What did it take to get your handicap down to single digits? I am playing an 11 right now and my goal is to get it down to 5/6 by the end of this year. I practice 3 to 4 times during the week and I play once or twice during the weekends. I practice every aspect of the game (Long and short game). I just need some advice from some low handicappers on how long and what did they focus on to get their handicaps way down. Please advise. Thanks.
Last edited by alpod22 : March 16th, 2005 at 05:06 PM.
How long is different for different people. If you're around a 10 or so handicap now, really the best and IMO the only way to really bring your handicap down a lot is to practice short game. Normally I'll go to the range about three times a week...hit balls for about an hour then chip/putt for two or so.
How long it takes to get to single digits depends on your ability and how hard you work at it. The more quality time you spend on improving your game the better the results will be. Quality means doing things the right way and not ingraining bad swing habits.
You obviously have talent if you play to an 11 so you can get there. For me, it was concentrating heavily on my game around the green. I make a much higher percentage of 5 footers than I do 10 footers so chipping it closer was a major breakthrough for me. Ask yourself how many times you get up and down from inside 20 yards and how close you're getting it to the hole from around the green. There's a ton of ways to chip it closer so find the method and clubs that works best for you and stick with it. In a nutshell..........chipping and putting better will lower your scores the fastest. Good luck and I hope you reach your potential soon!
Another aspect of the game that will make a difference is your course management. We can all practice a lot, but none of us are going to execute the proper shot every time. Knowing your own game, your strengths and weaknesses, and how to apply them on the course is extremely important. Avoiding short siding yourself, getting out of trouble in one shot, playing away from trouble, etc.
Paying attention to detail can help you save some strokes.
For me, it was concentrating heavily on my game around the green. I make a much higher percentage of 5 footers than I do 10 footers so chipping it closer was a major breakthrough for me. Ask yourself how many times you get up and down from inside 20 yards and how close you're getting it to the hole from around the green. There's a ton of ways to chip it closer so find the method and clubs that works best for you and stick with it. In a nutshell..........chipping and putting better will lower your scores the fastest.
and all this time I thought it was those monster drives.
I agree with everyone. Its course management, short game, short game and then for a change short game again. One of keys I found was learning when to leave the driver in the bag, oh and the short game :nodsmiley
Its course management, short game, short game and then for a change short game again.
Hmmm.... I disagree
because my course management isn't very good and my short game aint that good either
I think mine just came down because I..... well.. hitting more green in reg i suppose and playing harder courses.
Oh and it took me 1 year 11 months to get on single figures, from the time i got my handicap of 40
For me it was pretty much just being a range rat, I used to spend hours hitting balls, I first got my handicap about a year after I started and it started out at 7.8. I played a lot my first summer and then in November, my fam joined a CC So I got to practice and play all I wanted, I kept at it and got it down to scratch the next summer...
I would say just keep doing what your doing, practice, practice, practice...It's fun!
As far as what to practice, I would say to focus on the weaker parts of your game, if your not already... It's a good idea (I think) to keep track of a lot of things on your score card, putts, fairways hit, GIR + distance to pin, sandies, ect... It can give you a better idea of what you need to work on at the range.
I was reading an article about golf handicaps and the author pointed out that for men the handicap doens't depend too much on your distance (you could be avg, below avg or above) whereas for women it tends to makes a huge difference.
Last year I started the year off as an 11 and worked my way down to a 6. To do so I dedicated myself to golf for 5-6 hours a day, after I worked. I split my time equally between the driving range, the putting green and the short game area. I would then play 9 holes every day, so about 3 and half hours of practice and 2 and half of playing. I also had to overcome my stubbornness, instead of being risky I had to learn to play safer shots. This meant sometimes laying up to ensure that the worst I get was a bogey. Once you cut out the double bogies that happen occasionally, your handicap will drop. I still hope to improve the mental side of the game this upcoming season. The next step for me is to learn how to forget my past mistakes and think about the shot on hand. I have a tendency to put pressure on myself after a poor shot so I can almost make up for it. My goal is to get down to a 3 by the end of the season.
I found one of the keys was learning to score. To shoot lower scores you need to be able to make birdies!! Plus you need to work on your short game so you get rid of any doubles and get up and down alot more.
I found one of the keys was learning to score. To shoot lower scores you need to be able to make birdies!! Plus you need to work on your short game so you get rid of any doubles and get up and down alot more.
More birdies never bruise a scorecard but they're the result of improvement and aren't likely to happen until that improvement is made. Kind of a Catch 22 if you will. It's easier for a double digit handicapper to turn a bogie into a par than it is for them to turn a par into a birdie. A stroke is a stroke whether it's for birdie or for par.
What did it take to get your handicap down to single digits? I am playing an 11 right now and my goal is to get it down to 5/6 by the end of this year. I practice 3 to 4 times during the week and I play once or twice during the weekends. I practice every aspect of the game (Long and short game). I just need some advice from some low handicappers on how long and what did they focus on to get their handicaps way down. Please advise. Thanks.
every one keeps saying short game but unless you give us an idea of your stats we could speculate and be way off base. If you practice all aspects then maybe it is your long game that is off because that is the hardest one to master technique. short game is a game of feel but long game is geared more towards technique. If you learn to hit %40 of your greens and get up and down %33 of the time then you will be a single digit golfer unless your putting is WWWWWAAAAAAYYYYYYYY off. those stats turn out to be 7 greens, and 4 up and downs for par. assuming that you average 2 putts per green in regulation that would be a total of 11 pars. add in 5 bogeys and two doubles and you have 9 over. my suggestion would be to find the area of your game where you are farthest from the numbers I just gave you and work on that.
How long it takes to get to single digits depends on your ability and how hard you work at it. The more quality time you spend on improving your game the better the results will be. Quality means doing things the right way and not ingraining bad swing habits.
DITTO THAT! You need to practice the RIGHT way, with proper drills and fundamentals, shot selection, and focusing on distance control and accuracy.
Having a sharp short game is crucial - work on your lag putting, distance control, and your wedge game inside 125 yards. With good regularity, you should be able to "stick it" within 8-12 feet of the pin within 125, 100,75, 50, 25 yards, etc. etc., and sink those putts.
I might also add.........PLAY a lot more. I dropped my index from 11-12 to 8-9 within a few months by playing a lot more, and focusing on smart course management,and sharpening up my short game tremendously.
March 16th, 2005, 04:30 PM
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