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From mid handicap to scratch.

darriusdax said:
Got my first official handicap today from Merchants golf course edinburgh... 14.. good starting point... somebody said if my project is serious then i have to be off 3 by the end of this year.... cant see it happening ... maybe 8 or 9... would still be a great achievement.
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getting from 14 to 3 will be the easy bit from 3 down is where you will struggle. Took be 5 years to get from 12 to 5 after only taking 3 months from 24 to 12.
 
darriusdax said:
You are right. That has become clear to me. A level par round would be an amazing achievement in and of itself. I already know that whoever said that after 3 yrs playing golf you are at your peak..... spoke bullshit.
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shooting a level par round doen't make you a scratch golfer, done it a few times and i'm miles off
 
spent 6 hours playing and practicing on thursday... worked 12 hours yesterday but managed a 30 min stretching workout... wake up saturday sick as a dog and cant play in the tournament.... why do our bodies betray us like this... ok maybe im expecting too much from myself in these early stages... but i can smell single figures handicap... maybe a more balanced approach next week.
 
You'll probably sicken yourself if you go up to much, also at the age of 47 you're now approaching the age where you won't be able to do things as much physically as you used to to body management plays a part, believe me, I still haven't learnt this and play as much as I can but absolutely positive that it has a detrimental effect on my scores.
 
darriusdax said:
Got my first official handicap today from Merchants golf course edinburgh... 14.. good starting point... somebody said if my project is serious then i have to be off 3 by the end of this year.... cant see it happening ... maybe 8 or 9... would still be a great achievement.
Click to expand...
An 11 shot drop in 5 months. I would argue is impossible. I’m not sure you could have enough rounds for it to happen, even with Exceptional handicap reductions
 
MendieGK said:
An 11 shot drop in 5 months. I would argue is impossible. I’m not sure you could have enough rounds for it to happen, even with Exceptional handicap reductions
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The ESRs won't make much difference. A golfer playing exactly to 3 would take 21 comps to get to a playing handicap of 3 - the vast majority of which is getting from 5.2 to 3.4! Add in ESRs and at best you reduce it to 19 comps.
Obviously most handicap committees will have intervened long before that though 🤔
Better to wait for the WHS...just 8 will do it 🤗
 
HappyHacker1 said:
You'll probably sicken yourself if you go up to much, also at the age of 47 you're now approaching the age where you won't be able to do things as much physically as you used to to body management plays a part, believe me, I still haven't learnt this and play as much as I can but absolutely positive that it has a detrimental effect on my scores.
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agreed.. i reckon if i spend half of my practice time doing physical training like yoga and cardio it will lower my scores more than playing golf..
 
darriusdax said:
Actually mendie.... the picture of my back swing... do you think i have more chance changing my musculature and flexibility to correct that by playing golf or working in the gym...
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I think lifting weight in a gym will help 100%, cardio, no not really.

But I’d say timewise 80/20 towards golf would benefit you a lot more than 50/50.

A good coach will work around your physical issues anyway...
 
Fitness helps in golf but it is certainly not essential. Just think Happybarnrat, Tim Herron, John Daly etc.
You will get much more benefit using your time to work on your game.
 
drive4show said:
Fitness helps in golf but it is certainly not essential. Just think Happybarnrat, Tim Herron, John Daly etc.
You will get much more benefit using your time to work on your game.
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im mainly talking about stretching... some guys are naturally flexible.. dont matter if they are 17 stone... but guys like me need to stretch out. You can fire 1000 range balls with a bent lead arm and you will never improve or you could do a combo of stretching excercises and range work to build a straight lead arm swing.....
 
+ 11 yesterday, my lowest ever round of golf and i didnt hit a single straight mid iron... i have been practicing try to hit chips and pitches in to a builders bucket... this paid off big time with my approaches and scrambling... amazingly i only sank one decent putt but didnt 3 putt at all. Gives me hope that if i can sort the irons and putting out... could drop another 3-5 shots quite quickly. 4 weeks of no booze, gentle fitness, lots of golf, and a few 2 hr sessions at the practice area.
 
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