How to get down lower than a 5 already!!!

[kpaulhus]

Congrats man! Im with you on trying to get lower. My goal was to become a single digit....now I want to be a 5 or better.

[CalBoomer]

By your standards, I am not good enough to give advice, so I'll just make some observations. The guy who wrote "The Fine Green Line" was a very low handicap amateur player who wanted to write a book about going to Q School. With his advance, he planned to take a year to do nothing but get professional instruction, work on his game, and play on some minor tours. He asked a well known instructor how much he thought doing so would lower his handicap. The answer was 1.0!!! When he did play in the Q School tourney, he did so poorly, they sent him a letter telling him not to re-apply. I would also agree with all the comments that they very best golf requires intense concentration. Very few pros are chatting with anyone but their caddies during tournaments. So don't count any social rounds with friends toward your handicap!!

[enis750]

By your standards, I am not good enough to give advice, so I'll just make some observations. The guy who wrote "The Fine Green Line" was a very low handicap amateur player who wanted to write a book about going to Q School. With his advance, he planned to take a year to do nothing but get professional instruction, work on his game, and play on some minor tours. He asked a well known instructor how much he thought doing so would lower his handicap. The answer was 1.0!!! When he did play in the Q School tourney, he did so poorly, they sent him a letter telling him not to re-apply. I would also agree with all the comments that they very best golf requires intense concentration. Very few pros are chatting with anyone but their caddies during tournaments. So don't count any social rounds with friends toward your handicap!!

and this is why I asked for 2 or better to respond

you post isnt relavent to anything i was asking 1. im not trying to go to Q school 2. im not trying to make the tour 3. i dont golf in many tournaments, so if golfing w my buddies is the only way of establishing a handicap i will take it i didnt get here by breaking rules, and behing dishonest i follow the rules and count each stroke like the next guy i just want to get below a 5 for my own personal gain one day when im consistent enough, MAYBE ill enter a few tourneys that matter...until then, ill continue to work hard at getting where i want to be

[delav]

There is a ton of good information in this thread.

Not all golfers are the same, and I'm sure my vices are another golfers strong points. With that said, I've had good luck with the following:

- Track all of your stats. Know exactly where your strokes are coming from and fix these areas.
- Become very precise with course management. Think about the trajectory, shape and distance of your second shot before visualizing your tee shot. Know your misses and tendencies.
- Putt constantly. (My strokes are here)
- Play with excellent golfers. Take the game as seriously as your can when you "play"

For my game, I've really focused on practicing the important on-course shots on the range. Rather than beating balls with your 3 wood off the turf, think about the most common shots on the course. For me this has been driver, hybrid and 3-5 iron off the tee, with a big focus on my 9, PW, 52 and 56 for approach shots.

If you practice like you'll play, you'll reap more from your range sessions.

[atrapasuenos]

I'm not a 2 right now, but a couple months ago I was playing off a 1.8... but my problem was my putting. I'm having a terrible time with my putting, missing really short putts and not taking advantage of the birdie opportunities I have. I think putting is the key, if you can take advantage of the birdies opportunities and save pars you will not have any problem. You know what they say, that golf is not a game of perfection, and I agree but I personally think that when it comes to putting you need to be close to perfection hehe. From the first post I will say that you are willing to work hard to be better, you can do it, keeo it like that, just remmeber have a lot of fun, at the end of the day you are doing something that you really like!

Cheers!

[golfro]

I'm no 2 handicap now but I was roughly 7 years ago when I was playing more seriously.

Like others have said, golf is different for everyone. At the peak of my golfing, my short game was great, consistent...so was my driver and irons. I was happy with my driver, fairway, irons, etc. I was confident.
So what caused me to peak at 2 handicap instead of dropping to scratch? Bad course management and stupid decisions.

Everyone does it, hell even pro's do. There is a fine line between good course management and playing too safe. There's also a fine line between playing aggressive and playing stupid. I tended to lean towards playing stupid. While everyone WANTS to have great course management, it's all too tempting...
it's tempting to get an eagle opportunity on par 5's by taking a driver and 3 wood... unfortunately, as confident as I was, things go wrong.
it's tempting to want to take a 6 iron out of bunker to get it on green instead of popping it out and setting up for an easier shot.
it's tempting to hit a driver on par 4's when a 3 wood will do just fine and in most cases will be more consistent.

Anyway, thats my experience in retrospect. I was not as mature as I should be back then, I was 17 and hungry and that often meant over aggressive playing. I'm still clawing my way back to it get somewhere near 2 handicap but I've seemingly plateaued at this point and with the time constraints i have, i just want to play more!

at your point, i think its safe to say that every aspect of this game matters. short game, irons, wedges, driver, fairway wood, so its silly to give some advice like "work on your short game". In my opinion, you practice and practice to get consistency and great ball striking.....the rest is playing smart and good course management which will have a huge effect.

[cody west]

just avoid doubles and triples. keep you highest score to a bogie because you can make birdies to fix bogies. practice alot of 8 foot putts and medium length chips. also learn to accept bogie on some holes, i did this recently in a tournament. i was -2 on the last hole and hit my drive into the tree line. a punched a 4 iron though a gap in the trees to about 70 yards off the green and the pin was front with bunkers with raised lips protecting it. instead of being smart and accepting my bogie or trying to make a long putt for par i decided the right idea would be to go for the pin, the ball plugged in the lip and i ended up with a 6 to shoot even. most disappointing even ever. the point is bogie isnt a bad score so once you learn that sometimes your better off playing the safe shots and taking a bogie then just waiting for an oppotunity to make birdie you will start to score better because for every one time that crazy shot over the bunker or around the trees works there will be 4 other times where it screws you over so much worse.
another thing that i strongly recommend is going to a course (not a range) and bringing about ten golf balls. find a flat hole and drop them all at 100 yards and aim for the pin. you should expect to be within 10 feet on almost all of them. continue to do this at off times like sunday nights and early mornings until you can hit the green with all of them and most of them are within 10 feet.

[enis750]

wow, I am very pleased with all the responses i am getting, so thank you for that everyone
since posting this I have broken past the 5 bearier and actually posted some of my best rounds of the year
I am now a 4.1

like i have mentioned before, i have baby 2 due any day now, so i have been getting up extra early and golfing every morning at 7am
not missing a day of golf has really helped w consistency
i am only fitting in one day of practice now, but golfing 18 every day is better practice in my mind

i am feeling very confident w the putter, distance control is great now
as cody said above, yes the 8 footers (or 4 paces as i measure them) are key
this is often the distace i am hitting approach shots on par 4's and i seem to have a lot of these putts
i am only holing about 40-50% of them now, which is yielding me about 2-3 birdies a round

today i played 16 (got rained out hard) but was 1 over w 2 fairly birdie-able holes left
sure i would have been even coming home

i am stoked now, as i feel that i am moving forward finally, playing really well
I am meeting w my coach tomorrow, more of a checkup (kind of pull/hooking the driver from time to time)
quick adjustment to figure it out and then i should be good to go
have a time booked every day this week too, so i am looking forward to getting out

kinda wich this kid would come already, getting antsy!! hahaha!!!

thansk again everyone who responded, this has been a great help

the next step........getting under 4!!!!!!