For the low handicaps, how much practice??

[saevel25]

Just started up practicing again. I really need it, my mechanics were crap, but i got away with it due to good timing with my hands.

[atrapasuenos]

I will tel you what I've done and had worked well. Since August I moved to another city, where I have time to play/practice everyday, I try to play 9 holes everyday or at least practice. I spent a lot of time trying to have a swing, but the best way was with the practice of the short game. I have a good friendship with the guy at my local course, so when the range is closed he let me go in and hit all the balls to the different greens and then he picks up all the balls. It's really nice practice, becuase I'm hitting from different lies, different distances, I take my 60° or sometimes my 56° so it's a really good practice.

This course is a short course, par 34, so most of the time I hit Driver and some wedge or 8 iron, but the greens are really small, so with the time I learned to put the ball in the part of the green where I need it. Now when I play at a course with bigger greens I have putts of 27 footers and in, something like that.

  iacas said:

Golfers need to first:

And this is really important, especially point a. I hit the ball pretty straight and I wasn't able to draw the ball, everybody told me the same thing close the face and that stuff, but I really can't. Now with all these threads about the ball flight laws, I understand what to do, now I can move the ball the way I want.

Hope this helps. Cheers!

[chriskzoo]

Honestly - almost never.

I have been playing since I was about 11 years old and had one lesson. I was probably a mid-teens handicapper until about 3 years ago when I finally decided to get into single digits - it was all about course management and playing smarter for me. If you can hit the ball consistently and know you're not going to shank or flat out miss it, there's no reason you can't be a single digit. Most people just overswing.

Now I pretty much only hit balls and do some chipping before a round (I might go to the range 2-3 times a year), but it's pretty much just show up at the course, chip and putt for 10 minutes and tee off.

I usually have a few rounds in the 70's ever year, most rounds in the low 80's and the occasional balloon score in the high 80's or 90 if I have a couple blow up holes.

[golfro]

I hit single digit when I was 16 after extensively training with a coach. At that age however, I didn't take much seriously...I hit the ball because I knew I was supposed to and got it in the hole because I knew i was supposed to but I never took the time to really think about my game which is why I never improved much further.
What really boosted up my game was when I stopped beating balls on the range and when I started hitting the course almost daily.

Around when I was 17-18, my parents got a membership at a private club and I was able to literally hit the course everyday atleast 9 holes after school. Usually by 3-4 PM, there's not many people teeing off, so I'd take my time, practice my short game repetitively until I was happy with it.

After graduating, I moved away and I didn't get into my college golf team and I took a long hiatus. Didn't pick up a club for 6 years. A couple years after college, I played golf after my hiatus, I surprisingly hit 88 and was happy with it, enough that I started hitting the range again. I would video tape each session and dissect my swing in every possible. When I was happy with my swing again, I would go for consistency and here I am...not nearly as athletic feeling and 40 lbs heavier than when I was 16 but my handicap is getting better and better because I'm taking the time to think about my swing and my short game.

[TheWookie]

short game...short game....short game...mental game......competition.

Practice smart and get yourself out of your comfort zone with better players. If you have a local game in town, even if it is net, go play. You can be the best player in the world by yourself but when you tee it up in a true competitive round it is a different game. playing above your comfort level will improve your overall game and lower your handicap.

[IndianScout]

chipping and putting daily...

[Rexx]

I've been playing for about 15 years. I started in college when a couple of friends and I would go to the driving range once or twice a week and the course about once a week (during the summer mostly). After graduating and getting a real job, the range time was cut down and so was the golfing -- pretty much to rarely. Until I changed jobs and found some guys at the new place that played somewhat regularly. For the last 5 years, we usually get out 20ish times a year + half a dozen scramble tournaments. I get out to the range maybe half a dozen times a year because someone else wants to go and they drag me along. I'll hit a small bucket and then try to help them out a little bit -- usually no short game practice. Anyways, my tips for becoming a single digit handicap:

- Keep the ball in play (i.e. no penalty strokes)
- Don't duff the ball (it's basically like a penalty stroke)
- You don't have to get up and down all the time... just make sure you take no more 3 shots each time
- 3-putt no more than once per round
- Look at your swing in a mirror or on video and try to mimic the pros. If they don't do it, neither should you... even if it seems to be "working for you". Swing as correct as you can and the results will come, not the other way around.

Other than the last one, the rest of the other advice is just about eliminating wasted strokes. It's not about making birdies, it's about not making double bogeys (or worse). Easier said than done, but that's where I see the difference.

[TheWookie]

oh and one more thing.....doubles and triples happen. You are not always gonna keep the ball in play...what you do after a big number really affects your score. Every hole and every shot is a scoring opportunity, regardless of whats already on the card.

[Dr. Strangeclub]

  TheWookie said:

Every hole and every shot is a scoring opportunity, regardless of whats already on the card.

I think this is the ticket for better scoring in general. Like the pros always say, "One shot at a time..." If you habitually play the best shot you can, no matter where you wind up, is much better than trying to "force" things after a mistake. It keeps your emotions under control a bit, since thoughts like, "I can't afford a bogie on THIS stinking little hole!", or "Wow, this is going to be an EASY birdie!", don't surface quite as often. They are replaced by, "That's going to be interesting..."

And the spastic play that results from "Just three more pars and..." can be kept at bay.