how long did it take you

[cody west]

how long did it take you to become a single didget handycap or break 80,
and what was the best tip someone ever gave you to help your golf game?

it took me about a year or serious golf to shoot consistantly in the 70's. i dont count the year i played with my friends and they were giving putts and not taking the game serious. but once i started trying my scores went down fast.
i took a lesson at the beginning of the year and my instructor stopped me after my first swing and said "you swing like a mad man. swing slow and smooth, and you will be one of the best in the state."

[flopdarock]

i assume the question has to be relative to when someone started playing to the time they achieved a single digit hcp...
for me... ive played since i was a lil kid and one would think i should be a consistent single digit if not scratch... but like everything... i have to work at it...
the start of every season im usually a bogey or better golfer and with time i prolly get to single digits in about a month or so when i play alot of golf... ALOT of golf... this season it took the whole spring and half the summer...

the best tip anyone ever told me was to have a purpose when i practice so i could have more fun when i actually play

[wedge player]

Well when i got serious about the game about 5 months to hit 9.9 then another 7 to hit 5 then 9 months to hit 3

[2bGood]

I don't know I am working on it right now. I have played for 7 years casually, but in June I decided I wanted to play real golf. I have gone for not breaking 100 to mid -high 80's in 2.5 months. I figure another 2 months or so and I can break 80. I hope that by spring after playing winter golf that I am single digit handicapper and can shoot in the 70's most of next golf season.

[cody west]

once you do it once it gets alot easier but until that first time its really hard

[mapa94]

I started playing at age 40 and it took me 3 years to break 80. The single digit handicap came 8 months later which was last month.

My biggest problem was "swaying" over the ball so the best tip for me was to "maintain my posture" throughout my swing. Once I figured this out my ballstriking and distance improved dramatically.

[andyh]

I started when I was 37. Took me 1 year to get to single digits and shoot 72 (1 over par) on full course. No lessons at that point but lots of practice and I figured out quickly that the short game is what counts most. I learnt how to chip and putt and even with a shaky full swing, a good short game can get you down into single digits.

Has taken me another year and a half to get down to 4 handicap index. I had gone as far as possible with my self taught swing so took 6 lessons about 6 months ago to cure my over the top motion. Now have a good swing but have hit a plateau with my scoring. In fact scoring has gone up a bit. I feel that my scoring is starting to come improve again now in the last few weeks.

Not sure how to take my game to the next level but really feel like it is close to happening. Hitting lots of fairways, making my up and downs and putting very well. Need more GIRs though. I may take a few more lessons soon.

[2bGood]

once you do it once it gets alot easier but until that first time its really hard

That is what I hear. When I look back at a round I know I can do it. In a three day tourny I choked the first two days and then shot 88 on the last day with a 10 and an 8 on my card! Had I just found a way to bogey those holes I would have had an 80 in a tourny.

The other bit of enouragement is my ball striking is way off as I am working on building a good swing and the swing changes are hard to get to set in, I often hit the ball poorly from tee to green but still magage to score below my handicap. Once I get my swing sorted out I am sure I can get the scores lower.

[cody west]

That is what I hear. When I look back at a round I know I can do it. In a three day tourny I choked the first two days and then shot 88 on the last day with a 10 and an 8 on my card! Had I just found a way to bogey those holes I would have had an 80 in a tourny.

ya i remember when i was in 8th grade in the fall i was playing with one of my friends and i shot 40 on the front and 33 on the back. now i play so well everytime i play that course. once you do it you jsut keep doing it

[brgolf]

I never felt under pressure to improve quickly but I always loved golf. When growing up, it just wasn't possible to play golf often/everyday for various reasons. It took me 8 years to start to shoot in the 70s but that was with no real help, lessons etc. I played with my dad and friends and no one really knew what they were doing.

Yet I still take golf seriously and I still have ambitions. You can always change you mind and get serious when life really gives you the time and opportunity to do so.

Just go out and enjoy the game regardless of what level of commitment you can give it.