MBaggese:
Not belittling anything posted, but I think I now am seeing the difference between players and gamers.
Perhaps the difference between players and gamers is similar to the difference between casual/amateur real golf player and professsional real golf players.
Professional players repeat countless of time the same movement, the same shots, the same putts to get as close as possible to some perfection (impossible to reach of course but they try to get as close as possible). They spend hours per day to practice and in the process they learn every aspect of the game, like for example judging distances, much better than casual players. They are getting deep into the game (it's their job after all so it's normal). So that's why, beside their natural gifts, professional players are way ahead compared to casual players.
I guess golf is like everything else: it's 5-10% of natural gift and the rest is pure work.
However this game being de facto different from real golf (we are sitting in front of a screen and clickling), the work to do to reach some "perfection" is different from real golf... But there are a lot of work to do and it takes a lot of time.
So you should not denigrate the amount of work and time putted into this game by some players by calling them gamers (which, as I understand, is a pejorative word for you in this context).
Of course that's just a game. And I completely understand that many players are just here to have fun and spend time with friends they made here. I do it too and that's very fine (I guess it's the primary goal of a game: having fun :) ).
But those players should also understand that other players are also here to try to play as good as possible on every rounds they do (it's impossible but they try). And in the process, be sure that you can also have a lot of fun. To get there, you need to practice a lot... That's perhaps why this is always the same bunch of players who are at the top of the leaderboard...
MBaggese:
Hey, ya'll go with the formulas that got you here and will get you to where you want to be, but all you have done is solve a math equation at the end of the day...did you have fun with that?
You exagerate a lot. I personally use only one formula to estimate how distance is affected by wind. When there is pure crosswind or almost pure crosswind, I don't even need it.
As I wrote above:
Estimating the effect of the wind on the power to use is a very small part of the game.
Moreover with some feeling and a good memory you can do it without formula.
All other aspects of the game to master do not involve any math/formula.
Just to name a few:
- Moving the aim to counter lateral wind on approach shot (pure feel for me)
- clicking not too far from the ding (or missing on the right side)
- knowing how to use spin, from full back spin to full top spin on approach shots (top spin needs a lot of practice...)
- Knowing how to shot from sand and rough
- Using correctly chip, pitch and flop
- everything that concerns putting (pure feel for me)
That's why it takes so long to get good at this game: You need to get some feeling of the game. If it was just about math, some players which do not have problems with math could then become very good in a very short time.
Regards