The better the player the more likely ....

[Thomas Dai]

The better the player the more likely they are to blame the course, the conditioning, the greens, the sand consistency, the weather, the rough etc etc etc, but never themselves, for their ineptitude and screw-ups?
atb

[Mark_Fine]

Thomas,
Would a average bowler know if the lanes are not oiled quite right?  Would an regular driver know if a race track is not banked properly?  Would an average fisherman know if it is not the ideal time of day to catch a big one?  Would an average pool player know if the cushions are slightly inconsistent?  Would an average swimmer know it the pool is fast or slow?  I could go on 


Does the average golfer know much about golf course design?


There are always exceptions to the rule but we are talking average. 

[A.G._Crockett]

I think it’s true, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a whiny mentality. Really elite athletes are just …different in terms of what they feel and what they are doing.


A couple of examples: I read an article years ago in which Tom Stites, who I think was the club guy for Nike, saying that Tiger could accurately tell the difference in the weight of drivers down to a couple of grams, which is about like the weight of a dime.


Another one was told by an SI writer, maybe Deford or Reilly, who was watching Bill Bradley working out in a college gym prior to an interview. Bradley would shoot, then stop and look at the rim, and finally stopped and said, “This rim is low.”  Somebody got a ladder and a tape measure, and the rim was 1/4” low.  1/4”…


There are a couple of Nicklaus stories about putting in Rotella’s books that are similar.  I won’t try to retell those, but the essence was that Nicklaus said that he didn’t miss particular putts; they just hadn’t gone in, with the implication being that it was the green, not him.


Elite athletes have physical gifts that are hard for mere mortals to understand, and it’s often accompanied by TREMENDOUS confidence in those gifts, plus a powerful ego. When things go wrong, it isn’t surprising that they look outward for a cause, though I know people find that off-putting.

[Kalen Braley]

Thomas this is true of pro athletes in all sports...

Baseball, Hockey, Football, and even Basketball.  I got a kick out of watching Luke Doncic, one of the biggest whiner boys in the NBA, complain that the rim was slightly off, even though they double and triple checked it.

And it would seem that golfers would plausibly have the most legitimate gripes, considering their fields of play can be vastly different from week to week, unlike most other sports.

[Garland Bayley]

The better the player the more likely they are to blame the course, the conditioning, the greens, the sand consistency, the weather, the rough etc etc etc, but never themselves, for their ineptitude and screw-ups?
atb

Yep, that is exactly what the psychological studies tell us.

Their finding was they were the most dishonest about their performance to themselves.

I.e., if you admit mistakes it hurts your confidence.

[Wayne_Kozun]

They need to have this mentality to maintain their confidence in their abilities.  If something doesn't go right it was someone or something else's fault.  Their execution was perfect.

[Rob Marshall]

Guilty as charged.

[Peter Pallotta]

The irony being that if great players didn't complain great architects would be out of a job and most of the world's great courses wouldn't be here.