Couldn't find a forum on this particular subject, so i'll be lazy and make one. I was playing locally and ran into a couple of guys that were S L O W. Not slow as in terrible play but just slow on the draw. I clocked the one gentleman, no lie, 45 seconds to hit the ball AFTER he chose his shot, pulled the club and walked to the ball! 5-6 practice swings and then another 7 seconds over the ball. I'd fall asleep if i waited that long over a shot. I actually had to cut out two holes, I played a 4 hour 15 minute 16 holes. We never waited on any shots.

Question is: have you ever clocked your shot? Generally the PGA tour allows 30 seconds to pull the trigger for each shot before you're put "on the clock". That's an eternity as far as i'm concerned. I clocked my shot from the time i pulled the club to the time i hit the ball at about 20 seconds average. For me, that's still long, but it's an average of everything - i should add- often including shot selection. Putts are shorter, drives are longer. Still that includes:

1. find my target line and my flight line. (if hitting a draw or fade)

2. Take 1 or 2 practice swings (depending on the difficulty of the shot and lie)

3. Set up and pull the trigger

What is YOUR time from when you decide the play and execute?

i'm not sure. i'll have to clock myself. i would estimate that I'm very average (not fast and not slow) when it comes to playing a shot. I don't take practice swings on full shots or putts, only on specialty shots (e.g. - punch), odd lies and short game shots. I do take the time to set my grip and waggle a few times, align to my target line and then make sure my balance and posture are correct before I fire, though.

15 to 25 seconds.

The funny thing is, the PGA actually allows 40 seconds (plus a grace period per hole), the LPGA allows for 30 seconds per shot. Also, the penalty is different between LPGA and PGA; where the ladies are penalized after the first clocked breach, the gentz get off with a warning for the first violation.

jev wrote:

15 to 25 seconds. The funny thing is, the PGA actually allows 40 seconds (plus a grace period per hole), the LPGA allows for 30 seconds per shot. Also, the penalty is different between LPGA and PGA; where the ladies are penalized after the first clocked breach, the gentz get off with a warning for the first violation.

Oh wow, you're right! i wasn't aware of the "grace period". They're playing for a lot of money, but still that's a little much.

I'm a slow golfer. I admit it.

But the stuff I do between shots is not slow at all. When it's my turn, I'm ready to hit 99% of the time except for the rare days where I have to use a glove and forget to put it on.

But I still don't think I take more than 30 seconds over a shot unless something happens that makes me back off of the shot. That happens from time to time because I'm convinced that doubt effects a golf shot. Just a couple of days ago, I was going for a par 5 green in two when, just before I pulled the trigger, I decided I didn't have enough confidence in my lie. So I pulled a different club and started over.

My philosophy is to take my time on my shots. Make sure I get them right. In between shots, I'm doing everything I can to hurry. But even when I'm taking my time, takin gmore than 20-30 seconds is a rarity.

I've never clocked myself, but I'm going to guess I'm around 15 seconds. I don't have much of a pre-shot routine (1 practice swing, address ball, hit ball), most of that takes place while I'm waiting for others to hit), and I'm picking a club & line as I'm getting to my ball. I take a little more time around the greens, but not much, maybe 1 or 2 extra swings to make sure I've got the right tempo for the shot I want to hit.

I am one of the fastest golfers on the planet.

I take a long time to hit the shot, sometimes close to :30 so I try to be quick about everything else and not waste anyone's time. For me its probably the aiming that takes too long. I have a hard time zoning in on the line sometimes, so it's something I work on.

When my regular buddies get together for a round, we try to play during the week, and early so as to beat the heat and crowds. we enjoy ourselves and don't rush anything, yet still finish in around 3 hours. That's 180 minutes for 18 holes, ten minutes a hole.

An interesting question, birdieXris. I will have to figure out a reasonable way to time myself over a number of different shots and see what develops. I suspect that knowing there is a timer will possible alter my speed but I will try to give it a fair test.

My gut tells me I am faster than the average player but not super fast. Certainly no 30-40 seconds when it is my turn.

I like to think that I play at a reasonable pace, though I have never timed myself. I did recently play 18 walking by myself and noted that I was done in about 3h,15m. Played with my son out of a cart and was done in 3:25, my normal group is normally done in in about 4-4:20. I'm sure though that I'm not as quick over the ball as I probably think, kind of like the way I think I hit my driver further than I actually do

My setup sounds pretty much like like birdieXris':

1) Find target
2) Line up over ball
3) 1-2 practice swings
4) Hit ball

I think I take a little longer than some of my playing partners because they don't stand behind the ball and "find a target" like I do, but if I don't do that my alignment gets even further off than it already is sometimes. I'm better off taking that little bit of extra time.

Look at the ball, look at the hole,look at the ball, hit the ball. One of two things will happen. You will hit the shot or not. Go find it and hit the damn thing again. Count your strokes after holing out. Golf is an easy game. Right!

Never timed myself but I reckon about 25 seconds per shot.

So, in those terms, am I slow? No. Each shot takes a pretty reasonable, maybe even short, length of time.

Trouble is I take a lot of them.

By comparison, and using the same timing terms, my usual playing partner is a lot slower. He takes AGES to pull the trigger...BUT takes less shots so is quicker overall.

Yet he's the impatient one! If he played with himself (fnarr, fnarr) he'd drive himself crazy...

Maybe I need to take a little more time.

bkuehn1952 wrote:

An interesting question, birdieXris. I will have to figure out a reasonable way to time myself over a number of different shots and see what develops. I suspect that knowing there is a timer will possible alter my speed but I will try to give it a fair test. My gut tells me I am faster than the average player but not super fast. Certainly no 30-40 seconds when it is my turn.

While you are at it, try to figure out if you are inhaling or exhaling when you swing.