09:00 as they are at the moment.
09:02 You can get these very small castle tees,
09:05 which are ideal, but they only work
09:06 if you can actually get the tee physically in the mat,
09:09 which can be very difficult.
09:10 My advice to you would be try and use holes
09:12 that have been previously used
09:14 and don't go forward with the shot
09:16 if the ball isn't teed up to the correct height
09:18 because you'll only end up either roofing the shot
09:21 and putting a horrible mark on the top of your club
09:24 if you've got it teed up too high.
09:25 And if you give up altogether and use it off the mat,
09:28 especially on a par three and you like to use a tee
09:30 with your irons and you give up and don't use a tee,
09:33 then you probably end up thinning it
09:34 or hitting a pretty bad shot.
09:36 So persevere with it, invest in some very small
09:39 green castle tees like I've got here,
09:41 and hopefully this won't be a problem for you.
09:44 Right, so the next problem golfers face
09:51 is a pain so excruciating I wouldn't wish it
09:53 on my worst enemies.
09:55 It is the dreaded ankle bash,
09:57 where you knock your putter head
10:00 against the little bone that sticks out
10:01 on the side of your ankle.
10:03 I would liken the pain to standing on an upturned plug
10:07 or a piece of Lego in barefoot.
10:08 It's that bad and really something you want to try and avoid
10:11 because it can leave you hobbling
10:13 around the side of the green.
10:14 It often happens also if you're in the bunker,
10:16 maybe you've played your bunker shot
10:18 and you're tapping the sole of your shoe
10:20 to get the sand out of your cleats,
10:21 and suddenly you miss your shoe
10:23 and the club strikes that part of your ankle.
10:25 So my only advice to you would be to be very careful
10:28 where you swing your wedge or your putter.
10:31 (upbeat music)
10:34 Right, the next problem that golfers face
10:43 comes in the bunker and specifically
10:44 if you're playing on a dry windy day,
10:47 often the sand when you're hitting a bunker shot
10:49 will pop up and if you're hitting into the wind,
10:52 it'll then fly back right into your face.
10:55 And that can be a really uncomfortable situation.
10:57 You get sand in your eyes, it's incredibly painful,
11:00 but also the sand can get down your top
11:03 and it gets very, very itchy
11:04 in all sorts of different places
11:06 and it's very, very uncomfortable
11:07 and difficult to shake off.
11:08 You find yourself walking funnily
11:10 after the next few holes trying to shake it out
11:13 and get it all out of the areas
11:14 where it feels uncomfortable.
11:16 I guess my only advice to overcome that problem
11:18 is to turn away as quickly as you can
11:21 so you hit the shot,
11:22 you know the sand's gonna be blowing into your face.
11:24 Obviously don't turn away too soon,
11:26 you need to hit the shot properly,
11:27 but then just kind of turn away.
11:28 Hopefully the sand won't get into those places
11:31 where you don't want it to.
11:32 But that's the best advice I can give I'm afraid.
11:35 It's a problem golfers have to experience sometimes
11:37 unfortunately out on the course.
11:39 (upbeat music)
11:42 Now the next problem that golfers have to deal with
11:47 relates to these premium golf balls.
11:49 Now we all know if you want the best performing golf ball,
11:52 you have to pay a premium price.
11:54 For example, this Titleist ProView 1X golf ball that I play
11:57 comes in at around about 50 pounds per dozen,
11:59 which equates to just over four pounds a golf ball,
12:02 which in the grand scheme of things
12:04 is quite a lot of money when you consider
12:06 how long these balls potentially last.
12:09 We've all done it, we've picked up a brand new ProView 1X
12:11 on the first tee, that brilliant white finish,
12:14 it's gleaming back at you,
12:15 and then you hit a raging snap hook
12:17 into the cabbage or the out of bounds,
12:19 never to be seen again.
12:20 And that four pound golf ball
12:21 has lasted literally 10 seconds.
12:23 Of course, Titleist have less expensive offerings
12:26 that might well be worth considering,
12:27 but if you don't want to go down that route,
12:29 the chances are at some point
12:31 you will lose a brand new premium ball,
12:33 and unless you're on tour,
12:34 that's a pretty painful experience.
12:36 But unfortunately, it's just a problem
12:38 golfers have to deal with.
12:39 (upbeat music)
12:42 Right, the next problem on our list relates to pockets.
12:48 Now pockets are really important for a golfer
12:50 because golfers have to store
12:51 a lot of different items during a round,
12:53 whether it's tees, markers, pitchmark repairers,
12:55 pencils, that sort of thing.
12:57 And often, those sorts of things
12:58 can be left in your pocket for longer than you might like.
13:01 So for example, maybe you're out shopping
13:04 and then you suddenly realize you've left your glove
13:06 in your back pocket and you obviously
13:08 feel incredibly embarrassed about it.
13:09 And another problem that golfers have to deal with
13:11 when it comes to pockets is perhaps leaving your scorecard
13:15 in your pocket when you put your trousers through the wash.
13:18 Taking your trousers out for this next outing,
13:21 having put it through the wash,
13:22 and then finding that you've left your scorecard
13:24 in the pocket and it's turned to that horrible,
13:26 papery, mush material that's almost impossible
13:29 to get fully out of your pocket
13:31 and you spend the next few days
13:32 really trying to brush everything out of there.
13:34 It's a horrible feeling.
13:35 Hopefully, you haven't done that
13:36 after your competitive round,
13:37 but after your social round,
13:38 you might have left your scorecard in there.
13:40 So that's one of the big problems,
13:41 golfers leaving things in their pockets for too long.
13:45 Right, so that concludes the 10 problems
13:47 that all golfers can relate to.
13:49 Hopefully, you really enjoyed this video
13:51 and if you did, make sure you give us a thumbs up
13:53 by clicking the like button.
13:54 And comment down below, I'd love to hear from you.
13:56 How many of these problems have you had to deal with
13:59 and have we missed any out?
14:01 So make sure you let us know.
14:02 But for now, from Burley Park Golf Club here in Stanford,
14:05 it's goodbye from me.
14:06 We'll see you next time.
14:07 (swoosh)
14:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]