Why are golfers so sensitive to noise during their swing?

[mshills]

@kmay__ amen. 😁 I do that regularly and none of that ambient noise bothers me in the least. If asked I’ll be even more direct “I hit already. Let’s keep it moving off the tee box, all right fellas?”

[Greenie]

On 1/15/2024 at 11:47 AM, kmay__ said:

I find for myself, having 3 people stand there in complete silence intently focused on me is much more likely to result in me getting in my head and making a mess of the shot. I like to hit my tee shot while people are still milling around by their bags getting a ball, having a drink ect. 

 

Quite often in men's league a guy we play with will say to me "hey aren't you going to tee off?" and I tell him I already did while you guys weren't paying attention hahaha

 

It doesn't bother me having the group staring at me as long as they are out of my sight. I do like to be the first to tee off. I have a small window to tee off before someone starts talking during their milling around and a small window before that guy has time to stand in my sight.

Edited January 16 by Greenie

[SNIPERBBB]

When you're so focused on something and a sudden loud happens, it makes you jump. Which can be a disaster in a golf swing when it happens in that transition zone at the end of your backswing and start of the downswing.

[david.c.w]

Anyone concentrating on anything can lose focus when distracted.  It is no different if you are trying to count out 100 pennies and a smoke alarm goes off or a big play happens on a game you have on in the background.  You focus suddenly shifts from a specific task to the distraction.  "Was that 46 or 48?  Did I count these two yet?".  You will have to start counting again from 0.  

 

It is not because golfers are soft or lack focus.  Just human nature.  I am saying this in the vain of car alarms, horns, and sudden, unexpected events.  Birds chirping in spring does not count.  A crow going bananas at the top of your backswing does count.

[xabia]

another hilarious example of golfwrx guys making boisterous claims on the internet like the below - 

 

"are you kidding me of course it didn't bother me that an airhorn was blown right behind my head as I started my downswing. I trained for this by learning how to block out reflexes,  because I am mentally strong, and no weak pampered PGA or LPGA tour star can say that which is why I wold dust them at my local muni" 

[Yacho]

When someone screams "FORE!!!" from an adjacent hole in the middle of my backswing, I tend to not strike the ball quite as pure.  Dunno why.  I guess I'm soft.

[Imp]

Long story short, I am attuned to changes in sound.  

 

When I used to race cars, there were certain sounds that over time I learned to adjust my driving when I heard, one in particular: tire noise. I could have a cacophony of noise in the car from the engine and exhaust, helmet on, etc... but once I hear the certain pitch/sound of the tires in a turn, any turn, it tells me I'm near the edge or at the edge and not to exceed things, all the while watching for my exit in the turn and looking up to the next set. It requires pin point focus to get it right. Over time, you just "hear the noise" and know what to do instinctively, but the focus never abates. That's just one way of how you progress as a driver.

 

At work, I do video editing and training. Deal with music, attenuation, levels, all day long (when editing). Slight changes mean different things to how a user/viewer would take it. Music over voice too loud, can't hear, what's the background noise on the street shot? Etc... have to listen to the slight changes to what "sounds" best.

 

On the tee, I'm just as focused on the shot. A change in sound, it's not a distraction so to speak, but I'm simply wired to react to it. At least tire noise, it was the same and you can come attuned to it as it's communicating. Over a ball? It's random. A laugh, a clink/squeeze of a plastic bottle, ****ing around in a bag. Do your *whatever* in between swings. It's just something that can't be simply unlearned. It's a reaction, pure and simple. One I'm subconsciously actively listening for.

Edited January 23 by Imp

[golfortennis]

A lot of times the noise comes from someone else being inconsiderate, and that is what really gets my goat.  You *can* wait till someone has hit their shot before saying whatever it is you think is so important, you *can* lower your voice so people three fairways over can't hear your conversation.  But they choose not to, and that is annoying, to me.  A natural sound(birds, wind, etc.) I've learned to ignore.  But it's people doing things that gets my goat.

[ChipNRun]

On 1/12/2024 at 4:46 PM, Socrates said:

It really depends on how or when the noise happens.  If all is nice and quiet and halfway through your backswing a noise happens (bird, club rattle, lawnmower, idiot golfer) that can be unsettling and cause one to flinch.

 

Case in point. Final round of 2014 amateur Curtis Cup at St. Louis CC. Ryder-type matches in which British and Irish women compete against USA women.

 

One of the homeowners across the street from the closing holes was having two tall, dead trees cut down in his yard. The chain saws and oversized mulching machine sent  intermittent roars through the sector. More than once I saw a player flinch at impact, or bail out and restart their swing, when the roars started.

 

And, it's an individual thing. Some golfers handle the side noise better than others. Plus, some talk or movement means a careless person is drifting into the path of the backswing. Don't want to knock out some careless person.

 

And, some players make the noise on purpose. When I'm at the top of my backswing and some ^$?# yells "Go ahead and hit the ball," that's unsportsmanlike conduct.

[dffjunior]

As long as it's not a sudden, loud, unexpected thing I don't mind.  A golf cart driving, the conversation from a fairway over, cars/planes passing by, those don't bother me.  Our home course it a country bumpkin place and we frequently hear a cadence of firearms off in the distance.  When my buddies play we frequently carry on conversations on the tee box in kind of dull whispers.  But when something happens my brain detects needs attention I'm in trouble.  If I'm just about to start my transition and someone sneezes, yells fore, drops a beer, or starts talking about Gal Gadot in Wonderwoman I'm gonna flail one into the trees. 

[new2g0lf]

It's easy to blame a noise or other outside distraction for a bad shot but for most amateurs, it's just a convenient excuse.   I find when I'm focused and playing well, I don't pay attention to things going on around me unless there's a sudden or loud noise.  If I'm playing poorly, my first reaction is to blame the lawnmower guy, a bird, golfers driving around on the adjacent hole looking for their ball, etc.  I'm sometimes jealous of the older guys I play with who are practically deaf, they are oblivious to any noises on the course.  

[jda]

This is always an unpopular opinion, but it is mostly true... learning how to tune everything else out is a skill.  You can use the same skill to sink that 4 footer with plenty on the line, only this time what you need to tune out is the pressure of the moment.  You can use that same skill when you need to get something really important done at work.  Having singular focus is a still.  Of course, none of this is meant to help of a train horn blows or something stupid happens.

 

People who complain about this are not as mentally tough as they could be and likely never played for anything of significance in their life.  The never had to throw a pitch with thousands of people cheering.  How do these football players manage to all be mentally tough with all of those people.  I don't see NBA crowds stop cheering for a free throw to be shot.

 

In the end, golf is one of the easiest sports since nobody is trash talking you, there are no defenders or other people trying to get the ball or otherwise hinder you.  It is all on you.  You have all that you need to make sure that none of this is an issue, or at least to make sure that nearly none of it is an issue.

 

If any of you have kids and want to coach them, this is a great skill to have to not hear all of the parents yelling at your (their coach) since you are the only one who is keeping their 8 year old from getting a BB scholarship to Duke.  I have a VHS tape of a game that I pitched in college in front of about 4000 (a lot at the time) and I got called racial and other obscenities for 90 minutes from a large group in the front row... I never heard any of it but it is clear as day on the tape - even if I did hear it, coach was not going to want to listen to anything about how I was not performing and he would have found somebody else.

[Halebopp]

I have no trouble admitting I'm what people here seem to call "mentally weak". It bothers me if someone moves in my field of vision or makes sudden noises during my swing.

 

But it's ridiculous to put the blame on the person who is "mentally weak" as opposed to the person who can't stand still and be quiet for the ten seconds (usually probably less) it takes from a player taking the stance for the stroke and then making the stroke. It's basic etiquette to not distracts others. Doing so purposefully could get you disqualified from a tournament, or likely result in you not being welcome to play with the same group again.

 

It doesn't matter how people operate in other sports as we're talking about golf here. Showing respect towards other players is one of the things that sets the sport apart from other games in a positive way.

[jda]

You cannot control them, you can control you.  You have everything that you need to have this not affect you at all.  You will get further if you realize that common sense is not all that common and be already prepared mentally for whatever happens.  Etiquette is only a mind story - everybody has a different idea and story in their mind.  Not everybody thinks that walking back to a cart to get a new tee, while others are hitting to keep pace of play up, is all that bad.

 

You can learn a lot from other sports.  The unwritten rules of baseball are equally as stupid as expecting golf etiquette - just completely arbitrary and need to actually be written down if they are to ever be important.  Taunting in football is fun when your guy does it and people need to let it go as "boys being boys," but an obvious penalty when it against you.  Judge Smails or Shooter McGavin do not represent everybody on the golf course.

 

I played baseball at a high level, have coached div 1 and a few pro athletes in diamond sports and golf.  NONE of them are allowed to offer any excuse or complaint unless they were perfect and did nothing wrong themselves.  This means that none of them ever were allowed excuses or complaints since all of them could be mentally tougher and nobody knows what kind of things that mentally tough people just let go that they did - this makes them better players and people.  This is the better approach than counting on others to have the same standards as others think that they should.  This is all part of mental toughness.

 

I hope that everybody understands that I am NOT saying that being self aware of what you are doing to other people is not important (etiquette), just that expecting it from others over making yourself better is not likely the best approach.

Edited January 30 by jda

[Marty86]

I wish I had this excuse when I shot free throws back in HS when people had their nextels chirping and screaming all around me during away games. Golfers are generally too soft when it comes to this.

[Halebopp]

On 1/30/2024 at 7:39 PM, jda said:

You cannot control them, you can control you.  You have everything that you need to have this not affect you at all.  You will get further if you realize that common sense is not all that common and be already prepared mentally for whatever happens.  Etiquette is only a mind story - everybody has a different idea and story in their mind.  Not everybody thinks that walking back to a cart to get a new tee, while others are hitting to keep pace of play up, is all that bad.

 

You can learn a lot from other sports.  The unwritten rules of baseball are equally as stupid as expecting golf etiquette - just completely arbitrary and need to actually be written down if they are to ever be important.  Taunting in football is fun when your guy does it and people need to let it go as "boys being boys," but an obvious penalty when it against you.  Judge Smails or Shooter McGavin do not represent everybody on the golf course.

 

I played baseball at a high level, have coached div 1 and a few pro athletes in diamond sports and golf.  NONE of them are allowed to offer any excuse or complaint unless they were perfect and did nothing wrong themselves.  This means that none of them ever were allowed excuses or complaints since all of them could be mentally tougher and nobody knows what kind of things that mentally tough people just let go that they did - this makes them better players and people.  This is the better approach than counting on others to have the same standards as others think that they should.  This is all part of mental toughness.

 

I hope that everybody understands that I am NOT saying that being self aware of what you are doing to other people is not important (etiquette), just that expecting it from others over making yourself better is not likely the best approach.

 

As an adult I have great control over with whom I spend my time. Children don't have that power and therefore they are forced to deal with the "boys will be boys" attitude and the need to let it go. But let's not kid ourselves and pretend that the attitude doesn't lead to individual and societal problems inside and outside of schools and sports. Simply put, it's a bs excuse used by bullies.

 

But, like said, as an adult it's far easier to not play with disrespectful people than to teach myself to not react to sudden, unexpected things that happen around me. Nor would I have the money to hire someone to follow me around and scare, or otherwise try to distract me at random times to teach me to do so. While it sucks when someone starts to do something stupid in the middle of your swing and you fail to stop the stroke, chances of that stroke and particular round being a remarkable one are quite slim. After all, we're talking about that happens possibly once per season.

 

I do find it interesting that you believe athletes like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer are mentally weak because they're not immune to unexpected sounds, or movement when they're concentrating on making a stroke or playing a point. And how does bullying make football better? How did the Materazzi - Zidane incident, for example, make football more fun and a better sport?

Edited February 1 by Halebopp

[jda]

Tiger never really noticed when he was rolling off major after major.  He cared later on when the game got harder for him.  He has talked about this and how he needed to get back to where he was.  If you ask any one of those people, I imagine that they see it as a weakness in themselves.  Have you seen Tigers comments on what he does with his Son to get him ready for noise, visual and mental distractions?  Have you seen what fellow players used to try and do to him by tapping shoes, clubs, etc. during his swings?  Starting an early walk when he was starting to downswing?

 

As a parent of a few Division 1 athletes, I would suggest that not teaching them to solve all of their problems internally is a mistake.  I have a pitcher and average/power hitter for a Div 1 team and she gets called all kinds of things while she runs the bases after a dinger - girls are really nasty even moreso than boys.  She has air horns blown as she starts to pitch from the fans of opposing teams.  This is not Disney Channel or Nickelodeon and bullies exist especially in actual sports where people are trying to take things from you (the ball, yards, etc.)

 

Nobody will ever be at their maximum if you let outside things distract you.  Period.  They don't give back trophies or strokes if you let somebody get to you.  In the real world, promotions, better accounts are the same way.

 

True story from Yesterday - at Walnut Creek in Colorado and I tee off.  Dude after me shanks his ball after the crew tearing up the concrete stops their hydraulic hammer suddenly.  I did not even hear them hammering - just say them as we were walking up.  They said that the hammer was intermittent in my swing and they were also trying to jumpstart a loader with a pickup truck (bad idea) - I had no idea.

[iacas]

15 minutes ago, jda said:

Tiger never really noticed when he was rolling off major after major.

 

Well that's not true. I've been at tournaments and majors where he'd do his semi-famous "stop mid-swing" where he'd go on to win that tournament or major.

 

And again, it's so cool to see just how many so mentally tough golfers this site has, with all the "noise don't bother me bro" posts. I don't know how so many of you have overcome what amounts to reflexes for most golfers. I've hit shots where someone has said to me "you didn't notice that bug near your ball?" and I truly hadn't, but I've yet to encounter any of these mentally strong people who don't notice a random sound occurring late backswing.

 

Bah. I'm getting old. I already said most of this. Sorry.

 

On 1/13/2024 at 5:46 PM, iacas said:

Seriously. GolfWRX has managed to compile the world's largest collection of people who profess not to care about a noise coming suddenly and unexpectedly late in their backswings. It's amazing.

 

I don't know that I've ever played with someone who doesn't jump or something a little when an unexpected noise occurs at various points in their swing. It's a reflex. As noted, even Tiger hated it, and he trained for it. You won't find a single PGA Tour player who would not say something to his caddie, the photographer, or bystanders if a camera goes off late in their backswings.

Edited February 1 by iacas
derp