Goals.....

[kid2]

I know they are different for everyone and each and everyone to there own but id be interested to know how people have met theirs and how long it has taken and also how they apply themselves to their required level...

I started off a handicap of 21 and have been playing 8 months....Down to 17 now but my goal is to hopefully one day reach the elite....Singles.....Im presuming most that play this great game also want to get there.....


How many hours a week is considered enough to require a level of confidence in your own game to get the handicap down......
Im spending at the moment 3-4 hours during the week to putting but id like maybe to get to our club on a saturday before or sunday comps and maybe spend a few hours with chipping practice and maybe 100 mtr shots as well as my few hours during the week.....

When i played football it was 4 hours training everyweek religiously in any weather to keep the fitness up....Any injury would set you back a bit sharpness would decline and the road back was sometimes slow.... Is golf similar.....
Should i practice 6-8 hours a week and i know you cant put a timeframe on how long it will take to see benefits but is it possible that your practice will pay off quick........

Does the drop in handicap together with the rise in added confidence in the game produce slightly more pressure and how hard is it to play to a handicap once its achieved......
At the moment im playing to my handicap but i am finding that i could play to a shot or 2 lower on current form....The only thing stopping me is the odd destructive shot off the tee and a little dodgy putting........

How have you all dealt with the highs and lows?

 

[drawboy]

I've played before and come back to golf after an 18 yr layoff so I suppose I've been there and done it, I played off 9 when I gave up and could have been better with more practice but now I play for the fun and camaraderie of the game. I do not get wound up by bad bounces,un-raked bunkers or balls in divots and take everything in my stride. I love to see players hurling clubs and abusing everything in sight. I just chuckle to myself and think I used to be like that. The odd point 1 back is inevitable for us all and a shot off after a good round is something to be celebrated. Learning to take it all in your stride is as important as hitting a 250yrd up the middle drive to me nowadays.

 

[Spinn77]

Being honest, most of my practice is actually playing rounds. recently i've hardly hit the range at all.

Arriving at the course i'll do 25 mins chipping and putting. I dont use a range, or the nets that are available. A few practive swings and off i go. Its three par 3's to start so you can feel your way into the long game.

confidence and a handicap decline go hand in hand for me, guess i enjoy the challenge though others i see feel more pressure and fail to perform to the new handicap. you'll find your own way and your own method as you improve, im sure.

My personal targets for the year was a 8 h'cap. publically i said singles but secretly aimed higher. I've got there so just need to consolidate it.

There's the club champs coming up, be nice to better last years 3rd place. i know im much better this year so we'll see. On sunday i beat last years champion and our club pro, but lost to a mate who shot a couple under par.

I'll be getting some new irons after that, and the season will be drawing to an end, so i'll be working on them through the winter.

 

[jammydodger]

Blimey here goes

I have been known to practice a lot in the past and it has served me well to get my h/c down. In a previous life I was down to 3 and still dropping , but the mrs worked and I worked shifts so I was up the club most days I was off and wkg on the short game.

I gave up for a few years as i had fallen out of love with the game but came back for my first season last year with a 10 h/c and got it down to 5. This year I very nearly gave up again because I just wasnt enjoying the sheer frustration of trying to get the h/c down again or even to just hold my own. I was putting the practice in a couple of times a week for maybe a couple of hours at a time and probs playing 2/3 times as well.

In the end it all just boiled over and after a lot of soul searching I decided to just forget all this h/c chasing and worrying about bad shots etc etc. Now my h/c has dropped to 3.8 and I cant do a thing wrong on the course. Bad holes/shots are forgotten and laughed at , good holes/shots are enjoyed.

My advice to you Kid is dont try too hard and get caught up in chasing goals. Relax and enjoy your time on the course and if you can do some positive practice then enjoy that too. Some nice work around the greens and from 120 yards in a couple of times a week will be more than enough.

 

[JT77]

I like that idea JD, I have been struggling a bit with trying to hard and sometimes it feels like all the fun has gone.
I love the game, I want to get better, but i agree that trying to hard is not the best thing to do, I am however finding it pretty tough to just have fun as i have been so adament on getting to single figs!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I clearly stated that I wanted to get to single figures this year. Not likely to happen but I've plateaued around 11 or 12 so I'm not doing too badly. I was the epitomy of over practicing especially two years ago when I was on the practice ground most nights looking for something I couldn't obtain. In the end I lost my ability to swint hte club altogether and certainly piece a score together.

This year I've worked hard on the range and practice ground if I've something to work on after a lesson. Other than that I've been out a lot more even if it's just for nine holes. I'm not sure if it has done any good but I do feel I'm getting as much out of playing "for real" as I have on the range. My swing is fairly set and so hitting balls isn't going to make a huge difference. Playing from different lies, using different clubs (especially around the green) will.

The other important thing to bear in mind is that its fine and noble to want to dedicate as much time as possible to practice and improving but you have to be practicing smartly. Its all to easy (as my mistake two years ago showed) to start grooving small errors. These grow and manifest over time. If you do want to work hard, speak to a pro and get some goals and objectives and see if they have any specific drills to work on.

 

[Losttheplot]

My advice to you Kid is dont try too hard and get caught up in chasing goals. Relax and enjoy your time on the course and if you can do some positive practice then enjoy that too. Some nice work around the greens and from 120 yards in a couple of times a week will be more than enough.

Totally agree with you jammy. Don't concentrate on your handicap dropping, just enjoy it, practise and it will come down naturally.

I think it's really common for people to play and all they can think about is shooting a great score every round. Just take 1 hole at a time, try to do your best on that hole and worry about the counting up the round later.

 

[kid2]

My advice to you Kid is dont try too hard and get caught up in chasing goals. Relax and enjoy your time on the course and if you can do some positive practice then enjoy that too. Some nice work around the greens and from 120 yards in a couple of times a week will be more than enough.

Good advice JammyD.
I may be wrong here but i think one downfall for want of a better phrase is that in the 8 months im playing iv won 2 comps....One a medal where i shot 6 under my handicap and the other a stableford at the end of last year.....Maybe i won these too early and expect too much of myself! Im not sure.....
Iv always been competitive and dare i say always will be which kind of sums up the way im driven in sports.....But i hope its not to my disadvantage in this game.

 

[Swinger]

I've drunk through the highs and the lows and have no idea how I've got to where I am.

The two things i know is that if I didn't drink I'd have got to where I am one hell of a lot sooner and that I'll never be happy with where I am or any round of golf.

Strangly enough though, since I've come to accept these things I enjoy my golf a lot more. Not in any rush to get down the practise ground though.

 

[HTL]

I only have one goal left in Golf: - To play another round with Paul_Stewart. I long for such a day.