Is it possible to play off scratch from 30 in 18 months?

[Pretzel]

10 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

I see a nice linear pattern here, congrats!   What do you think is the difference in your game between 5/1 and 7/15?  Where does the 1.5 improvement coming from? 

The boat improvement was hitting iron shots closer and making birdies to offset the inevitable bogies. 

That's a big thing you'll need to work on, op, is making sure you have excellent ballstriking. It's the most important part of the game. 

[Mjrowe1]

@natureboy thanks so much for the kind words. It has been quick to progress from where I was to where I am now but totally understand that this will slow to a crawl from here on in. My practice hasn't had any structure so far so I plan on making a plan and practicing with purpose over the next 10 months to help my chances as much as I can. I'm definately not in school, I'm 32 and work as a plumber, I do get to choose my own hours so it is a bit easier for practice time. I dont have to higher expectations on myself, I just really enjoy the sport and the challenge, I will keep you updated. Nice to hear positive feedback anyway.

[Nagah]

@Mjrowe1 Good luck on your venture mate. I play in Albury just up the road from Melbourne. Can I suggest you check golfgooroo.com.au it is a plug for a mate who was the number one hitter at Metro in the div 1 pennant team plus one about 5 club championships there. He got down to a plus 3 Handicap at metro.

His insights into the game and how he played 14 consecutive par or subpar rounds. He did this at 5 different courses too. 

Any Aussies here at the sand trap know that Metro is a sand belt course that is very hard to play to your handicap.

All the best on your venture.

[Lihu]

10 hours ago, Mjrowe1 said:

@natureboy thanks so much for the kind words. It has been quick to progress from where I was to where I am now but totally understand that this will slow to a crawl from here on in. My practice hasn't had any structure so far so I plan on making a plan and practicing with purpose over the next 10 months to help my chances as much as I can. I'm definately not in school, I'm 32 and work as a plumber, I do get to choose my own hours so it is a bit easier for practice time. I dont have to higher expectations on myself, I just really enjoy the sport and the challenge, I will keep you updated. Nice to hear positive feedback anyway.

It sounds like you have a naturally decent swing, but going from 13.7 down into the single digits is a much bigger jump than going from beginner to a 13.7.

@natureboy is only looking at numbers and graphs, he doesn't actually know what it takes to get from a 13.7 down to scratch. This is the basis of the difference in our points of view. IDK, either, but have a couple more data points, and feel like it's much much harder as you get better.

I don't think your advanced age of 32 is going to be a big problem based upon my personal experience and the fact that you seem to hit far enough already and will likely hit even farther as you fine tune your swing.

Since you are working and and are already making a living, there's no real "rush" for you to get to scratch. My personal feeling is you can make scratch as you have the driving distance to do so, but it will still take a lot of work and fixing mistakes you make along the way.

Give yourself 2 to 4 years or so, and even this is pretty aggressive. . .

[Pendragon]

On 12/9/2015 at 10:58 PM, Oz Max said:

Anything is possible, all comes down to how much practice/effort you can put in the game. However I think you'll find that the progress from 24 to 13 is quite a lot easier than 13 to scratch... those last few hcp points will be the hardest to ever get!

You nailed it. The lower your index gets, it becomes much more difficult to continue lowering it. His progress so far is quite impressive, but the hard part is yet to come.

[collapse]

Need to hit at least 500 balls a day.

[Lihu]

43 minutes ago, collapse said:

Need to hit at least 500 balls a day.

That's one theory, at least. . .

[collapse]

6 minutes ago, Lihu said:

That's one theory, at least. . .

There is no escaping heavy practice.

[Lihu]

1 minute ago, collapse said:

There is no escaping heavy practice.

Agree, but it needs to be deliberate practice, and not just knocking balls at the range. I know people who can finish up 500 balls in 2 hours which is about 1/3 the time it would take me.

For instance, I tend to hit like playing holes (drive/approach to green/chip-pitch/putt once or twice [or 3, yuck]), so it takes me about 90 minutes for 120 balls which is about 2 simulated rounds and warm up. That's about 300 minutes a day for 6 simulated rounds, plus playing at least one round. In the stalls adjacent, people are done with 2 buckets in about the time I just finish my first or not even. . .

[collapse]

2 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Agree, but it needs to be deliberate practice, and not just knocking balls at the range. I know people who can finish up 500 balls in 2 hours which is about 1/3 the time it would take me.

For instance, I tend to hit like playing holes (drive/approach to green/chip-pitch/putt once or twice [or 3, yuck]), so it takes me about 90 minutes for 120 balls which is about 2 simulated rounds and warm up. That's about 300 minutes a day for 6 simulated rounds, plus playing at least one round. In the stalls adjacent, people are done with 2 buckets in about the time I just finish my first or not even. . .

Ok but can you hit 50 good 5 irons in a row?

[mvmac]

13 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Agree, but it needs to be deliberate practice, and not just knocking balls at the range. I know people who can finish up 500 balls in 2 hours which is about 1/3 the time it would take me.

Yep.

[Lihu]

17 minutes ago, collapse said:

Ok but can you hit 50 good 5 irons in a row?

There is no real opportunity for me to hit 5i iron that often. It's kind of like practicing 3W off the deck 50 times in a row.

My idea of the once in a lifetime 5i is a carry of 193 yards +/- a couple degrees off the target line with 2 good golfers watching it land after asking me to hit up on the par 3 landing 6 feet past and check up 8 feet behind the pin. I was planning on laying up short of the green. My typical 5i is about 170 yards total distance, and there is no way I can hit 5i 170yards 50 times in a row much less with a desirable flight. . .

[collapse]

Hitting 50 good shots in a row with each of 1/2 the  clubs then the other 1/2 the next day....then repeat ..and repeat.. and repeat and...pretty good test of where you stand in golf.

[Lihu]

1 minute ago, collapse said:

Hitting 50 good shots in a row with each of 1/2 the  clubs then the other 1/2 the next day....then repeat ..and repeat.. and repeat and...pretty good test of where you stand in golf.

Sure, it would be a great test, if you could do it.

BTW, just out of curiosity how far do you drive? I would not really see an 8HC using the 5i all that often unless you play long courses. . .

[collapse]

3 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Sure, it would be a great test, if you could do it.

BTW, just out of curiosity how far do you drive? I would not really see an 8HC using the 5i all that often unless you play long courses. . .

The club was an example of what is needed to practice,as I say you need to do it with all the clubs,I carry the ball 250 with a driver.Lots of people on here are constantly saying they drive the ball 280 with swings that are lucky to get the ball airbourne.

[Lihu]

2 hours ago, collapse said:

The club was an example of what is needed to practice,as I say you need to do it with all the clubs,I carry the ball 250 with a driver.Lots of people on here are constantly saying they drive the ball 280 with swings that are lucky to get the ball airbourne.

Sure, it's just an example, but 50 in a row of good shots with each club is 650 balls over two days. That's plus territory. I can't even imagine that you could do that?

Not sure who you are referring to who is stating they can get 280 yards on average with terrible swings, but the typical response on this site is usually pretty negative towards people who make such claims. . .

[collapse]

1 minute ago, Lihu said:

Sure, it's just an example, but 50 in a row of good shots with each club 650 balls over two days is plus territory. I can't even imagine that you could do that?

Not sure who you are referring to who is stating they can get 280 yards on average with terrible swings, but the typical response on this site is usually pretty negative towards people who make such claims. . .

This topic is about being scratch in 18 months from 30...that is the kind of practice you have to do.

[Lihu]

Just now, collapse said:

This topic is about being scratch in 18 months from 30...that is the kind of practice you have to do.

Makes sense, but it's another to be able to do it.