A question for the low handicappers

Ok, I'll give you a LITTLE background and then ask the question.

I'm 32 and been playing golf since I was about 11. Golf has always been my best sport/hobby but I have always had many hobbies or distractions that have been in the way of me reaching full potential. About 2 years ago I decided to do away with the other hobbies and focus on my game. Right now I play about 2-3 times a month, sometimes more. I rarely if ever go to the range. My index is 7.2.

My question is for the low handicappers, maybe 4 or less.

What did it take for you to break through that 4-5 handicap barrier?

I'm asking about specifics too. I plan on practicing more, maybe range 1-2 times a week. But I'd like to know, did you focus on putting, short game, driver, course management?

I'd really like to get down to a 2-3 and think I have the talent, I just need to not only practice, but practice with a regimen. This is not easy considering my career and having two young kids at home!

Thoughts are appreciated.

Yes, I realize the answer might not be so easy. I guess I'm more curious than anything what the answers will be. I have a friend who has the exact same handicap as me and we have frequent discussions about how to get better.

One thing I've never practiced or been good at is working the ball. Usually it has been a draw but right now it's mainly a straight ball. That is next to conquer. I'm pretty sure I have the ability as I have been told by many, just never devoted the time in the past. I found your answer enlightening in that it stressed putting so much. I will keep that in mind. Thanks.

1) Course Management - Most amateur golfers are always going for the flagstick, always trying to carry that water hazard off the tee with their driver, and always going for that par 5 in two shots. To get your score down, you have to let the birdies come to you; you can't force the issue. What this means is that you have to know when to go for it and when not to go for it. Don't just get the yardage to the hole and then aim right at it; you need to learn when to hit at the big part of the green and just save par instead of trying to force a birdie and end up with a double. 2) Distance Control - You need know how far you hit each club and be able to hit that distance consistently. If you can control your distance, all you have to worry about is direction, making it easier to attack tight pin placements. 3) Putting - Most people will say you need to be able to make --% of putts from -- ft distance; to me, all you need to do is be able to prevent three putts. Your focus should be on your long putts instead of trying to sink every short putt. Most people that three putt all the time think that their short putting is the problem. In reality it's that they are leaving their first putt too far away from the hole and not giving a realistic chance to sink the second putt easily. 4) Mental Game - You aren't going to birdie every hole. You aren't going to par every hole. S^^t happens, and you need to learn how to put it behind you and move on to your next shot. Too many people bring their frustration from the previous hole onto the next teebox. You need to learn how to shake it off and "start fresh" on the next hole. This also applies to the oppostie situation as well in that you can't get cocky after a birdie and let up your concentration. You also have to remember what a 4-5 handicap means; at my home course gieven it's course rating and it's slope (par 70, 72.4/140), a 4.5 handicap means that your average score on a good round is a little more than 8 over par. This means that you can bogey every other hole and still be shooting your handicap. If you can understand this and accept it instead or thinking you have to par/birdie every hole, you'll be more likely to shot a better score. 5) Practice - Practice time/place/type varies on the person and what works for them, but whatever you do your practice regime should reflect your game. A lot of golfers will go to the range and hit their driver and 5 iron all day longer; you need to divide up your time throughout your entire bag. You also need to practice what you need practice on. If you can't hit a 3 wood worth a damn, practice that at the range instead of hitting clubs you already are good with. Also, spend just as much time on the chipping/putting green as you do on the driving range. If you are missing a lot of greens, practice your chipping and your sand play. If you are hitting greens, practice you longer putts. 6) Understanding Your Game - You need to learn your strengths and your weaknesses and use this to lower your score. If you are wild off the tee with your driver, hit a 3 iron or a hybrid off the tee on that hole with the tight fairway. If you are horrible at 80 yard, half swing pitch shots into the green, lay up to 130 yards from the green instead so that you can swing full with your pitching wedge. If you can't hit your fairway woods off the deck, don't hit them unless you are on the teebox. If you have a large doubt that you'll be able to pull off a shot, don't try to pull it off and instead go for the safe play.

It's been a few years since I was giving strokes back to the course, but the difference in my game now and then is easy to identify;

Within 100 yards of the hole, get up & down 50% of the time.

The mental game and course management become huge once you're in single digits.

My leap from 10 to 2 happened after reading Rotella's first book. Focusing on routine, target focus, and staying in the moment (forgetting good and bad shots immediately and eliminating expectations) produced immediate results.

Keeping driver in the bag when it wasn't necessary and hitting to the middle of more greens was the next ingredient.

After a 5 year layoff I'm stuck back in swing mechanics, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the "fun" of truly playing golf again.

For me, it was less practice.. thats right. Less practice.

Im sure at somepoint every golfer gets to a point where they are perfectly happy with their swing. Where If they miss or something, its because they got quick, not a swing flaw.. i reached this point, and continued to hit tons of range balls, and that hurt my game.. so when i reached that point again, i started going to the range half as often as i used to..I started doing funner things on the range, like hitting from the rough, hitting delicate chips and huge lobs, things that come in handy only ever so often on the course. I also started to play alot more than practice, since i had so much confidnce in my swing, i felt i needed just a bit more "real life" scenarios.. i would commonly go out after work and play a few holes doing something differnt with every shot, for example, instead of just lashing away at a driver, i would hit a driver as hard as i could, a smooth drive, and a 3 wood, and hole out all of these balls and see which got me a better score, and what my real tendencies were on the course, not on the range. I played alot of 4 club games, where i would go out with say a putter, gap wedge, 7 iron and 3 wood and see what shots i could do with these clubs rather than a full bag. Pounding balls is fine, you gotta groove your swing, but after a while, i honestly believe it can hurt you. Another thing, i found clubs i genuinly liked.. I switched clubs alot because i never had something that "felt" right.. now i have a ton of confidence that my clubs will do what i tell them too, and that helps a ton, not having to worry about your clubs that is...

Here is a different perspective - what didn't work (or at least hasn't worked for me so far).

Background - I played a lot of golf as a teen, less in college, not much more after entering the work force, got married and quit playing in 1977 (courses were crowded on the weekends and 5 1/2 hour rounds got intolerable).

I started playing again regularly (and playing a lot) when I retired in 2003 (now 60 years old). I was fortunate to be able to retire early - and not be broke after the 2008 financial debacle.

I now play 2x per week and practice for a couple hours the other 4 days (I save one 'golf free day' for my wife). I was probably an 8 or 9 (had I kept a handicap as a kid/young adult when I played/practiced less). My index each summer will usually dip down to the 4's (or high 3's on occasion), but it won't stay there reliably. A fair observation would be that I really have never broken through the 4-5 barrier.

Putting is the number one problem for me. And I do practice my putting (and my short game). Quite frankly for many years practicing putting (for me) seemed like "practicing flipping coins" (where the goal is to flip as many heads as possible). Practice didn't seem to help, although I kept it up.

I've taken lessons and made changes before. Right now I have made what I would view as 'extreme changes' - we'll see if it really matters. I've been here before so I'm not claiming or predicting any kind of success, but have some optimism that I didn't have before.

Next would be distance - it is hardly impossible, but it is hard to play to a 2 or 3 index when 250 (with roll) is a big drive (not huge, but very good). But I'd take better putting instead of 25 yards any day.

I've been asked before if more play and less practice would help me. I honestly don't believe that to be the case (could be wrong, of course). But I honestly don't like playing even 2 days in a row (I can feel things start to go off kilter and the 2nd day will almost always be worse than the first). This may not be normal, but I believe that it is true for me.

dave

I don't know if youd called me a low handicapper, I just played some good rounds and it brought me from 5.4 to 4.1, anyway, the biggest thing I found out was play to your shot shape. Sometimes before on the course I'd hit too big of a draw so I'd try to correct it that day while playing, and the results wouldn't be too pretty. I was hooking the ball a couple days ago so I just played it, and still shot 73, which isn't bad. My advice is don't try to fix things on the course, during a round. I was hooking the ball the hole was 159 so I just took out a 9 iron and aimed for the right side of the green and swung and played the hook for the day and my shot ended up 6 feet from the hole. You just have to pay attention to what your doing that day, and then stick to it.

For me it was just learning how to hit my drives in the fairway. Once i did that, my irons go better because i was usually closer to the green and more ofter in the fairway. Thus i didnt have as many chip shots, and since my irons were better, i was closer to the hole, which made putting easier.

For myself it was about narrowing my misses, and that came through practice, practice, practice! But it's different for everybody. My brother and I have both reached scratch level at one time or another in our lives and we did it completely different ways. For me I was a "range rat" for years beating balls, while for my brother it was just a matter of playing a lot of golf on the course, he always hated practicing!

But basically it comes down to this, you have to reduce your absolute worst possible shot you could hit down to a manageable level. For example, If I hit a bad shot, it's usually still on the green or on the fringe. For higher handicap players a bad shot usually means it's O.B. So you have to reel in your worst possible shots and you will improve. It's up to you to figure out how you will accomplish this! Maybe it's practice more, maybe it's taking a lesson?

If you really want to improve I would suggest you find a Pro you are comfortable with and have them evaluate your game!

Good Luck!

So far I really appreciate the responses. This is the only thread I've ever started here.

I think this post so far rings probably more true (for me) than anything besides the putting. My best rounds (high 70's) have usually been the result of making zero double bogeys. My low 80's rounds have usually been the result of making 1-2 double bogeys. Mid 80's rounds making 3-4 doubles. I hit the ball pretty consistently well, but it's that 1-3 errant drives per round that crush me. I need to limit those bad shots. I'm thinking this is just a matter of playing and practicing a little more. I have a pro that has been great for me but he's just pricey for me right now.

I have decent Off the Tee Drive , Irons and Chipping. My only problem is my putting. I cant hole a 4 to 6 feet putt most of the time. I always have phobia in me when come to putting.

Just like to today , i missed about 5 nos of 4 to 6ft putts and as the result , i shot 6 over 78.

*sigh*

I've been reading some of my Rotella books again, and also just read "Fearless Golf" by Dr. Gio Valiante. They all talk about practicing your long game in "trusting mode", not "training mode". No more swing thoughts, just choose and focus on your target, then swing away. Even more importantly, the short game has to be the majority of your practice now.

This is what I have just started doing, and have dropped from a 7.2 to a 5.7, with a couple more consistent low rounds lately. Hopefully I'll be down in the high-3/low-4 index range soon.

I think this post nails it. I am trying to get back to a sub-5, right now I look like the best bogey golfer in the world, but my misses can be dreadful. Taking away disaster holes is very key, I am starting to appreciate bogey a lot more.

I started playing again after a 8yr layoff, kids and work didn't allow me to play like I wanted. Back then I was in the 5-10 range. When I started back up three years ago my index was 15, now I'm down to the 5 range. Ive always had a decent short game, but I'm short off the tee and that puts alot of pressure on hitting GIR's. I retired 2 years ago and I play alot now. I think my problem now is that I play much more than practice.

I think that for me going from an 8 or 9, to a 5 was just working on my problem areas. For me that was my sand play and picking up a few extra yards off the tee.

I think first and foremost, it was about letting go of my ego and practicing rather than just beating driver to death at the range.

1. The ego: I (like everyone else that plays this game) was more worried about how far I could hit my driver than how low I could go during a round of golf. I could shoot 90, but as long as I striped some long drives in the round, I was content. At some point in the last few years I started realizing that how far you hit the ball is not related to the kind of scores you can shoot in any way. I started working on fundamentals and worrying more about my ball flight and direction rather than how far it goes. I still do fight this from time to time though (usually at the beginning of the season after a winter layoff). I'm fighting it right now actually. My swing gets long and I forget everything I ingrained last season so I have to work to get it all back.

2. Practice: My old definition of practice was going to the range and basically just hacking away. I hit a lot of good shots but I had no real target, not routine, and was only concerned with how far they were going (or looked to be going). Once I broke this habit at the range and started concentrating on what is important (100 yards and in), my scores started to drop. Now when I go to the range (unless I'm trying to work something out specifically), majority of the balls I hit are with a 52/56 degree wedge. I'll hit a few mid irons and long irons and then a few drivers, but most is wedges to about an 80 yard flag.

I also work on short game A LOT more than I used too, which was next to none. I try to make half of my practice time on or around the putting green now. Sometimes if I'm swinging terrible, I'll skip the short game session and work double time on getting my swing back in shape though.

You'll really find that you save a lot more shots with your wedge and putter than you do with mid irons, long irons, or driver. Yesterday for me is a prime example. I was hitting the ball all over the place and even topped one off the tee with the driver (haven't done that in about 15 years) but I still finished with a score that I've shot many times when I felt like I was hitting the ball as well I as I could. So, it's just more confirmation for me personally that short game is where it's at.

This is a good point. I feel that I'm suffering from this right now. A few months ago I joined an indoor driving range close to my office. I enjoy going simply because it gets me out of the office in the middle of the day to do something I love. However, with it being an indoor range, you hit off mats. Every lie is perfect, and it's way too easy to get into "rapid fire" mode. When I go to a normal outdoor range, I typically go through my normal pre-shot routine, and can simulate on-the-course shots more.