I never understood this , why does a little noise distract a Golfer?

Question

I Love Golf I am a single digit handicap , I never understood why some golfers get a little bent out of shape if someone is talking while you are putting or teeing off , it never bothered me , I compare it to when thousands of people are shouting at you while you are shooting a free throw , so lets see How many of you let a little noise or talking bother you , also please post your Handicaps as well I am curious , Best Answer 10 Points.

Answer 1

3rd year of golfing, 10 handicap quickly dropping....Noise never bothered me too at all unless it happens right at the top of the swing. h**l sometimes my dad will do the change in the pocket thing and I'll send a 275 yarder straight down the middle. I guess I can see golfing for a a million dollars and getting pissed off about someone coughing during your swing but some people (Tiger) take it a little overboard threatening to kill people because their camera clicked haha. But lets face it golf is for grumpy old men so they need something to blame the shank out of bounds on so the noise was all they could think of.

Answer 2

Golf is a game requiring an extreme amount of concentration.  Distractions like noise and movement can drastically affect their shot. When a player is preparing to hit their ball, proper etiquette requires other players stop moving and maintain silence until their shot is complete.

Answer 3

That "little noise" may be a hook or slice coming from the next fairway at your head.

There are no little white missiles zinging about the place while you play basketball, etc.

Maybe that's why Whittington got shot by Cheney. He was a basketballer, not a golfer

Answer 4

This is a really good question - one of the best I've ever heard.

Personally I do not think it has anything to do with concentration or anything like that.

I think it is because golfers are used to silence when they play.  In any other sport the sound of the crowd is part of the game and in many instances increases the player's concentration.  I think you would find this would be the same in golf if there was a constant background noise which we had been used to since the beginning of time.

As it is because it is so quiet any small sudden (and therein lies the crux) sound is amplified.

Just my thoughts.

Great question.

PS I play off a 9 and can usually ignore sounds just through concentrating on the shot.

Answer 5

We used to have somebody like that in our foursome, now he plays alone.

Answer 6

to many people, it's more than a game

Answer 7

If you played with the people in MY foursome, you would dramatically rephrase this question.

Answer 8

I think that whenever you are practicing golf it is usually quiet and you are concentrating hard and focusing so whenever you get out there in the real thing then you want it to be the same environment that u practiced in and whenever the slightest movement or talk or whisper will disturb someone because they are focusing and they dont want to be bothered but then again some people it doesnt bother...

My Handicap is a 7.7   I am 16 and i have been playing for about 1 year and 1/2

Answer 9

Perhaps you are the jock who is not easily distracted, who is accustomed to noisy venues, and has a great power of concentration. It doesn't mean that those who haven't experienced turmoil  or do not have that ability should not be disturbed by distracting noises.. You may very well be the exception to the rule. Many of us are distracted and etiquette says that such behavior is not for the course. I have been a 2 handicap in college, carried a single digit handicap until I was 80 and at 85 carry a 14. If noise is your thing go to the gym for it has no place on the course. There you can yell, show your macho personality all you want and act as you wish.

Answer 10

My handicap hovers around a 13, but noise doesn't bother me too much.  It does some people though because they generally have a harder time concentrating on what they're doing.  The main thing is that it is a breach of etiquette and common courtesy.

Answer 11

hahahah. i dont know. it never bothered me either. i think some people are just so wound up, they think that any little sound will s***w them up. i played 4 years on my highschool team, and we're girls chattin and screwin around, it never messed me up. also, i was all about having fun. when you get too serious, like 'no noise. i can't hear anything to tee off,' it just takes the fun out of it. i don't wanna be some tight butt that can't have any noise going on. i mean even on golf courses there's street traffic, you never know. but it's not always gonna be dead silent!!!

...i don't know my handicap...i never learned how to do that....lol.

Answer 12

There's a lot more room for possible error when hitting a small ball with the curved end of a stick over a large distance than there is throwing a large ball a few feet.  Also, most golfers don't play basketball.

Answer 13

its just because some golfers just take it so seriously and concentrate so hard that any tiny noise will throw them off balance

Answer 14

we should play together, I don't care who the heck is yacking - I tune it all out...

Answer 15

because golf is one of the most boring games out there so they try to keep it boring by shutting everyone up....

i played football and couldn't even hear anyone but my other team-mates and my coach while i was on the field, and you get to hurt people which makes it more fun

Answer 16

I guess some people are just distracted easily, or have a harder time concentrating or getting into the game. I golf as well, but not a lot. I don't really have this problem, but I know people who do.

Answer 17

Its because some players get very focused, and once that happens the tiniest noise for some players (like a stick snapping) makes the player lose their concentration. They then get mad etc. etc. etc. Tigers dad trained him to ignore distractions by using a green boray type of training. ie. coughing while he was swinging, throwing a golf ball in front of the ball he was going to hit. So most pros tune it out