Another stupid thread from me: golf is harder than pool

dquarasr

dquarasr

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I am not a golfer. I tried it many years ago and decided it wasn’t for me.

I am watching The Masters. I have previously thought that golf is inherently harder and crueler than pool. And pool can be pretty darned cruel: the rattle leaving the $ ball in the pocket; the roll that lands 1/4” too long or too short hooking yourself; the scratch after hitting a ball on the table you didn’t account for; the missed straight-in long shot where the CB is 4’ from the OB and OB in turn 4’ from the pocket. All these can be avoided or fixed by experience, and better focus.

But playing pool I’ve never missed a shot by fractions of an inch and had the OB run down a hill dozens of yards away. I’ve never had an OB land in sand or water because I misjudged a shot maybe 1% short of the power I needed, or behind a tree. I’ve never had to calculate how much the CB or OB will curve because the slate is uphill the first half of a shot and downhill the second half (well, maybe at some halls, lol.)

Pool is tough and frustrating enough for me. Golf seems much more so.
 
dquarasr said:
I am not a golfer. I tried it many years ago and decided it wasn’t for me.

I am watching The Masters. I have previously thought that golf is inherently harder and crueler than pool. And pool can be pretty darned cruel: the rattle leaving the $ ball in the pocket; the roll that lands 1/4” too long or too short hooking yourself; the scratch after hitting a ball on the table you didn’t account for; the missed straight-in long shot where the CB is 4’ from the OB and OB in turn 4’ from the pocket. All these can be avoided or fixed by experience, and better focus.

But playing pool I’ve never missed a shot by fractions of an inch and had the OB run down a hill dozens of yards away. I’ve never had an OB land in sand or water because I misjudged a shot maybe 1% short of the power I needed, or behind a tree. I’ve never had to calculate how much the CB or OB will curve because the slate is uphill the first half of a shot and downhill the second half (well, maybe at some halls, lol.)

Pool is tough and frustrating enough for me. Golf seems much more so.
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The most frustrating thing about golf is that if you are in trouble, you put yourself there. :)
 
dquarasr said:
I am not a golfer. I tried it many years ago and decided it wasn’t for me.

I am watching The Masters. I have previously thought that golf is inherently harder and crueler than pool. And pool can be pretty darned cruel: the rattle leaving the $ ball in the pocket; the roll that lands 1/4” too long or too short hooking yourself; the scratch after hitting a ball on the table you didn’t account for; the missed straight-in long shot where the CB is 4’ from the OB and OB in turn 4’ from the pocket. All these can be avoided or fixed by experience, and better focus.

But playing pool I’ve never missed a shot by fractions of an inch and had the OB run down a hill dozens of yards away. I’ve never had an OB land in sand or water because I misjudged a shot maybe 1% short of the power I needed, or behind a tree. I’ve never had to calculate how much the CB or OB will curve because the slate is uphill the first half of a shot and downhill the second half (well, maybe at some halls, lol.)

Pool is tough and frustrating enough for me. Golf seems much more so.
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Golf might be more interesting if you're on the Green and I can run up and kick it into a sand trap and say "Shoot from there m****r f****r".
 
dquarasr said:
I am not a golfer. I tried it many years ago and decided it wasn’t for me.

I am watching The Masters. I have previously thought that golf is inherently harder and crueler than pool. And pool can be pretty darned cruel: the rattle leaving the $ ball in the pocket; the roll that lands 1/4” too long or too short hooking yourself; the scratch after hitting a ball on the table you didn’t account for; the missed straight-in long shot where the CB is 4’ from the OB and OB in turn 4’ from the pocket. All these can be avoided or fixed by experience, and better focus.

But playing pool I’ve never missed a shot by fractions of an inch and had the OB run down a hill dozens of yards away. I’ve never had an OB land in sand or water because I misjudged a shot maybe 1% short of the power I needed, or behind a tree. I’ve never had to calculate how much the CB or OB will curve because the slate is uphill the first half of a shot and downhill the second half (well, maybe at some halls, lol.)

Pool is tough and frustrating enough for me. Golf seems much more so.
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You also don't get 5 chances to make a shot.
 
Mark Twain is attributed to describing golf rather aptly.

“Golf is a good walk spoiled.”

Some people prefer to substitute “ruined” for spoiled.

Regardless, I always made it a point to carry lots of business cards playing golf.
I’d pass them out to golfers when I asked if they happened to spot my golf ball?

p.s. I knew it couldn’t have been a horrible day of golf as long as I had business
cards left by the 18th hole. How many remained said if I broke 100, 90, but never
made to 80. Closest I ever got was a low round of 81…..never attained a 14 index.
 
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The 2 are apples and oranges. Regardless of the perceived difficulty of one over the other the fact remains that while you may progress at improving at pool faster than golf you still will hit a plateau that is extremely difficult to surpass. Both take years of training to play well and even more years to play at a level approaching being a competitive pro.
 
mnorwood said:
The 2 are apples and oranges. Regardless of the perceived difficulty of one over the other the fact remains that while you may progress at improving at pool faster than golf you still will hit a plateau that is extremely difficult to surpass. Both take years of training to play well and even more years to play at a level approaching being a competitive pro.
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Lotta times it's some banal fundamental thing holding up the show. I suspect most just wait for the improvements to unfold. Not likely to happen.
 
Golf courses have elemental variables. Billiard tables are pristine controlled environments. That alone is worth talking about.
 
I consider myself a decent natural athlete. I tried golf and did not like it. Took a few lessons and still did not like it. No pun but could not get the swing of it. Respect to those that play
 
One way to answer that question is to answer instead:

For the top 100 players in each sport, how many hours of practice did it take them to break into the top 100?

Next: Which is harder, chess or curling?
 
I don’t know, never played golf, unless you count miniature golf, but I’m sure pool would be much easier if we were allowed 3-5 strokes to get each ball in the hole.
 
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Bavafongoul said:
Mark Twain is attributed to describing golf rather aptly.

“Golf is a good walk spoiled.”

Some people prefer to substitute “ruined” for spoiled.

Regardless, I always made it a point to carry lots of business cards playing golf.
I’d pass them out to golfers when I asked if they happened to spot my golf ball?
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He also said about pool "The game of billiards has ruined my naturally sweet disposition". :)
 
mdc said:
I don’t know, never played golf, unless you count miniature golf, but I’m sure pool would be much easier if we were allowed 3-5 strokes to get the balls in the holes.
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Just play one pocket. Your opponent will be pocketing balls for you. Easy-peasy.
 
easy to answer, both are easy and simple to learn. and i have made plenty at both and can't play any other sports worth a shit.

in only a few sports does the ball just sit there and not move and you walk up and take your time, wiggle around and hit it.
that's pool and golf, and maybe add croquet. and any fool can play and hit a sitting duck.

take tennis, baseball, ping pong, all sorts of sports the ball is flying fast at you and you have just a few or less seconds to be on it.
 
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