How important is your handicap to you?

[woodzie264]

So lately I feel like I'm obsessing over my Hcp, which is due to my recent improvements (which I'm excited about). But I've noticed that the times I play my best is when I approach my rounds with the nonchalant attitude of "I'm not concerned about my score today, but just hoping that today's round will make me a better golfer in the long run." So I think my obsessing over it may actually have the inverse effect of what I want. I realize that the handicap falling is only a reflection of my game improving and so focus should be on my game...not the handicap, but yet I get focused the scores I need to lower my handicap. I suppose as things plateau for me this excitement will fade.

Can anyone relate?

[Tod]

Absolutely. That's definitely been my problem the last two months. I've had to work on backing away because it just made things worse. A 17 is nothing to brag about, but it is so much better than where I was in January. 

[David L Yskes]

handicap is just a # in any other sport that average joe's play, like bowling, billiards, your handicap / average or rating is just a #    

usually it's when people getting better at something, that said person gets tougher on themselves, when they play bad.. cuz they know they can play better..    its usually when you just go out and DGAF, and just have fun, then you play better.. so the pressure of going after a # isnt there..  

like right now, when i go out with my dad and golf... i know i'm playing good if i score 45 or lower for 9... but i am usually around 47 to 52 for my avg scores over 9 holes...   its usually when i am above 50, or have several bad holes, that i get mad...  

 

[No Mulligans]

Scoring, course rating, slope, and the resulting HI index all increase my enjoyment of golf.  This measurement of where you stand, whether or not you're improving, and the ability to level the field for betting, make the game more interesting and unique.

[woodzie264]

1 minute ago, No Mulligans said:

Scoring, course rating, slope, and the resulting HI index all increase my enjoyment of golf.  This measurement of where you stand, whether or not you're improving, and the ability to level the field for betting, make the game more interesting and unique.

Thank you for endorsing my obsession!  I feel like I'm focused on it because I enjoy the challenge of improving...but I guess I'm worried it can hurt my performance if I get too wrapped up in it.

[CarlSpackler]

Concerning yourself with anything other than the shot at hand is not good. You have to just practice and play. Your handicap will be what it is. 

[bkuehn1952]

10 hours ago, woodzie264 said:

So lately I feel like I'm obsessing over my Hcp, ..Can anyone relate?

Take heed of my sad tale.

Long ago, when I first established a handicap, I was as you describe.  Every month (back in the old days it was monthly) I would eagerly await the new sticker (no internet).  My obsession got to the point where I was manipulating scores (cheating) in order to move my handicap from 14 to 13 (no indexes).

Eventually, it became embarrassing because I could never shoot a score to match my handicap.  I was a vanity handicapper.  At that point I stopped cheating and just let my handicap become a number.

Your index is a trailing indicator and often has little to do with how you are playing at the moment.  A decreasing handicap index is nice but don't let a number affect your play.

[woodzie264]

9 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

Take heed of my sad tale.

Long ago, when I first established a handicap, I was as you describe....

Your index is a trailing indicator and often has little to do with how you are playing at the moment.  A decreasing handicap index is nice but don't let a number affect your play.

Point taken - I can easily see how many fall into that temptation. With my scores naturally improving, I've not felt the need/desire to artificially lower scores, but I can certainly see this as a moral tug once things start to plateau. I appreciate your honesty and will gaurd myself against this.

[mcanadiens]

I tend to put too much pressure on myself as it is, chasing numbers is a lousy way to go. Going into a round and thinking you need XX to drop that trend number just made me tighter. 

[newtogolf]

11 hours ago, woodzie264 said:

So lately I feel like I'm obsessing over my Hcp, which is due to my recent improvements (which I'm excited about). But I've noticed that the times I play my best is when I approach my rounds with the nonchalant attitude of "I'm not concerned about my score today, but just hoping that today's round will make me a better golfer in the long run." So I think my obsessing over it may actually have the inverse effect of what I want. I realize that the handicap falling is only a reflection of my game improving and so focus should be on my game...not the handicap, but yet I get focused the scores I need to lower my handicap. I suppose as things plateau for me this excitement will fade.

Can anyone relate?

I don't know if you're playing in tournaments or small cash games, if not I'd encourage you to because it gives you a different perspective about your handicap and index.  A few years ago I was like @bkuehn1952, obsessed with lowering my handicap and because of the people I played with it was easy because they encouraged taking gimmes, etc to "speed up the game".

The problem was my handicap became a vanity cap and there was no way I could legitimately play to it, which became obvious when I played in some tournaments and cash games.  It was then I realized the real purpose of handicap wasn't so much to track your progress, but to put you on equal ground with competitors at different handicaps.

Handicap Index (10 lowest scores over last 20 rounds) doesn't really tell you much about your game, especially depending on the time frame those 20 rounds were recorded over.  

I'm now more concerned with my scores as an average over a month period and overall performance each round, number of birdies, pars, bogeys, doubles, and the stats from each round, fairways, GIR, total putts, etc.   

[GolfLug]

11 hours ago, woodzie264 said:

So lately I feel like I'm obsessing over my Hcp, which is due to my recent improvements (which I'm excited about). But I've noticed that the times I play my best is when I approach my rounds with the nonchalant attitude of "I'm not concerned about my score today, but just hoping that today's round will make me a better golfer in the long run." So I think my obsessing over it may actually have the inverse effect of what I want. I realize that the handicap falling is only a reflection of my game improving and so focus should be on my game...not the handicap, but yet I get focused the scores I need to lower my handicap. I suppose as things plateau for me this excitement will fade.

Can anyone relate?

If handicap is important to you, then it IS. I am of the opinion that there is no need to baby your desire. There is no need to 'force' non-chalance. You will find that playing non-chalantly will help you score better (as you are) for a while but it is hard to hold on to the non-chalance when you start competing for more serious stakes. Wanting to improve and score better puts pressure on you and makes you play bad than so be it. Over time you will become more comfortable with it. Don't become a mouth pouting, club throwing, hissy fitting weirdo but it's ok to expect. You should expect. Let her fly.

[Pete]

It is THE most important thing to me. When playing qualifying competitions, I don't care about winning or placing, I care about whether my score will increase or decrease my handicap.

 

[Gunther]

3 minutes ago, Pete said:

It is THE most important thing to me. When playing qualifying competitions, I don't care about winning or placing, I care about whether my score will increase or decrease my handicap.

 

Lol, I'm almost there.  If in a tournament, I place winning ahead of handicap thoughts, but otherwise, hcap is the most important thing to me as well, to my detriment at times.

Last weekend I knew a 77 was dropping off so I had to play very well to keep my HI from increasing too much.  30 mph winds didn't help but I went out and replaced the 77 with a smooth 91 and my handicap shot up .7 of a point.  I've been depressed all week.

[Pete]

2 minutes ago, Gunther said:

Lol, I'm almost there.  If in a tournament, I place winning ahead of handicap thoughts, but otherwise, hcap is the most important thing to me as well, to my detriment at times.

Last weekend I knew a 77 was dropping off so I had to play very well to keep my HI from increasing too much.  30 mph winds didn't help but I went out and replaced the 77 with a smooth 91 and my handicap shot up .7 of a point.  I've been depressed all week.

Winning a tournament when someone on a lower hcp had a worse net but lower gross score feels like I didn't win anyway.

You would like the CONGU system. You can only increase by 0.1 at a time.

[jkelley9]

In a golf club with regular tournaments and stuff sure, that stuff is important. And that's the type of game some people live for. Not me. I want to get better on my own and part of that for now means I don't keep a handicap. I record honest scores on my phone app and see a trending handicap. I don't even use that number in discussion and playing with other golfers 9 times out of 10. I'll rather just say "I shoot mid eighties usually, sometimes low sometimes high, on easier courses." But of course that's not in competition.

If I started worrying about a handicap, I believe I would certainly get worse before I got better. And I may lose some of the enjoyment of the game because I'm EXPECTING to get better, and would be disappointed if the number got higher. 

[rehmwa]

meh

[Groucho Valentine]

As long its below 2.5 thats all i really care about. All the tournaments i play in are medal gross. Other than that, my index is sort of meaningless. I never give anyone more than 2 strokes a side regardless of their skill level. 

I dont think handicap index is a true representative of skill level, anyway. Some folks think i break par every time i play when i tell them my handicap, but the reality is I break par only a handful of times out of the 50-60 rounds i play a year. Most of my rounds are in the mid 70's.  Just because your handicap isn't dropping, doesn't mean you're not improving as a golfer. 

[David in FL]

It's important to me that I maintain a universally acceptable handicap and that it's accurate.

Beyond that, the number itself is what it is....