By Brian Davidson
Every successful golfer knows the worst kept secret in all of sports: The key to success is practice. Of course practice can mean a lot of different things. The Sunday foursome with your buddies can be a welcome break from the grind and still a great way to get some time hitting the links.
But what happens when one of your friends decides to morph into Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy, the self-anointed teaching pro, one of the most irritating subspecies known to golf? Others are the change-rattler, the “I'm-so-important cell-phone bore” and the self-commentator. You've never played with a self-commentator? The guy who feels compelled to give you an assessment of how he did after each of his shots, how he thought about going with a hard eight but went with an easy seven, but the wind changed, and he got an unlucky bounce, and it wasn't a great lie, and ... No? Well, you're lucky. If only golf bags came with a detachable "Quiet Please" sign, like the ones they hold up at the British Open--as soon as the noise pollution started, you could whip it out and wave it in the perpetrator's face.
So how does one deal with the advice guy? It's important to understand his motivation for spouting unwanted golf advice. Either he genuinely wants to help you, or, more likely, part of his identity, self-esteem, ego or mojo comes from the belief that he knows a lot about golf, and certainly more than the rest of the foursome. Dispensing golf tips reinforces that belief. He's delusional. In his mind, it is he who should be teaching Tiger. It doesn't make him a bad guy, but he needs to be put straight. Tell him you appreciate his interest, but you'd really be a lot happier if he would kindly butt out. When you want his advice, let him know that you'll be sure to ask for it.
Source: Golf Digest
