Not only tennis has changed...

[gzhpcu]

but technology has changed the game of golf as well, as a golfer friend of mine told me. So I found this article: https://www.quora.com/How-was-golf-c...er-the-decades

Off the tee, technology is just absurd. Driver technology has radically changed in the past 20 years (I would say for the worst IMHO). The true craft of hitting a wood (actual wood), and shaping your ball flight based on a finely tuned swing is not as important today as it was 20 years ago (off the tee). The head of the driver is 5 times larger, made of patented alloys (mainly titanium), and have a much more forgiving area of impact on the clubface. This increases distance significantly and decreases the amount of spin on the ball.

Sound familiar?

[johnyandell]

maybe I could learn to play golf now...

[tennis_chiro]

but technology has changed the game of golf as well, as a golfer friend of mine told me. So I found this article: https://www.quora.com/How-was-golf-c...er-the-decades



Sound familiar?

Interestingly,the USGA says that, despite all the changes in equipment and balls, the average score or player's index (I'm not sure; I couldn't find the reference, but I know I have heard this repeatedly) has not dropped more than a few tenths in 50 years, and I believe the same is true of the scores on the pro tour (although they do play longer courses now).

Gene Sarazen was well known to have said the greatest advancement in golf technology in the twentieth century was the power mower!

don

[klacr]

maybe I could learn to play golf now...

Stick to an actual sport John. Continue to play tennis.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

"Old golfers don't die - they only lose their balls"...

[don_budge]

GOLF…Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden

maybe I could learn to play golf now...

Actually it's getting a bit late and I only say that because you probably have a life…a very busy life. You'd be surprised how time intensive golf is compared to tennis. The similarities between the sports is quite fascinating…as well as the differences. I always say that tennis…is golf on the run.

On a good day it will take you probably 4 1/2 hours to play a round of golf. Figure at least an hour round trip driving to and fro. An hour of practice before with warmup routine. A little fine-tuning after your round plus a couple of beers with your golfing partners. Well…you get the picture.

I took my first golf lesson on my 40th birthday. I "mastered" the game in 13 years. Ha! Mastered? That will come back to haunt me. Come to think of it…it already has. It's an intense psychological battle…between the ears…along the years. I've taught golf here in Sweden a couple of years. Learning to play golf helped me to truly understand the biomechanics of the swing…golf and tennis otherwise. 10splayer is a very good golfer…from what I understand. It figures…his grasp of fundamental swing mechanics is among the best.

[don_budge]

That is a fact…tennis_chiro

Interestingly,the USGA says that, despite all the changes in equipment and balls, the average score or player's index (I'm not sure; I couldn't find the reference, but I know I have heard this repeatedly) has not dropped more than a few tenths in 50 years, and I believe the same is true of the scores on the pro tour (although they do play longer courses now).

Gene Sarazen was well known to have said the greatest advancement in golf technology in the twentieth century was the power mower!

don

tennis_chiro is also an excellent golfer from what I understand…it figures as his understanding of swing mechanics is excellent and comprehensive.

Gene Sarazen…he of the double eagle at Augusta fame. It's true about the lawn mower. The way that courses are manicured these days has to be night and day compared to those lawns of yesteryear. Speaking of lawns…look how they have manufactured a grass to play like velcro at Wimbledon. Did I ever mention my double eagle here on the forum? I was three over par after nine holes and after the par five tenth hole I was even. I hit a 4-wood in the hole from two hundred and twenty yards. My partner, Blaize Sparma (Joe Sparma's son) saw it go in…while I did not. But it was pretty surreal picking the ball out of the hole. An act of God.

When I first started playing golf the technology was very fascinating in the beginning but after I settled down I realized that what was true in tennis is also true in golf. The swing is the thing. At least to a point.

It's interesting that as you note and point out the scoring averages have barely budged on iota. Basically the drivers in the hands of professionals can virtually and realistically drive it out of the park. The ball is the other piece of equipment that gets very, very high ratings in terms of the amount of technology that has been invested and injected into the game.

But a couple of things about the game make it reasonable that the scoring hasn't changed at all. Golf is a game of the infinite just as tennis is a game of the finite. Begin with the tennis court and why technology in bigger racquets has had such a huge and devastating effect on the game. The courts are the same size anywhere in the world. By increasing the size of the racquet so significantly in relation to the size of the court the premium on speed and power has been over exaggerated to the point where the game is unrecognizable from the original. If anything they should reduce the size of the courts corresponding to the increase in racquet size. There's an interesting proposal…shrink the courts by fifty percent.

But when you consider the golf course…no two golf courses are the same on the entire planet. The infinite number of possibilities and the length of the golf course make the equipment less imposing on the game. Not to say that the monster driving off of the tee has not changed the concept of the game.

Since I did not start playing the game until my fortieth birthday, I more or less resigned myself from the beginning to play the game like an older man. I concentrated on the placement aspect of control as opposed to distance and it actually served me quite well as my handicap approached scratch golf.

While golf and tennis certainly have some very interesting aspects of the games that are similar it is the differences between the two that make them so compelling and difficult to play simultaneously. It is impossible to train for both at the same time. That would make an interesting Olympic event a golf/tennis combo sport. Know what I mean?

[don_budge]

klacr…wait until you turn 40

Stick to an actual sport John. Continue to play tennis.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Yes…I understand your scepticism but I suspect a bit of tongue in cheek from the young man from Florida. I always said…"I'll never play golf…until I turn forty."

That little qualifier…"until I turn forty" was so on the money. I took my first lesson on my birthday when I turned forty and hardly left the golf clubs alone for 13 years. What a journey and whatever possessed me to do that? What an effort!

I went out today and hit a few…I hit a bucket. It's been several years since I played seriously. It might take me several years to get back into form. I'll tell you what klacr…the dual nature of my personna now with the tennis/golf thing makes me multi dimensional. It was a tremendous amount of work and took an incredible amount of dedication. Seriously…I don't know how I did it. Or why for that matter.

It's a real sport alright. Try walking 18 holes carrying your bag. That should be enough to convince you. Try doing that four days in a row. Your attitude will change about the game real quick. Anybody that thinks it isn't hasn't played it seriously. Maybe when you turn forty…young man. But I can understand your sentiments…I was young once too.

You'll see klacr. It isn't only tennis and golf that have changed. You'll change to…with time. Father time. Remember what Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote..“The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half.” You don't want to be like that.

One might say that 40 is halftime…you are in the locker assessing what went right…what could be improved. Behind? Ahead? You need a stategy for the second half and beyond. A good one.

[klacr]

I got 7 years to go don_budge.

As far as change goes. I guess. But I won't change, I'll evolve.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

That little qualifier…"until I turn forty" was so on the money. I took my first lesson on my birthday when I turned forty and hardly left the golf clubs alone for 13 years. What a journey and whatever possessed me to do that? What an effort!

I quite fancy playing golf. My father played off scratch. He gave me a lesson just once about six months before he died. I missed the first ball completely...hit the air. I scuffed the next 10 or so too. Then my father told me not to try and whack it because it was causing me to rush the downward swing. He got me to pause the club at the top of the backswing for two seconds before commencing the downward swing, and to concentrate on timing the ball rather than powering it. It worked. I started to centre the ball. The last handful of balls I hit went straight out of the middle and straight down the fairway. I hardly felt them leave the club. That was a lovely feeling....comparable to the feelings I have had striking tennis balls.