silence on the golf course

twounderpar

Watching golf on T.V.I'm amazed at how often players back off their shots because of some noise or other.How come noise doesn't interfere with other sportsmen as they take place kicks e.g.footballers hurlers and rugby place kickers.By the way,some players that I have played with are just as bad.

Wolfe Tone

It interferes in snooker!

kc66

I was watching the Players Championship last night. Cant remember who the players were but the first guy teed off. He moved off just past the tee marker and started chatting with his caddy. The second player was teeing off and the conversation continued. It was obvious they were not whispering either as they were not close enough. Nobody said anything. Very unusual I thought.
I dont think you can compare golf to taking a free kick in football though. Must be related to the size of the ball :pac:

NoelAPM

There alot to think about before and during the golf swing. I find a noise throws your attention away from what your about to do. Also your used to silence when playing your shots! If you had a people making noise every time you hit a ball you'd get used to that and be able to block it out!

SuprSi

If any pro is bothered by noise, he should visit any one of the driving ranges I used to frequent. Kids, teenagers, adults, mobile phones, balls hitting steel girders, etc - nothing focuses the mind and puts noise out of the equation like a session in the driving range!

Jaysoose

Good post above..went to the outside area in the range i use last night and a few minutes later im joined by Butch harmon and two of his kids..cue butch giving the two young fellas a lesson that should be filed under "how not to encourage kids to play golf" yap yap yap keep yer head down...yap yap yap stand up straighter..yap yap yap ..No no no stand like this..etc etc

sorry just ranting..

hades

i had the same experience last week, but better

Kid was hitting the ball, he was pretty decent aswell i must say, he was maybe around 7 - 10 years old. So the dad goes, not like that, like this... and then the dad proceeds to take one shot, then another and eventually empties the basket of balls with the kid watching. The kid never hit another ball

twounderpar

Was at irish open in baltray.Was walking towards a green and the caddy put his hand up to ask me to stand still.I was at least 20 yards from the green and certainly not in his players eyeline.Often think that some pros would prefer if there were no spectators.

k.p.h

One of the lads hero is Paddy Harrington and we have a running joke about the time he told the 6yo to "shut the f*** up" as he was talking while he was over his shot. That didn't happen by the way it's just a joke.

I think if someone is chatting while I'm taking my shot it doesn't matter but if they start talking while I'm over it thats another story. Sometimes it can be distracting if they stop talking while I'm over it too.

Often arrive at the range to see one of the lads already their and sometimes I sneak up behind them and right in the middle of their backswing I say really loudly "IT'S REALLY ANNOYING WHEN SOMEONE TALKS DURING A BACKSWING". They usually **** themselves and top the ball. It's funny

It is polite to stop talking and stop moving when someone is taking their shot so thats what I do.

twounderpar

Why do dart players have no problem with background noise? And their target is pretty small. Saw Olazabal back off a tee shot today because a police siren was going off.

heavyballs

twounderpar wrote: »

Why do dart players have no problem with background noise? And their target is pretty small. Saw Olazabal back off a tee shot today because a police siren was going off.

how can you compare these 2 sports?..............you learn to play darts in a noisy pub mate.......come on

Myksyk

The issue is one of constant noise versus silence interrupted by sudden noise. Anyone can become accustomed to a barrage of constant noise and it will just fade into the general canvas of the sporting day. Golf is usually played in something close to silence so small noises are perceived as intrusive and can pull attention and concentration away from their focus point and thus affect performance. Golf is never going to be played with thousands of fans screaming from beginning to end so this will always be an issue.