I'm a feel player.

[launcher]

Anytime I start thinking overly technical it spells disaster for me. Not sure if everyone believes in the feel player vs. technical player (theory?), but I've always played best when I just sort of find a groove and not think about anything. Of course there's no magic involved, and I can still play pretty terrible and find it so hard to get back on track. 

 

Wondering if any "feel players" out there, and what do you do or think about to get things back on track when struggling? 

[phizzy30]

I'm a feel player as well although I like looking at my numbers from time to time.  I have 1-2 feel thoughts in my head when playing out on the course.  Anymore and my brain explodes and I start to play worse.  When things go bad for me, it's usually either tempo or my sequencing(get stuck). 

Edited June 23, 2024 by phizzy30

[iacas]

Nobody is a "technical" player because we're not robots with dials and switches. If we were, we could be "programmed" and so on.

 

Even Nick Faldo had to learn from feels. He had to "feel" things to do them.

 

There are players who want to or like to (and even a small percentage who need to) know the technical stuff behind their feels, but at the end of the day, everyone is a feel player.

 

Edit to add: To the OP… when you get "off," your mechanics are different, so you have to feel something to change them. Mechanics are how you hit the ball… feels are how you perceive them. There's likely a small dash of confidence/mental game stuff in there, but… I want my students to understand the mechanics (because I want them to know what they're looking for on video or from the ball flight, etc.), but every lesson I give is largely about the feels they use to achieve them. Knowing the mechanics also helps them know when to back off or shift feels, too.

 

Edited June 23, 2024 by iacas
added

[SNIPERBBB]

Thing is you ought to know the technical reasons why your feels work and what's happening when those feels stop working for whatever reason that day. Good example of this was yesterday for me...couldnt hit the ball on the front at all and took 4 penalties en route to a 40(scraped 2 birdies in). Back nine I added another penalty but managed 5 birdies on the back for a 32.

Edited June 23, 2024 by SNIPERBBB

[JayMas]

Everyone's a feel player.

[me05501]

I think it’s important to connect the results of your shots to what you're feeling as you make them. It’s part of the feedback loop that wires your brain to get the most from your body. 
 

That said I’ve heard the phrase “I’m a feel player” used a lot of ways. I think for some it’s a defense against letting technical thoughts creep in on them. For some it may just be an excuse for not wanting to learn more about how a good swing works. 

[J_Tizzle]

I would consider myself a "feel" guy as well.  

 

But the feel aspect of it, at least to me, is very tempo related.  As soon as my tempo gets bad thats where all hell breaks loose.  If I can keep my backswing slow and not jump into the downswing I don't have to think about anything else and it just happens.  

[Greenie]

 When I am not swinging well I consider that the technical part of my swing. I suppose when looking for an answer to correct my issues after I have found it there is a feeling that this feels right.  

 

I consider myself to be a feel player. When I play my best golf I can feel the shots.  I can feel the swing tempo and visualize the distance and  shot in my mind.

 

I played in a scramble Friday. Inside of 125 yds I was sticking the pins all day long. I could feel the swing tempo and the distance needed to the flag stick. My chipping and putting was spot on.

 

There are some days my feel is off. I'll end up being short or long all day long. I can't seem to get the distance down unless I am taking a full swing with a club.

 

 

 

[J_Tizzle]

20 hours ago, Greenie said:

 When I am not swinging well I consider that the technical part of my swing. I suppose when looking for an answer to correct my issues after I have found it there is a feeling that this feels right.  

 

I consider myself to be a feel player. When I play my best golf I can feel the shots.  I can feel the swing tempo and visualize the distance and  shot in my mind.

 

I played in a scramble Friday. Inside of 125 yds I was sticking the pins all day long. I could feel the swing tempo and the distance needed to the flag stick. My chipping and putting was spot on.

 

There are some days my feel is off. I'll end up being short or long all day long. I can't seem to get the distance down unless I am taking a full swing with a club.

 

 

 

 

I have a buddy thats starting to get much more serious about golf and he's actually pretty solid anymore, and he and I had a practice session the other day and he just asked me "how do you hit like a 75 yard shot", and I felt bad because my only response was "well a full 58* is 85 yards, so I just hit it less full".  Not super helpful but its how I do it, lol.  

[angler99]

I was a feel player for 15 years. Thought because I was somewhat athletic and could naturally hit the ball pretty well I didn't need lessons. Then I got to a single digit handicap and just hovered between 9-10 HC for years. I realized I had no idea of the proper way swing. I'd give anything to go back in time and start with lessons as I spent so much time ingraining bad technique that is so hard to get rid of now.  Now I have to be technical because what is natural is wrong.

[ShortGolfer]

I played my 2nd best round of 43 on an executive nine with no GPS or rangefinder though I normally use one or the other.  42 was the best ever during much better summer conditions.

 

Now that I've been retired for a year I've practiced enough that I don't really need to think about my swing.

I have a setup/alignment routine to account for the lie and distance.  

Swing thoughts are optional. Sometimes I just stare at the ball and let my muscle memory take over.  Has worked well for quite some time with my irons.

Edited June 24, 2024 by ShortGolfer

[NoTalentLefty]

Feel player here. Hate the p1 p2 p3 etc talk. I can’t relate to that stuff. Go into a blank stare when hearing about it. Like club head directed language like MDLT, Jones, Larkin, etc. 

[WonderBread]

First time post, but I used to do Olympic weightlifting pretty seriously. It’s super common since the lifts are so technical that coaches give you complexes of movements that aren’t the competition lift to make you “feel” something to fix your competition lift. I feel like that mindset helped me a lot when I first started trying to improve in golf. 

[Soloman1]

sorry, but it bears repeating.

 

everyone is a feel player. the “technical” stuff is to find feels.

[Mike_C]

For many, being a feel player means you use very good hand/eye coordination to overcome poor fundamentals. 

 

I have a few friends I play with who are very handsy/feelsy chippers and pitchers of the ball, and used to be very good at it.  This works with a lot of practice, but as they have gotten older, and practice/play less and less, their short games have gone way down hill...., then their confidence went away, then the chipping yips started......  I probably should count me in that camp too, but I have changed a lot of how I play short shots now..... 😄

[Ross_Albatross]

1 hour ago, WonderBread said:

First time post, but I used to do Olympic weightlifting pretty seriously. It’s super common since the lifts are so technical that coaches give you complexes of movements that aren’t the competition lift to make you “feel” something to fix your competition lift. I feel like that mindset helped me a lot when I first started trying to improve in golf. 

100% - as others have mentioned, you practice technical moves in order for you to get feels of what is happening when done correctly. Everyone is a feel player onces over the ball.

 

When I hear guys talk about them being a feel player, I think it goes a step beyond that (and I'm not sure that the best way to go about it): 'Yeah I'm a good driver of the ball, I feel like I don't get penalized much', 'my approach game is all world, I don't look much at the green complex, I just go at it', 'Trevino didn't need a freaking rangefinder to hit it on the green'... seems like they want to convince others that they don't need much of a 'think box' / 'play box' combo, that they're good enough, or have played enough to just feel their way around the course - old man yelling at cloud vibe

[Mike_C]

25 minutes ago, PracticeSwinger said:

as others have mentioned, you practice technical moves in order for you to get feels of what is happening when done correctly. Everyone is a feel player onces over the ball.

That's what I  was trying to say. When you don't do something correctly you make it harder to repeat IMO.  You use feel/hand eye coordination to compensate and try to get back into a proper position, but it's not easy,  and when off the results can be worse to very bad.

[naval2006]

I have a natural game that I ingrained through years of practice. These days it's mostly based on rhythm since my swing has been put to the test already. 
 

Now the days I’m off I have a hard time trying to go back on track. Perhaps it’s age, I don’t know. 

[WonderBread]

1 hour ago, PracticeSwinger said:

100% - as others have mentioned, you practice technical moves in order for you to get feels of what is happening when done correctly. Everyone is a feel player onces over the ball.

 

When I hear guys talk about them being a feel player, I think it goes a step beyond that (and I'm not sure that the best way to go about it): 'Yeah I'm a good driver of the ball, I feel like I don't get penalized much', 'my approach game is all world, I don't look much at the green complex, I just go at it', 'Trevino didn't need a freaking rangefinder to hit it on the green'... seems like they want to convince others that they don't need much of a 'think box' / 'play box' combo, that they're good enough, or have played enough to just feel their way around the course - old man yelling at cloud vibe

This 100%. Golf seems to be the only sport I’ve been apart of that people think it happens “naturally” or as a result of “feel.” I also play college basketball and yeah a college player can feel their shot because they’ve done it thousands of times. People in golf sometimes expect a feel to carry them when in reality you just have to literally grind technical movements to make them into a feel. I’ve been going through this with wrist hinge and a less inside takeaway