Does it bother you when instructors walk up to you and give unsolicited advice?

[dlygrisse]

I had a guy once walk up to me on the range, and introduced himself as the new teaching professional at the course, handed me his business card. We had some small talk, he told me he noticed I was struggling and promised he could really help, if I was interested. I scheduled a lesson and ended up getting to know him quite well till he passed away several years later.

 

He did NOT offer unsolicited advice, and was very professional. We ended up in a minor business deal together, and played casual rounds of golf together a few times. This is how it should happen.

[Ri_Redneck]

I hit balls at lunch at a little range near where I work. See this guy there from time to time giving lessons. I find it strange cause he's a "pro" at a 9 hole facility about 35 miles away. Anyway, he come up one day when I was hitting my black chrome MP14s and started drooling over them then asked if I wanted to learn how to hit a draw. Funny thing is, a draw is my natural shot and I was working on a controlled fade that day. I proceeded to rip a nice 10 yd draw right on top of the 150 flag and turned to him and said, "Like that?". He just looked at me for a second and turned and walked away.

 

BT

[dg_1983]

Can someone explain to me + handicap please?

 

Oh yeah that's the one you can shoot over par in the US and still get +

 

?????

[iteachgolf]

Can someone explain to me + handicap please?

 

Oh yeah that's the one you can shoot over par in the US and still get +

 

?????

 

Pretty sure you can get one shooting over par in Europe and every where else in the world. All depends on course difficulty

[BdaGolfer]

I get a lot of questions about my grip as I play crosshanded, but no advice. I figure most pro's are out of their comfort zone with that so just leave it be.

[chocolate_rehab]

I fell for this once at a driving range when I had just started playing and proceeded to buy a pack of lessons that did absolutely nothing to help me.

 

I started to really hate golf/thought I would never get it after hitting shots for an hour for 6 straight weeks while my "instructor" stood behind me and repeated "you're lifting up" every time.

 

So yes, I think it's a dick move and I purposely wear airpods when I'm hitting so that I'm left alone. People that do it during a round deserve a karate chop to the throat.

[Ghost of Snead]

I've never had a random non-instructor give unsolicited advice, EVER. Only once an old pro came up and tried to give my wife "tips" and we promptly told him thanks but she's already working with someone and he left.

 

Maybe it's a regional thing?

 

If arrogance and stupidity are regions, you're onto something.

[Dave D]

I get a lot of questions about my grip as I play crosshanded, but no advice. I figure most pro's are out of their comfort zone with that so just leave it be.

 

a buddy of mine plays crosshanded and often asks me for advice and I have no clue what to say as the wrist angles and stuff are so different

[dg_1983]

Can someone explain to me + handicap please?

 

Oh yeah that's the one you can shoot over par in the US and still get +

 

?????

 

Pretty sure you can get one shooting over par in Europe and every where else in the world. All depends on course difficulty

 

Can someone explain to me + handicap please?

 

Oh yeah that's the one you can shoot over par in the US and still get +

 

?????

 

Pretty sure you can get one shooting over par in Europe and every where else in the world. All depends on course difficulty

 

For sure, though not all that frequent. I wasn’t having a dig at the system, more the OP ???

[iteachgolf]

Can someone explain to me + handicap please?

 

Oh yeah that's the one you can shoot over par in the US and still get +

 

?????

 

Pretty sure you can get one shooting over par in Europe and every where else in the world. All depends on course difficulty

 

Can someone explain to me + handicap please?

 

Oh yeah that's the one you can shoot over par in the US and still get +

 

?????

 

Pretty sure you can get one shooting over par in Europe and every where else in the world. All depends on course difficulty

 

For sure, though not all that frequent. I wasn’t having a dig at the system, more the OP ???

 

The USGA course rating at a good number of courses in Europe is lower than the SSS and often a good bit lower than the CSS ends up being in bigger events. At the British Am or The Am this year in the opening round the CSS was nearly 3 shots higher than the USGA rating of that same course. So you could shoot 5 over and still be a +1 handicap while you could only shoot 2 over and be one on the same course in the US system.

[PorscheFan]

In general unsolicited advice never bothers me. I care more about the intent.

 

If someone's giving me bad advice with the right intent then I take it as a sign of somebody just being nice. I don't have to take the advice.

 

If someone's doing it on the course to try to get in my head, or they're just screaming know-it-alls then I don't enjoy it, but I don't let it bother me.

 

Played in a friendly outing in a comp with a guy who missed his putt and then proceeded to tell me that I was aiming in the wrong place for my putt, and then went as far as to point out exactly where I should aim. My only response to him was "How on earth do you know what speed I'm going to hit this at?"

[dg_1983]

For sure, though not all that frequent. I wasn’t having a dig at the system

 

The USGA course rating at a good number of courses in Europe is lower than the SSS and often a good bit lower than the CSS ends up being in bigger events. At the British Am or The Am this year in the opening round the CSS was nearly 3 shots higher than the USGA rating of that same course. So you could shoot 5 over and still be a +1 handicap while you could only shoot 2 over and be one on the same course in the US system.

 

 

Agreed, though I’m sure you know our handicaps aren’t based on one round, nor a best of x rounds (not yet) it’s a result of every competitive round. Typically a player won’t play that course in those weather conditions against that field weekly. All of the bigger events (low handicap field) In the UK undoubtedly produce a higher than normal CSS no mateter if it’s club, county or national level. Mustn’t have higher handicaps impacting the css. They are always a fab opportunity to get a nice cut if one plays well!

 

Also slope doesn’t account for weather right? So not a apples for apples comparison. Unless I misunderstand

[SNIPERBBB]

Supposedly the new cap system coming will introduce the weather variant to handicaps.

[iteachgolf]

For sure, though not all that frequent. I wasn’t having a dig at the system

 

The USGA course rating at a good number of courses in Europe is lower than the SSS and often a good bit lower than the CSS ends up being in bigger events. At the British Am or The Am this year in the opening round the CSS was nearly 3 shots higher than the USGA rating of that same course. So you could shoot 5 over and still be a +1 handicap while you could only shoot 2 over and be one on the same course in the US system.

 

 

Agreed, though I’m sure you know our handicaps aren’t based on one round, nor a best of x rounds (not yet) it’s a result of every competitive round. Typically a player won’t play that course in those weather conditions against that field weekly. All of the bigger events (low handicap field) In the UK undoubtedly produce a higher than normal CSS no mateter if it’s club, county or national level. Mustn’t have higher handicaps impacting the css. They are always a fab opportunity to get a nice cut if one plays well!

 

Also slope doesn’t account for weather right? So not a apples for apples comparison. Unless I misunderstand

 

I know exactly how your system works. The US system doesn’t account for weather. Because the SSS is often similar or even higher than the course rating under many circumstances the same scores on the same courses in the same events would produce a lower handicap in the UK system than the US system. My point is it’s very possible to shoot higher scores in Europe and have a similar handicap to the US system. It’s obviously dependent on the player, the courses they play and the variance in their scoring.

[dg_1983]

Will soon be moving to a system closer to the US system. Most folks feel their handicap will be lower than ever, though it will change faster based on form.

 

Will be interesting!

[rsballer10]

Best advice I got 4 months ago from my buddy that asked why I moved the ball back in my stance so far. I had no idea that it happened at all. Not an instructor but I'm glad he said something.

[nlk10010]

Does unsolicited advice from an instructor bother me when I'm practicing at the range?

 

Absolutely, especially when it's the instructor from whom I've been taking lessons and he tells me not to bother booking another one since I haven't learned what he's been trying to teach me and another would just be the "same lesson all over again". :dntknw:

[Chazb]

Its sad for me to say it but my father thought he always knew the perfect way to swing a club and would never leave me alone when I tried to practice.I bought a video camera and filmed him and he was shocked at what he saw when I showed him his swing.

 

[TheLarch]

I was on the range hitting balls a month or two ago when one of my playing partners, who likes to give unsolicited advice starts watching me, and after three or four shots asked "Hey, what's your target?"

My reply: "Earth."

No unsolicited advice since.

[borker]

I don't like unsolicited people knocking at my house to sell me something. The range is no different. I don't care if I happen to be shanking every third ball that day, I don't appreciate someone noticing I'm struggling then giving me advice. Especially if they aren't even good themselves or aren't an experienced teacher. Most annoying are the ones who've read one thing on the Internet or are bringing up "such and such pro does this" and/or "do this drill because it worked for me" while I am trying my best to agree with them but ignore them at same time.

 

Actually the worst are the some of the workers at the golf stores. I've been in Golf Galaxy before just trying a few used drivers and hitting nice 300y draws on their sim only to somehow end up having one of their 60 year old salesmen in the bay with me slowly guiding my arm takeaway "more on plane" and pushing my hips in downswing to swift weight more. Talking about how I should read Five Lessons and it is still relevant and how he was a scratch golfer in college. GRRR

[Petunia Sprinkle]

“No Engalish.”

[AlexCzervic]

Can’t resist ...........educate your hands, train your pivots response, move your hands, load shaft, move hands.

[jelder]

sounds like he's hustling to get his next student lol I personally don't like someone approaching me like that...unless done the right way that doesn't feel solicited and he truly wants to help