How did you get to a single digit handicap?

[460CompMark]

Either you have it, or you don't.  I've seen guys playing for years that are still terrible.  If you are not a single digit handicapper after a few years of playing consistently, then you probably won't ever be.  I caught on very quickly.  I started when i was 15.  Won district in high school my senior year.  By 18 i was a single digit handicap.  Probably even 17, i can't remember that far back.  I think you just have to have a natural athletic ability and good coordination.

Some will tell you "just keep practicing".  I'm not buying it.  Yes, practice helps, but if you don't have the natural ability, you won't ever be that good.  Just another recreational golfer.

[Lihu]

Originally Posted by 460CompMark

Either you have it, or you don't.  I've seen guys playing for years that are still terrible.  If you are not a single digit handicapper after a few years of playing consistently, then you probably won't ever be.

Some will tell you "just keep practicing".  I'm not buying it.  Yes, practice helps, but if you don't have the natural ability, you won't ever be that good.  Just another recreational golfer.

These statements might just kill off the entire golfing industry, which depends upon the hope of many golfers. .

[iacas]

Originally Posted by 460CompMark

Either you have it, or you don't.  I've seen guys playing for years that are still terrible. If you are not a single digit handicapper after a few years of playing consistently, then you probably won't ever be.

That may be true for some, but it's hardly true for the great majority. The difference? Good lessons from a good instructor. You can wander around and barely break 100 for years and with instruction break into the 70s. I see it fairly often.

[460CompMark]

I've never taken a lesson.  Maybe i will one day.  Nahhh

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Lihu

These statements might just kill off the entire golfing industry, which depends upon the hope of many golfers. .

Lihu, that would only be true if he were somebody that anybody took seriously.

[Dave2512]

Not there yet but will be soon. I trended sub 11 on the 15th and keep forgetting to update my profile. Dedication, instruction and practice is everything to me. I went from my first HI of 26 to where I am now in 16 months and I worked hard to get here. Honestly the biggest factor for me was time. Single at 44 with only dogs to worry about means I can dedicate a lot of time to golf. If I want to roll a hundred putts while I drink beer on the practice facility I can.

[460CompMark]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Lihu, that would only be true if he were somebody that anybody took seriously.

well played haha.

[pepsiplusconker]

I've only just got into single digits in the past 3 week, but I was pushing for it for about 6 weeks before, I kept playing well and having a couple of blow up holes.

Now something has clicked and I have shot below 80 in about 6 of my last 8 rounds, a couple under +6 too.

Some people don't try to improve, they just go play once a week or so, and wonder why they can't shoot in the low 80s, they think it just happens if you play more. My friends are like this, they don't change anything, they just keep playing exactly the same and making the same mistakes everytime.

[David in FL]

I've only just got into single digits in the past 3 week, but I was pushing for it for about 6 weeks before, I kept playing well and having a couple of blow up holes. Now something has clicked and I have shot below 80 in about 6 of my last 8 rounds, a couple under +6 too. Some people don't try to improve, they just go play once a week or so, and wonder why they can't shoot in the low 80s, they think it just happens if you play more. My friends are like this, they don't change anything, they just keep playing exactly the same and making the same mistakes everytime.

Time to update your profile handicap! :-)

[JCRuzanski]

This might be an interesting experiment. I'm about to start playing again after many years of not. I'll spend my first month doing range only. Then start playing once a week. I'll keep an update log going.

[Yukari]

Never took a lesson.

Got to a single digit HI after deciding to put in the practice time at the range.  Just playing once a week is not going to cut it.  You either have to play at least 3 times a week to improve, but a faster way to improve is put it at least 2 or 3 practice sessions at the range per week and play at least once a week.

Once I started to practice 2 or 3 times a week, my HI went from 12 to 9 within a month.  Then going from HI of 9 to HI of 7 took almost 8 months!!!

So Iacas is right.  Getting to 9 is easy.  Going lower than 9 is the hard part.

[phan52]

My index is 9, but I don't consider myself a single digit unless my course handicap is under 10, which I only did for one cycle of Ghin a few years ago (7.9 index). I was able to do it because I spent a great deal of time working on my short game and putting. That is how I score because I was never long.

It would take me a year of serious commitment to change my swing enough to add the necessary length to get me to the next level. I have never had the time.

[GHIN0011458]

Originally Posted by mrobbie

For those who are playing off single figures, how did you get there?

It's always been my goal, and I assume the same with many other golfers.

I've seen a number of players who get to this point in a very short time. Are you a naturally 'gifted' player, who picked up a club and everything just made sense and you got there with ease, or have you worked hard at it as often as possible to develop a single figure game? Have you had lessons over the years, or have you worked on your game yourself?

Work your ass off for a good two years and you will get there. I have never had a lesson but I did LOTS of research and what not on how to make an efficient swing with not many moving parts. My swing is back and thru and stay on top of the ball for a penetrating ball flight.

STAYING AWAY FROM TROUBLE- if there is trouble on the left- hit right. If there is trouble on the right, hit left- If there happens to be out of bounds on one side and water on the other.. you would much rather hit it in the water- if there is trouble on both sides for a lost ball. Hit an iron and if its long then rely on your short game. My driver is one of my best assets in golf so I hit it most of the time but playing smart is the key to a single digit. Practice is the key to getting their fast.

[GHIN0011458]

Originally Posted by Lihu

These statements might just kill off the entire golfing industry, which depends upon the hope of many golfers. .

I agree with this too- I have given many lessons and some people just cannot get their body in the right motions to hit the ball correctly. Hand-eye is key too but I do agree with this to a certain extent.

[Meltdwhiskey]

Originally Posted by iacas

I worked at it, hard, for a few years. You can be a pretty bad golfer and get to a 9 handicap. Every stroke you shave off that is about 2x as hard as the one before it.

Most 18 handicappers could become 9 handicappers inside of a month if they work on:

a) course management

b) putting

c) short game (chipping, pitching)

A couple of things about this post interest me.  A pretty bad golfer getting to single digits sounds crazy to me.  I see a lot of bad golfers - and some decent ones.  And I don't see how any but a few of them are going to get to single digits inside a month.  I think course management can take them a long way - but from 18 to single digits sounds incredible.

But more importantly - a, b, and c interest me.  I hear so many people talk about how important short game is to getting better scores - almost to the exclusion of everything else.  So I have a couple of questions I'd hope some better golfers could answer that might help me make sense of it:

1. What if a, b, and c are already the best parts of your game?  Do you still concentrate on it in lieu of ballstriking?

2. How good can you expect to get at short game - notably vs time spent working on it?

3. Why is ballstriking or getting better at fairway irons or driver practice almost never mentioned in how to get better scores?

4. How bad are 18 cap golfers at chipping?

I have only created stats for myself obviously - but I observe many different golfers on the weekend with my stats in mind as sort of a benchmark. It seems to me they are wasting an awful lot of shots by duffing and topping tee and fairway shots - and a ton by slicing drivers into the woods.  Sure, I see them duff and skull chips as well - but not any worse than other longer shots.

[GHIN0011458]

Originally Posted by Meltdwhiskey

A couple of things about this post interest me.  A pretty bad golfer getting to single digits sounds crazy to me.  I see a lot of bad golfers - and some decent ones.  And I don't see how any but a few of them are going to get to single digits inside a month.  I think course management can take them a long way - but from 18 to single digits sounds incredible.

But more importantly - a, b, and c interest me.  I hear so many people talk about how important short game is to getting better scores - almost to the exclusion of everything else.  So I have a couple of questions I'd hope some better golfers could answer that might help me make sense of it:

1. What if a, b, and c are already the best parts of your game?  Do you still concentrate on it in lieu of ballstriking?

2. How good can you expect to get at short game - notably vs time spent working on it?

3. Why is ballstriking or getting better at fairway irons or driver practice almost never mentioned in how to get better scores?

4. How bad are 18 cap golfers at chipping?

I have only created stats for myself obviously - but I observe many different golfers on the weekend with my stats in mind as sort of a benchmark. It seems to me they are wasting an awful lot of shots by duffing and topping tee and fairway shots - and a ton by slicing drivers into the woods.  Sure, I see them duff and skull chips as well - but not any worse than other longer shots.

if A, B, and C are the best parts, then work on your weakest parts until A, B, and C become your new weakest parts of your game. Make your weaknesses your strengths and start over.. its never ending in this game its a revolution and once you get to that point you bring yourself to another level and do it again and again.

Short game you can get as good as you want. Practice every shot possible from around the greens, practice landing spots, practice spinning the ball, practice with different clubs.. there is so much to work on around the greens it is crazy and there is always room for improvement.

Ballstriking comes with a better swing- Work on the swing getting the correct motions and weight distribution- that is what I was talking about is getting my swing efficient- helps ball striking same deal. Hitting to stay away from trouble is the same as accuracy off the tee.

18 cap golfers seem to flub lots of chips and come too upright or blade the hell out of the ball.

If you can't hit your driver off the tee, don't use it.

[Meltdwhiskey]

Originally Posted by GHIN0011458

if A, B, and C are the best parts, then work on your weakest parts until A, B, and C become your new weakest parts of your game. Make your weaknesses your strengths and start over.. its never ending in this game its a revolution and once you get to that point you bring yourself to another level and do it again and again.

Short game you can get as good as you want. Practice every shot possible from around the greens, practice landing spots, practice spinning the ball, practice with different clubs.. there is so much to work on around the greens it is crazy and there is always room for improvement.

Ballstriking comes with a better swing- Work on the swing getting the correct motions and weight distribution- that is what I was talking about is getting my swing efficient- helps ball striking same deal. Hitting to stay away from trouble is the same as accuracy off the tee.

18 cap golfers seem to flub lots of chips and come too upright or blade the hell out of the ball.

If you can't hit your driver off the tee, don't use it.

Thanks for the response - and it seems maybe you agree with me to some degree that ballstriking should be worked on more.  But I was really looking for player's thoughts on how much work it takes to actually improve short game to a significant degree.  And I realize that someone who is really terrible at it can definitely see quick gains by making better contact on chips - less duffing and skulling.  But for a more "OK" chipper, it seems hard to me.

We'll take me for example.  I get up and down (from maybe 20 yards and in or so) about 30% of the time.  And Tiger gets up and down from that same distance X% of the time.  So, obviously I don't have the time (or skill) to get to X%.  So whatever work I do on all those things you mentioned for short game gets me to somewhere between 30% and X%.  My hypothesis is that it is an awful lot of work to get from 30% to 40%.  And probably more time than I have to get to 50% (50% sounds REALLY good to me).  And all that time is time taken away from (or maybe eliminates altogether) practice on hitting good irons or driver.

Most of the 18 caps I see are not good ball strikers who just vomit on themselves when they get close to the green. And I don't think I see any players good enough to get up and down 50% of the time who aren't already good at irons and driver.  And I just wonder if attention to shortgame for an OK ballstriker who is an OK chipper really yields the kind of results that I hear of so constantly.

[TJBam]

I am by no means a crazy success story (or a single digit handicapper) but I'll share anyways since it's Friday.

I was a hit-and-giggle golfer on and off for some time before devoting myself to the game in March this year.  Was around a 25+ handicap struggling to break 100.  My priorities in order are below and now 5 months later I am trending down to a 10.1 next update.

1.  You worry too much about driving. Put my drive in the fairway.  Quit focusing on shot shape, distance, etc.  I play a pull fade, it doesn't go 300, but it is in the fairway.  Put the ball in play and start the real golf.  CHECK and MOVE ON!  I won't try to work on anything driver-related until I'm content with a consistent and reliable swing with my irons.

2. Short game including putting.

3. Make the full swing (irons) consistent and repeatable (still working on this).

All this being said I am still a "garbage collecting" 11HCP.  Meaning I save par most of the time, I don't stick more than a few greens per 18 holes on par 4's.  I find myself around the fringe or nearby first cut.  But a good short game lets me take a par a lot of the time.  Scorecards use numbers not pictures. Par 5's are easy to stick as it's mostly just a wedge.