A little Advice please....

[kid2]

Well my season has finished and winter rules are in so its work time again.... Iv exceeded my goals for this season reaching Cat 2 and would like a little advice from the forum who have got to singles and lower and who have got there and went back up....

I know that dropping from a mid teens to high singles isn't a hard drop but from 9 down it will get harder....

What would be a reachable goal for next season... I'm realistic in knowing that a drop from 9 to 5 isn't anywhere as easy as 14 to 9 so what goals do I set....... I'm thinking maybe 1.5 - 2 shots...

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Congratulations on reaching your goal. Missed mine by a fair way starting on 10.1 and now 11.3. Was looking forward to getting to single figures but nothing gelled. My advice to consolidate your position would be to be as good a putter as you can aligned with a stellar short game. You clearly keep it in play regularly so look at the stats and see where your misses occur and how you can improve

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Well.....it's really all down to how hard you are prepared to work on your game? Lots of work, lessons, practice, good competitive play....getting down to Cat 1 wouldn't be unrealistic.
But if you just plan to have a knock with mates every week, the odd trip to the range and no lessons then you may even go back up. What you really need to do is identify your weaknesses then work hard on them, whether they be putting, short game, long game or whatever.

Good luck :thup:

 

[One Planer]

I'm not in the cat group you wanted an answer from Kid, but....

I look to drop around 2 shots a year. This year I didn't seta goal and still dropped 2 (Maybe 3 depending on annual review)

Do what works for you pal, even if it's half a shot.

 

[Wayman]

well done on reaching your goal

didn't do mine was looking at been cat 1 but lost interest at old golf club so just moved to another one few weeks back

fingers crossed next year ill do it

 

[pbrown7582]

I found it was all to do with the amount of practice time you can put it, when I was able to practice 2/3 and playing at least twice then all was good and got to 7.8 and lower was looming, until a industrial accident caused a stoppage in my golf. Since restarting at 10 and
a change of circumstance less playing time and hardly any practice time then it's a struggle to play to h/cap.
With some effort I don't see 6 as an unreasonable target.

 

[3PuttCharlie]

I'd try not to limit yourself by a number.

I went from 9 to 5 in a season and my whole years focus was just trying to seeing how many pars I could make in each round. I managed to stay focused on concentrating on 'one hole at a time' for most of the season and the scores looked after themselves.

two or three good really good rounds would take care of a 2 shot reduction...

another thing I used to do was to get a tin to put money in...

every time I made a birdie I put in £1, every time I made an eagle put in £2

After a while you have some money to spend on golf stuff...it was really satisfying because it felt like you'd earned it. I was caught up in how much money was in the tin and again the scores looked after themselves

good luck with it

 

[Deleted member 17920]

Well I ended up last season at 9 thought I would get down to 7 or 8 and found myself going to 10.7 putting my to much pressure on myself to get lower, chilled out a little a ended up 9.3 so next season I wonder what will happen.

 

[chrisd]

another thing I used to do was to get a tin to put money in...

every time I made a birdie I put in £1, every time I made an eagle put in £2

After a while you have some money to spend on golf stuff...it was really satisfying because it felt like you'd earned it.

Wow! What a great idea - by the middle of July I'd be able to buy a Mars Bar!

 

[3PuttCharlie]

Wow! What a great idea - by the middle of July I'd be able to buy a Mars Bar!

LOL - you could always do net birdies

and have a word with your pro he can do you a deal on a mars bar

 

[kid2]

Wow! What a great idea - by the middle of July I'd be able to buy a Mars Bar!

Was thinkin thesame myself Chris...... Its a great way of staying focused too.....

 

[kid2]

Thanks for all the replies... Its great to see the varying answers....

 

[SocketRocket]

Well.....it's really all down to how hard you are prepared to work on your game? Lots of work, lessons, practice, good competitive play....getting down to Cat 1 wouldn't be unrealistic.
But if you just plan to have a knock with mates every week, the odd trip to the range and no lessons then you may even go back up. What you really need to do is identify your weaknesses then work hard on them, whether they be putting, short game, long game or whatever.

Good luck :thup:

Very good advice.

 

[Imurg]

I would say set a goal but not too big a goal.
You're off 9.3 now so make 8.3 your target, then if you make it set it lower.
Trying to come down too much too soon puts the pressure on when the swing takes a holiday....

 

[kid2]

I would say set a goal but not too big a goal.
You're off 9.3 now so make 8.3 your target, then if you make it set it lower.
Trying to come down too much too soon puts the pressure on when the swing takes a holiday....

I found that out the hard way a few times this season Murg.... I put way too much pressure on myself to drop shots..... Then decided to just go out and play the ball round the course.. and hey presto... Drops galore....:lol:

 

[Liqdaddymac]

get good at scrambling.

I played probably my worst game of the season from the tee and hit numerous bad approach shots on Sunday during our final medal but ended up winning it and shot the 2nd lowest gross score (2 over) as I got up and down 7 times from 70-120 yards for par with the longest putt being 8ft. And somehow got away with a few bogeys which had double or worse written all over them.

 

[sawtooth]

This day last year I was 10.5 and now I'm 9.2 that's a decrease of 12.38%

Assuming a similar rate of improvement I would be happy to get to 8.1 !

If I understood you've dropped from 14 to 9 in a year which is about 36%! that's a larger drop than anyone at our club has managed this year. I think the closest so far is from 19 to 13 (about 28%)

I dont think another drop like yours would be realistic, if you are anything like me then staying still on 9 is difficult enough and wouldn't be that bad an achievement, but aim for 8. I would say anything else would be a bonus.

 

[Region3]

I went fairly quickly from 9 to 7 once I'd got the weight of getting to single figures off my shoulders, and I didn't start miraculously hitting the ball a lot better.

I got a little better at getting the ball up and down, and did my best to cut out doubles (or worse) even if it meant a slightly smaller chance of making par, and before too long 9 seems an easy number to play to.
Once you get used to it you have more confidence to go lower.

Good luck :thup:

 

[bluetoon]

I'm with region3
Playing to single figures is about minimising mistakes.
It's not how good the good shots are but how bad the bad ones are.
Priorities are cutting out the doubles, and managing yourself when you get into trouble off the tee, leave the hero shots to bounce games and keep the ball in play

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I'm with region3
Playing to single figures is about minimising mistakes.
It's not how good the good shots are but how bad the bad ones are.
Priorities are cutting out the doubles, and managing yourself when you get into trouble off the tee, leave the hero shots to bounce games and keep the ball in play

:thup: cutting out the doubles and silly mistakes is what it's all about