Golf is a game, and games are meant to be fun. Why is it, then, that so many people give up golf in a fit of frustration? Well, there are multiple reasons – and many of them are quite valid. But if you know what the causal factors are, you might be able to save yourself from throwing in the towel before it’s too late.
5 Reasons People Quit Golf
You’ll rarely meet someone who loves tennis but suddenly quit the sport after playing a bad round. The same goes for amateur athletes who enjoy team sports like basketball, softball, or soccer. Golfers, on the other hand, are notorious for giving up on the sport. Many will even walk off expensive courses in the middle of a round, simply because they can’t hit the ball straight.
Why is this? And what can be done to ensure fewer golfers walk away from the sport? Here are several of the primary culprits:
There’s no amateur sport in the world as difficult as golf. And while some people are certainly more naturally gifted than others, you can’t excel without practice. Lots and lots of practice. And guess what practice requires? Time.
Unlike other sports that you can take a break from and return to with basically the same skill level, golf requires steady, consistent practice – ideally multiple times per week. If you don’t have the time or commitment, you’ll miss out.
- Taking the Game Too Seriously
Golf was never meant to be a defining metric of your worth as a human being (or even as an athlete). Yet people take the game so seriously that they attach their identity to the sport. When things go south, they’d rather quit than fight through.
You might be able to hack your way around a golf course without any trained skills. However, if you’ve never taken a professional golf lesson in your life, how can you expect to be any good? (Let alone break 100, 90, or 80?) Getting several professional lessons can at least help you shore up your weaknesses and figure out a game plan that will make golfing somewhat fun.
- Lacking the Right Equipment
Naturally, we all gravitate toward the equipment that PGA Tour players are using. We see an expensive driver in a commercial and automatically assume that we’ll be able to hit the ball 300 yards. But truth be told, you probably shouldn’t be using the same equipment that the pros are using. When you’re a hack golfer just trying to shoot a lower score, you need game improvement clubs.
A lot of people quit because they don’t have the right equipment (which is unknowingly and unnecessarily holding them back from being better golfers). Seek out game-improvement clubs that can enhance your scoring – like the L.A.B. Golf line of putters. This alone could save you three or four strokes per round.
Very few people are able to consistently dedicate five-plus hours to play a round of golf each week. Yet this is what it takes at most courses these days. Even worse, most of this time is spent waiting around for the group in front of you to get out of the way.
Slow pace of play, combined with stuffy courses that have outdated requirements and holier-than-thou attitudes about the game, are turning people away in droves. Once this gets figured out, more golfers will have the patience to stick with it.
Putting it All Together
So much of the frustration of golf stems from the emotional rollercoaster. One round, you play lights out, then the next, you can’t get the ball off the ground. It’s exhilarating and impossible at the same time.
“So here we stand,” Stick and Hack writes. “Lovers crossed. An emotional relationship in peril. Do I love or hate? Do I stay or do I go? Do I throw all of this history, investment, and experience in the tank or embrace it?”
If that statement doesn’t perfectly sum up the emotional experience of golf, then what does? This sport is tempting yet tough – fun yet frustrating. It’s everything and nothing at the same time.
Even the most avid golfers – people who love the sport and couldn’t imagine walking away – have to fight through some of these unsavory elements of the game. By addressing these issues, we can ensure the game that we love so dearly can reach and engage more people than ever.
You can view the original article HERE.
