March 6, 2005

Playing Golf and Playing Guitar

It is probably no surprise that a lot of analogies between music and golf have been coming to mind lately. Well, a few more sprung up whilst reading this article. In particular the lines about scoring better than 80, ‚Äú If You Shoot Over 80 You’re the kind of person the major club manufacturers love. […]

‚Äú If You Shoot Over 80
You’re the kind of person the major club manufacturers love. You think that you can “buy your game” so every opportunity you get to try the latest and greatest clubs you take it because you don’t think that your swing is the problem. So you buy that new driver and for a while you hit it great. A few weeks later that great new club isn’t so great anymore and it’s back to your old game. This leaves you scratching your head because you thought you had it and now it’s gone. At some point in your golf career you probably have taken 1 – 3 lessons and you always try every golf tip you hear about. Because of these constant changes in both your swing and your clubs you never really have the opportunity to get used to anything so you are left in a state of limbo always thinking that the elusive 70’s are just around the corner. ‚Äú

and the follow up,

‚ÄúIn order to break 80, you have to admit that it’s not the clubs‚Äù

Unlike golf, there is no scoring system in music. However, there is still a qualitative line between good and bad performance. I wonder how often in music GAS (Gear Aquisition Syndrome) is fueled by a realisation of inadequate performance and a matching lack of desire to address the underlying playing issues that create that inadequacy.

Tagged Golf, Music, Music Technology

Toni 19 years ago

Good heavens!

I’d never have linked guitar playing and a game involving small white balls. You sir, are the master of connections.

mrbluetone 19 years ago

I still use my original clubs..old spaldings..with wood drivers..never worried about the score that much just having fun in the outdoors…my gear has changed and now I play for the pure fun of it..but GAS can waste time and $$$ ….play hard and practice, practice, practice!

Oh, one interesting thing I recently discovered was how important golf was if you’re a ‘corporate individual’ in the US. I had cause to spend time with some senior people from a major US corp recently, and his view was that if you were in sales then the golf course was THE place where you made deals. Despite having travelled, the idea Europe might be different seemed to surprise him. Even for non-sales activities, it was virtually mandatory if you wanted to climb the slippery pole.

f 19 years ago

For me there is no doubt that having fun and enjoying the experience is more important than competition or some business aspect. There is something I quite like about the experience of being out in a quite space, doing some very low level exercise, challenging yourself to do something and then sharing a laugh at the consequences. However, there is a great deal I *dislike* about the ultra-competitive side of the game, the gamesmanship and the use of golf as a tool for social climbing.

Here in India the business angle is a very big part of things. It creates a very funny vibe, not just because of the number of corporate events. In discussion with a number of the club pros, it has been mentioned that I would be swimming in invites to play if I was a CEO; but because I’m not in the business world most of my rounds are played solo.

Andi 19 years ago

This is the nice thing about Mario Golf (preferably the GBA version, though the Gamecube one is excellent too) – you make a single initial investment (console, game, possibly a TV) and then there’s no possibility to spend a small fortune upgrading your clubs or buying laser-goggles to assess a green…

Plus even if it rains you don’t get wet!

Playing Golf and Playing Guitar

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