Cutting handicap in half in 400 days

[lastings]

Hey all, 

As I had mentioned in my welcome to TST post, I've spend more time this summer working on my game than I have ever before.  As I have spent more time both on the range and on the course, I came to notice that putting the extra work in is creating vast improvements to my game.   Surprising, right?  I know.   

Anyways, Upon coming to the realization that putting in work actually produces results, I made a challenge to myself to help me keep my focus and continue to improve my game.  Over the course of 400 days (end of next season), I want to reduce my handicap from 13.9, where it started, down to 7.    

I'm not sure if this is within the rules of the site to share this or not, as people don't like advertising and such, but over the course of the 400 days, I am keeping a journal of everything golf along the way, which can be found below. 

https://medium.com/its-a-stupid-game

I don't mean to share this as an advertisement, but simply that I would love the thoughts, opinions, tips and tricks of the members of this site. I think that the members here are particularly well suited to help if you're interested, as many of you are; much better than me - so you can see the flaws in my game; have been where I am at before - so you can share you insights on how to get over certain humps; and/or are at the same place I am - so we can complain to each other about how stupid this game is..  

Anyways, inside this journal I try to go over everything I can, whether that be my struggles to improve at the range, descriptions of rounds I have and courses I play, my various reasons for wanting to improve, as well as the occasional anecdote about life and the game of golf.    I would be happy just to post all this stuff here, but I think there is just a bit too much content and I'd feel like I was unnecessarily flooding the site.  

So, if you have a moment, stop by and check it out sometime.   Any feedback you might have for me would be greatly appreciated.  

 

Thanks!

Chad

 

 

 

[DrvFrShow]

Yes you can cut your handicap in half in 400 days if you focus practice 3 - 4 hrs a day four days a week and play at least twice a week. Then there is the winter layoff and spring recovery... unless you're rich and have a winter home in AZ, SoCA, or FL. Well if you have one in SoCA it's probably your only home. The rest of us have to deal with crappy cold weather and snow.

[No Mulligans]

I went from a 27 to a 16 in under two years, and I'm nothing special and I am 58 years old.  Of course it's much harder to go from a 14 to a 7 than what I've done so far.  Still, I think it's a reasonable aspiration/challenge.

[CarlSpackler]

First off, I wish you much luck on your endeavor. Do you have a plan, or is it simply a goal? Golf practice will need to be the centerpiece of your life to have a possibility of pulling this off. 

As far as "advertising" your blog, are you making money from it? 

 

[lastings]

7 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

First off, I wish you much luck on your endeavor.

thank you

7 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

Do you have a plan, or is it simply a goal?

As of now it is a goal.  with hopes of developing a more specific plan, as i drill down on exactly what improvements I need to make. 

7 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

As far as "advertising" your blog, are you making money from it? 

nope.  wouldn't even know how to do so if I wanted to. 

Edited August 12, 2016 by lastings

[CarlSpackler]

3 minutes ago, lastings said:

thank you

As of now it is a goal.  with hopes of developing a more specific plan, as i drill down on exactly what improvements I need to make. 

nope.  wouldn't even know how to do so if I wanted to. 

If you aren't making money from it, then I wouldn't think there is a problem. You can blog on this site too, and if you start a My Swing thread, you can log your progress. Your swing is really what is going to drive you scores lower. 

[lastings]

Just now, CarlSpackler said:

and if you start a My Swing thread, you can log your progress.

where do I go about doing that?

 

[CarlSpackler]

3 minutes ago, lastings said:

where do I go about doing that?

 

https://thesandtrap.com/forums/forum/13-member-swings/?do=add

That might help.

[lastings]

Just now, CarlSpackler said:

https://thesandtrap.com/forums/forum/13-member-swings/?do=add

That might help.

Thanks!  looks like I might have to drag the wife out to the range this weekend and get some swings on video..  

[CarlSpackler]

1 minute ago, lastings said:

Thanks!  looks like I might have to drag the wife out to the range this weekend and get some swings on video..  

Yep. A small tripod is a worthwhile investment. I imagine that having you drag her to the range will get old after a time or two. 

There is also a link here somewhere with instructions on how to record your swing, but all the links I click on are broken for some reason. 

Here it is.

https://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/filming_your_swing

[onkey]

Cutting from a 12 to a 6 is no easy feat and if you plan on doing it solely by investing more of your time into golf, you will probably come away disappointed.  If you truly want to make that kind of improvement, my suggestion is to find a good instructor to help. 

[lastings]

Just now, onkey said:

Cutting from a 12 to a 6 is no easy feat and if you plan on doing it solely by investing more of your time into golf, you will probably come away disappointed.  If you truly want to make that kind of improvement, my suggestion is to find a good instructor to help. 

Technically from a 14 to a 7.   From someone that is already at a 7.4, your feedback is much appreciated.  

I've got about 2.5 months left in this golf season.  I would like to see how much progress I can make by the end of the year.  At that point, I will evaluate my progress and decide if it's in my best interest to get an instructor over the winter, or continue to push forward on my own.. 

 

[Jameson]

Great challenge... but, reach 7 is serious commitment.

I bet you won´t make it... anyway, good luck on your journey! and most important, enjoy!

[lastings]

Just now, Jameson said:

Great challenge... but, reach 7 is serious commitment.

I bet you won´t make it... anyway, good luck on your journey! and most important, enjoy!

Agreed, this will be quite the challenge.   That said if I set the bar lower, like say a 10, I might not have the same drive to achieve it, or the urgency to keep improving.  That said, If I don't get all the way there and end next season at like a 8.5, I'll still be a much improved golfer and still happy about it. 

[Jameson]

1 minute ago, lastings said:

Agreed, this will be quite the challenge.   That said if I set the bar lower, like say a 10, I might not have the same drive to achieve it, or the urgency to keep improving.  That said, If I don't get all the way there and end next season at like a 8.5, I'll still be a much improved golfer and still happy about it. 

Agreed! I will prepare a challenge like yours for myself 

[onkey]

11 minutes ago, lastings said:

Technically from a 14 to a 7.   From someone that is already at a 7.4, your feedback is much appreciated.  

I've got about 2.5 months left in this golf season.  I would like to see how much progress I can make by the end of the year.  At that point, I will evaluate my progress and decide if it's in my best interest to get an instructor over the winter, or continue to push forward on my own.. 

 

I only got down to about an 18 with my self-taught swing.  My first lessons got me down to the 12-14 range, my next set of lessons got me down to about a 9 and my last set of lessons have got me to where I am now.  Each set of lessons were followed by a time where I really struggled and then the benefits started to show up after a few months.  Swing changes require faith (you have to trust and believe in them), work (repetition is the only way to instill new muscle memory), and time.  

 

[lastings]

6 minutes ago, onkey said:

I only got down to about an 18 with my self-taught swing.  My first lessons got me down to the 12-14 range, my next set of lessons got me down to about a 9 and my last set of lessons have got me to where I am now.  Each set of lessons were followed by a time where I really struggled and then the benefits started to show up after a few months.  Swing changes require faith (you have to trust and believe in them), work (repetition is the only way to instill new muscle memory), and time.  

Out of curiosity, when you say a "set" of lessons, how many lessons are you talking?   and how much time in between lessons?  

I am certainly not opposed to getting some lessons along the way.  I just want to wait until I have come to a road block in my improvement.   If I go to an instructor when I feel I can still make improvements in my game on my own, I would just feel like I am wasting both his time and mine..  

[onkey]

Each time it has been a set of 3 lessons and they have essentially flowed where I get my first lesson, work on it for 2 weeks, get the second lesson, work on it for a month, then get the 3rd lesson.  After that I work and play my way through the changes until I feel I've reaped the full benefit (usually 1-2 years) and then I go looking for another instructor (I'm in the military so I've usually moved on by that point).

The first set showed me that athletic ability was the only reason why I could carry an 18 handicap because my technique could not have been more flawed.  It took me 6 months to make the changes I needed from that.

The next set was focused on eliminating the flip and I found that I was over-swinging and had to learn what a full swing felt like (feel is never real).  This set gelled pretty quickly.  Unfortunately my instructor wasn't really advanced in his skills and he didn't have much more to offer.

My next set was with a far more advance teacher who got my swing on a better plane and got rid of a lot of extra/useless movements in my swing.  This set of lessons produced significant results in power and accuracy, but have been the hardest to implement.  The only reason why I have stopped my lessons with this instructor is because he has moved away.  I feel I am ready for more, but I haven't found an instructor who I feel I can work with yet.