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I don't golf, but I don't imagine that the majority of those who do step onto the green with the idea of achieving greatness. I suspect the majority just want to go out, enjoy the fresh air and sunshine, the companionship of a couple close friends as they knock around a few. Maybe they watch the pros on TV, join a league, take a lesson or two and buy a new set of clubs every now and then. They subscribe to a golfing magazine or have a favorite professional that they follow when he competes. They admire a sweet swing and they enjoy a round (or two) after the game. They aren't Tiger Woods, and they accept that they're never going to be.

How might it look if someone comes along and tells them that their way of enjoying golf is not the way?: You gotta knuckle down and learn the fundamentals: You gotta find a teacher. You gotta continually strive to improve or your game will never get any better no matter how much you play?

Maybe it would look like this!

Great Expectations

Since most of us who enjoy golfing are not full-time (nor even part-time) students at any sort of academy, our learning opportunities are limited. We can, however, find learning opportunities of sorts within our community, through golf workshops, league play and hanging around the clubhouse. These venues are not ideal, but they are often readily available and the cost is quite low or nil.

Based on what I’ve heard in the clubhouse, and have heard from my friends on the greens, however, many of us are misjudging the instructional value of these venues. Many of us are mistakenly equating the tips and advice freely offered at the pro shop, in the clubhouse and at workshops with real instruction. This is a mistake that can lead to unnecessary disappointment and cause us to level unwarranted criticism at those we believe to be teaching us.

Sipping a few beers in the clubhouse and attending golf workshops are fun, interesting and sometimes helpful, but they are by no means credible substitutes for real instruction. They’re actually quite poor places from which to get instruction.

A Matter of Degrees

Contrary to what many may believe, golf is complex and intricate. The art and science of the game of golf is as deep and complex as any other art or science. Golf is no easier to fully understand and practice than architecture or psychology, but most of us do not appreciate this fact since golf is not generally viewed to be as important as architecture or psychology.

Now, I don’t need to have studied music for years at a university in order to sing in my church choir, and I don’t need to have a doctorate in art history in order to understand what makes a Picasso special. The tips I can get from friends or find in magazines will tell me most of what I need to know in order to undertake a small carpentry project. However, the tips and advice that I can come by in conversations with my friends and get from magazines will not arm me with the skill and understanding I’d need to design a beautiful, functional and structurally sound 12-story office complex.

When studying dance or when studying medicine or when studying engineering, we don’t believe for a moment that tips and advice will give us what we need to be skilled and knowledgeable in these endeavors. On the contrary, we understand that we’ll need to devote a few years of our lives in formal study (and a lot of monotonous effort) in order to acquire even basic competence in any of these endeavors. Of course, we often decide to undertake this kind of lengthy and arduous study because it usually results in our obtaining marketable skills and abilities. This is how we acquire necessary and lucrative careers.

Golf, however, is not the kind of field of endeavor that usually results in a lucrative career. Therefore, it makes less sense to go to the effort and expense of a formal education in order to obtain a high degree of skill and understanding of golf art and science. Most of us are just hobbyists and do just fine with tips and advice, thank you very much. We generally have no need for much more.

Idle hands are the devil’s workshop
(Hey, I went to that workshop, too!)

Sadly, I have noticed that more than a few of us tend to criticize clubs who host workshops where the participants don’t leave as golf geniuses. I have actually heard enthusiasts complain after a 4-hour workshop with a top pro, saying that they don’t think they got their money’s worth. What? Just what is it that we expect from a workshop? What can an pro teach us in 4 hours? More to the point, what can we learn in 4 hours? Well, since workshops are set up in nearly every case to be a “here, fix this swing for me” sort of activity, what exactly is it that we’re supposed to come away with, beyond a “fixed” swing?

This does not even take into account the fact that many of us have the stupid habit of bringing the same tired clubs to 2 or 3 or 6 different workshops, all hosted by different pros. Also, from what I hear after most workshops, the attendees have little regard for the “instruction” that was offered by the pro in the first place. And they’re to blame for our lack of progress and ability? I don’t’ think so.

Seriously, was it any 4-hour period of our formal education that made our respective professions possible? Does a couple or even a dozen 2 to 4 hour workshops make anyone competent any endeavor that matters? Would you let me function as your defense attorney in a trial after I had a couple of law workshops? Would you let me operate on your daughter after I took a few 4-hour workshops with a top surgeon? Would you hire me to design your clothing brand’s fall fashion line after a couple of 4-hour workshops with Isaac Misrahi? Would you let me build your house after a few carpentry workshops? Of course not!

Outside of golf, we understand that in nearly every case, competence in complicated and deep endeavors is gained only through formal education. In fact, some who have not successfully completed a formal education are legally or socially prevented from practicing their skills professionally – and we all know why. Just because formal education is hard to come by in golf does not mean that we should expect miraculous results from what is more easily available to us. We can lament the situation, but let's not lose our minds.

The school of talk

Putting around on the greens and tossing back a few in the clubhouse are the most easily accessed “learning” resources available to most duffers. The better ones are healthy environments where enthusiasts trade advice and compliments, solicit and offer suggestions, and debate trivial or weighty matters. For some, especially those just starting out in golf, this activity is helpful, but it bears little resemblance to real instruction - and for a few good reasons.

Part of what makes drinking in the clubhouse a poor venue for golf instruction is the fact that most believe that such camaradarie is meant to provide positive reinforcement only. That’s a poor way to teach – to say only positive things about the efforts of students. Students need to know when they’re on the wrong track and they need to know when their efforts stink, and why, in order to learn. In other words, students who put forth a D or F effort need to be graded as such, rather than being given a B+ and encouraged so as not to hurt their feelings. That is a malevolent and irresponsible practice that destroys potential rather than builds it. But, giving an F grade to someone’s effort as exhibited in an online forum is a good way to get yourself criticized and/or ostracized by much of the community there.

Also, valuable instruction involves standards, required standards that students must meet or exceed in order to be allowed to continue their study. This is part of what makes formal instruction effective. No standards are necessary for discussion forum participation. And the mention of any sort of standard usually invites the ire of most forum participants anyway.

Furthermore, note that in a school or an effective teaching/learning environment that there are teachers and there are students. The distinctions are clear and inviolate. Clubhouse bars have neither teachers nor students. Everyone is a teacher and everyone is a student. That’s fine for tips and advice and debate, but is anathema to an effective teaching/learning environment. Really, any old idiot can say anything he or she wants over a pint of ale, and have multitudes believe them – misleading many. Correcting such idiotic ramblings is not so easy as it might seem. Doing so invites retorts of “So who made you God?” or “Hey, we’re just here to talk and have fun, not be governed by some know-it-all.” So, many are just led astray.

Most of us who participate in clubhouse shenanigans claim to be students of golf, but we rarely act like students and we routinely resent being taught. We especially resent being taught by the most effective means. Instead, we insist on being spoon-fed information and we appreciate it most when such information matches what we already believe we know. This lazy practice ensures that very little can actually be learned.

Clubhouses are great for community building, entertainment, swapping tips and advice, but just plain awful for effective teaching and learning. So again, the fact that formal golf education is not usually available to us is no reason to bring unrealistic expectations to online discussion forums. The more knowledgeable participants who participate are not there to teach and the less knowledgeable participants there are not really there to be held to any sort of standard in learning – so it is unrealistic to expect to be taught in an online forum. Those who try quickly discover their folly.

We sleep in the bed we make

So what can we do? Can these readily available venues be turned into better teaching/learning environments? I’m not so sure that they can be, but I believe that we can work to improve how we use workshops and online media for golf instruction. Peer communication and instruction will continue to evolve and there are as yet unexplored methods online. For workshops, however, we have to change how most such events are structured in order to turn them into effective teaching/learning venues. But we’d also have to change what we expect to do in workshops. There, too, we expect to be spoon-fed, we seldom expect to actually have to work and we certainly don’t expect to be graded. All of that would have to change.

I believe that most constructive change we can introduce is within ourselves. We need to modify our expectations and come to grips with the fact that a few workshops and a few hours of drinking at the 19th Hole will not turn us into Tiger Woods. We need to come to grips (no pun intended) with the fact that we’re not golf students if we don’t submit to formal instruction and the corresponding pressure of standards and evaluation. We also have to come to grips with the fact that those who help us and offer advice in workshops and online forums are not there to “teach” us – they’d be foolish to try. So, we have to not expect them to jump through our hoops.

Certainly, not all of us want to be actual students of the art and science of golf. We’re happy to be duffers, to get by with tips and advice in order to please ourselves. Let’s just not mistake tips and advice for instruction. And let’s not expect leaps of improvement in our ability and understanding as a result of mere tips and advice.

When we don’t show great improvement, it is not the fault of the professionals who hold workshops and it’s not the fault of the experienced and skilled participants at the clubhouse. For great improvement, we need to look to ourselves and discern just what we’re willing to do for improvement.

Opportunities are available to us. There are skilled, knowledgeable and caring teachers who offer real instruction programs – some can be found in your club's PGA Listing. What they offer is expensive and requires great effort on our part, but then of course it is and of course it does! We can decide to take advantage of these sorts of opportunities or we can decide not to. In any event, it is our efforts and decisions that shape our education.

Woody Driver
zone 7, Pebble Beach

1-Dec-2003	#5
TreeBay Tips:5¢ Advice:Free *MODERATOR GROUP* Join Date: Aug-2001 Location: Silicon Valley Country: USA USDA Zone: 9 AHS Heat Zone: 4 Posts: 9,742	Can we take ourselves too seriously? I don't golf, but I don't imagine that the majority of those who do step onto the green with the idea of achieving greatness. I suspect the majority just want to go out, enjoy the fresh air and sunshine, the companionship of a couple close friends as they knock around a few. Maybe they watch the pros on TV, join a league, take a lesson or two and buy a new set of clubs every now and then. They subscribe to a golfing magazine or have a favorite professional that they follow when he competes. They admire a sweet swing and they enjoy a round (or two) after the game. They aren't Tiger Woods, and they accept that they're never going to be. How might it look if someone comes along and tells them that their way of enjoying golf is not the way?: You gotta knuckle down and learn the fundamentals: You gotta find a teacher. You gotta continually strive to improve or your game will never get any better no matter how much you play? Maybe it would look like this! Great Expectations Since most of us who enjoy golfing are not full-time (nor even part-time) students at any sort of academy, our learning opportunities are limited. We can, however, find learning opportunities of sorts within our community, through golf workshops, league play and hanging around the clubhouse. These venues are not ideal, but they are often readily available and the cost is quite low or nil. Based on what I’ve heard in the clubhouse, and have heard from my friends on the greens, however, many of us are misjudging the instructional value of these venues. Many of us are mistakenly equating the tips and advice freely offered at the pro shop, in the clubhouse and at workshops with real instruction. This is a mistake that can lead to unnecessary disappointment and cause us to level unwarranted criticism at those we believe to be teaching us. Sipping a few beers in the clubhouse and attending golf workshops are fun, interesting and sometimes helpful, but they are by no means credible substitutes for real instruction. They’re actually quite poor places from which to get instruction. A Matter of Degrees Contrary to what many may believe, golf is complex and intricate. The art and science of the game of golf is as deep and complex as any other art or science. Golf is no easier to fully understand and practice than architecture or psychology, but most of us do not appreciate this fact since golf is not generally viewed to be as important as architecture or psychology. Now, I don’t need to have studied music for years at a university in order to sing in my church choir, and I don’t need to have a doctorate in art history in order to understand what makes a Picasso special. The tips I can get from friends or find in magazines will tell me most of what I need to know in order to undertake a small carpentry project. However, the tips and advice that I can come by in conversations with my friends and get from magazines will not arm me with the skill and understanding I’d need to design a beautiful, functional and structurally sound 12-story office complex. When studying dance or when studying medicine or when studying engineering, we don’t believe for a moment that tips and advice will give us what we need to be skilled and knowledgeable in these endeavors. On the contrary, we understand that we’ll need to devote a few years of our lives in formal study (and a lot of monotonous effort) in order to acquire even basic competence in any of these endeavors. Of course, we often decide to undertake this kind of lengthy and arduous study because it usually results in our obtaining marketable skills and abilities. This is how we acquire necessary and lucrative careers. Golf, however, is not the kind of field of endeavor that usually results in a lucrative career. Therefore, it makes less sense to go to the effort and expense of a formal education in order to obtain a high degree of skill and understanding of golf art and science. Most of us are just hobbyists and do just fine with tips and advice, thank you very much. We generally have no need for much more. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop (Hey, I went to that workshop, too!) Sadly, I have noticed that more than a few of us tend to criticize clubs who host workshops where the participants don’t leave as golf geniuses. I have actually heard enthusiasts complain after a 4-hour workshop with a top pro, saying that they don’t think they got their money’s worth. What? Just what is it that we expect from a workshop? What can an pro teach us in 4 hours? More to the point, what can we learn in 4 hours? Well, since workshops are set up in nearly every case to be a “here, fix this swing for me” sort of activity, what exactly is it that we’re supposed to come away with, beyond a “fixed” swing? This does not even take into account the fact that many of us have the stupid habit of bringing the same tired clubs to 2 or 3 or 6 different workshops, all hosted by different pros. Also, from what I hear after most workshops, the attendees have little regard for the “instruction” that was offered by the pro in the first place. And they’re to blame for our lack of progress and ability? I don’t’ think so. Seriously, was it any 4-hour period of our formal education that made our respective professions possible? Does a couple or even a dozen 2 to 4 hour workshops make anyone competent any endeavor that matters? Would you let me function as your defense attorney in a trial after I had a couple of law workshops? Would you let me operate on your daughter after I took a few 4-hour workshops with a top surgeon? Would you hire me to design your clothing brand’s fall fashion line after a couple of 4-hour workshops with Isaac Misrahi? Would you let me build your house after a few carpentry workshops? Of course not! Outside of golf, we understand that in nearly every case, competence in complicated and deep endeavors is gained only through formal education. In fact, some who have not successfully completed a formal education are legally or socially prevented from practicing their skills professionally – and we all know why. Just because formal education is hard to come by in golf does not mean that we should expect miraculous results from what is more easily available to us. We can lament the situation, but let's not lose our minds. The school of talk Putting around on the greens and tossing back a few in the clubhouse are the most easily accessed “learning” resources available to most duffers. The better ones are healthy environments where enthusiasts trade advice and compliments, solicit and offer suggestions, and debate trivial or weighty matters. For some, especially those just starting out in golf, this activity is helpful, but it bears little resemblance to real instruction - and for a few good reasons. Part of what makes drinking in the clubhouse a poor venue for golf instruction is the fact that most believe that such camaradarie is meant to provide positive reinforcement only. That’s a poor way to teach – to say only positive things about the efforts of students. Students need to know when they’re on the wrong track and they need to know when their efforts stink, and why, in order to learn. In other words, students who put forth a D or F effort need to be graded as such, rather than being given a B+ and encouraged so as not to hurt their feelings. That is a malevolent and irresponsible practice that destroys potential rather than builds it. But, giving an F grade to someone’s effort as exhibited in an online forum is a good way to get yourself criticized and/or ostracized by much of the community there. Also, valuable instruction involves standards, required standards that students must meet or exceed in order to be allowed to continue their study. This is part of what makes formal instruction effective. No standards are necessary for discussion forum participation. And the mention of any sort of standard usually invites the ire of most forum participants anyway. Furthermore, note that in a school or an effective teaching/learning environment that there are teachers and there are students. The distinctions are clear and inviolate. Clubhouse bars have neither teachers nor students. Everyone is a teacher and everyone is a student. That’s fine for tips and advice and debate, but is anathema to an effective teaching/learning environment. Really, any old idiot can say anything he or she wants over a pint of ale, and have multitudes believe them – misleading many. Correcting such idiotic ramblings is not so easy as it might seem. Doing so invites retorts of “So who made you God?” or “Hey, we’re just here to talk and have fun, not be governed by some know-it-all.” So, many are just led astray. Most of us who participate in clubhouse shenanigans claim to be students of golf, but we rarely act like students and we routinely resent being taught. We especially resent being taught by the most effective means. Instead, we insist on being spoon-fed information and we appreciate it most when such information matches what we already believe we know. This lazy practice ensures that very little can actually be learned. Clubhouses are great for community building, entertainment, swapping tips and advice, but just plain awful for effective teaching and learning. So again, the fact that formal golf education is not usually available to us is no reason to bring unrealistic expectations to online discussion forums. The more knowledgeable participants who participate are not there to teach and the less knowledgeable participants there are not really there to be held to any sort of standard in learning – so it is unrealistic to expect to be taught in an online forum. Those who try quickly discover their folly. We sleep in the bed we make So what can we do? Can these readily available venues be turned into better teaching/learning environments? I’m not so sure that they can be, but I believe that we can work to improve how we use workshops and online media for golf instruction. Peer communication and instruction will continue to evolve and there are as yet unexplored methods online. For workshops, however, we have to change how most such events are structured in order to turn them into effective teaching/learning venues. But we’d also have to change what we expect to do in workshops. There, too, we expect to be spoon-fed, we seldom expect to actually have to work and we certainly don’t expect to be graded. All of that would have to change. I believe that most constructive change we can introduce is within ourselves. We need to modify our expectations and come to grips with the fact that a few workshops and a few hours of drinking at the 19th Hole will not turn us into Tiger Woods. We need to come to grips (no pun intended) with the fact that we’re not golf students if we don’t submit to formal instruction and the corresponding pressure of standards and evaluation. We also have to come to grips with the fact that those who help us and offer advice in workshops and online forums are not there to “teach” us – they’d be foolish to try. So, we have to not expect them to jump through our hoops. Certainly, not all of us want to be actual students of the art and science of golf. We’re happy to be duffers, to get by with tips and advice in order to please ourselves. Let’s just not mistake tips and advice for instruction. And let’s not expect leaps of improvement in our ability and understanding as a result of mere tips and advice. When we don’t show great improvement, it is not the fault of the professionals who hold workshops and it’s not the fault of the experienced and skilled participants at the clubhouse. For great improvement, we need to look to ourselves and discern just what we’re willing to do for improvement. Opportunities are available to us. There are skilled, knowledgeable and caring teachers who offer real instruction programs – some can be found in your club's PGA Listing. What they offer is expensive and requires great effort on our part, but then of course it is and of course it does! We can decide to take advantage of these sorts of opportunities or we can decide not to. In any event, it is our efforts and decisions that shape our education. Woody Driver zone 7, Pebble Beach __________________ Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today! bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!