How to get under 10???

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I'm a 10 handicapper, I hit a decent length, normally strike the ball well and generally pitch & chip well. My putting isn't good however.

But what is the difference between a 10 and a single figure handicapper in your opinion?

putting, luck, consistency, length ?

To those who are below 10 - what is the difference between you and your higher handicap playing partners?

To those above 10 - what is it that you need to improve to come down to single figures?
 

Toad

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Gill as someone who is struggling to get under 10 I would have to say consistency is my biggest problem.

I can hit all the shots required as well as anyone in single figures just not often enough.
 

DCB

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Gill,
I found that a lot of practice with the short game and a bit of consistency with the putter were the biggest factors in getting down below 10. I managed to get down to 7.7 at my lowest, purely by being able to play the necessary short shots when I missed any green.

Unfortunately I lost my game and confidence after an op on my neck and am now fighting to get below 10 again.

Practicing my short game and putting again !
 

wilf_74

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Good Post Gill,

Gill,
I found that a lot of practice with the short game and a bit of consistency with the putter were the biggest factors in getting down below 10. I managed to get down to 7.7 at my lowest, purely by being able to play the necessary short shots when I missed any green.

Unfortunately I lost my game and confidence after an op on my neck and am now fighting to get below 10 again.

Practicing my short game and putting again !

I am currently off 12 and looking at the same goal, i am hitting more GIR now which has cut me, but i think DCB is right, its the short game, i seem to lose shots when missing the green and then getting up and down for par is where i can save those shots. leaving lengthy putts after poor chips can lead to bogeys and doubles.

This is my current focus!
 

Ken_A

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All the mid handicappers I know just need to improve their chipping and putting - one needs to get more GIR's.

In my opinion you need to be pretty tidy to get to 10, but the 10 to 12 bracket seems to be the limit for a lot of folks I know.

Only you can tell what is required - perhaps try a month with the strokesaver software - it should point you in the right direction.
 

kjackson1969

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Consistency and a better short game I am sure would get me down from 12 to 10 and below. When I am on song I can play down to 7 or 8 but not often enough.
 

theeaglehunter

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I would say the consistency and also course management is quite a big factor. Although I am nowhere near the 10 mark at present although hopefully it won't be too far in the future when I reach it.
 

DCB

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What I would like to add to what I said earlier is that when I was playing well, I found that it didn't matter to me too much if I missed a fairway or a green. I had great belief in my ability to get up and down from greenside. I could stand over a putt felt confident aout getting it in or stone dead. Get the putting stats down to 29-30 per round and that will make so much of a difference. You really do believe in yourself.

At the point where I stopped playing in the June during the 2005 season, I was looking to get down to somewhere between 6-7, I really felt I could do it.

The next season, after my op, I couldn't hit a ball to save myself. I lost all confidence in my ability and just lost it. Lowest ebb was early this year when I didn't know where the ball was going when I hit it. Took a series of lessons and have been working hard with the practice and it is begining to show some reward.

Got confidence growing in my ball striking and the putting is coming on nicely.

Hopefully the next month or so will see downward progress of the handicap again.
 
D

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I hit alot more good shots than most of my playing partners but don't always score better.

When on the green I'm never sure of a two putt, and as such even a good chip is never an easy U&D for me.

I have recently downloaded SS2 - after my one good round of the year.

I hit too few fairways - but had a terrible day with the driver compared to usual.

Hit more GIR than my H'cap standard.

Never 3 putted once which made all the difference on that day. :)

And apparently had a pro level birdie conversion of 33%. :cool:

But those last 2 are normally what let me down. As such if they can be the norm, I should come down. ;)

I just wondered how everyone else needed to improve, or how those under 10 got there.
 

vig

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I used to play with a lad who played off scratch. I could cream him with every club but....... if I hit a ball in to 8 foot he would get inside me every time.
Accuracy, putting and consistency are the key. I used to play off 8 but played or parcticed 5 times a week then. I just don't get that sort of time now.
A pro told me that knowing your distance for each type of shot with each club would drastically reduce a handicap.
 

AliB

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Gill
10 is a distant mirage for me, so hope you don't mind my chipping in (ha ha!)
I think the big difference between high and low handicappers is the ability to get up and down. I bet you have the length you need and good accuracy fairway to green. I watch the pros standing over their first putt and realise they expect to make it, even from a distance.
Don't forget, a lot of putting is confidence. Get a few in, and you start to believe.
Then who am I to talk.

Respect! (and best of luck)

AliB
 
D

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Your right Ali, good players do often expect to hole putts. Whereas I hope to get them close.

I recently played a matchplay 4BBB with a 10 and against 3 & 7 handicappers. I outplayed them all tee to green but if we were all on the green the opponants had the advantage.

In fact, in the bar after the match the 3 handicapper said that if I could putt we would have murdered them.

My playing partner on the other hand is very consistant but not long enough to come down.
 

TonyN

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Its all in the short game.

I played to 16 the other day and have done to 14 in the last month.

Problem is, i dont hit enough green in regs!

And from within 80 yards I dont get close enough to hole out with my first putt but i very rarely take more than 2 putts. If i could get close with the pitching and chipping, it would reduce the putts and I would be playing to single figures.

Time, dedication, beleif in the short game!!!
 

evita4

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After playing a couple of rounds with a friend of mine who plays off 9 I think the difference is that he never wastes a shot. I am as long off the tee, possible not quite as accurate finding the green from around 150 to 180 yards out. Every tee shot he hits finds the middle of the short stuff whereas I waste a couple of shots a round chipping back onto the fairway for position. If I could drop a ball next to his tee shot I don't think he would beat me by more than 3 or 4 shots per round and I play off 18.
 

HomerJSimpson

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Actually it is to allow some helicopter landings whereby they are then ferried via our greenkeepr paths to waiting cars. We lose the practice ground to coaches (it doesn't actually get too badly chewed up). I think we normally go down to a 12 hole layout but its better than when we were situated in the middle of the racecourse. We would shut the week before Royal Ascot to allow the course to have portaloos, tote betting and coach parking to be set up. We then lost the week of the meeting (hard to play with 10000+ on the heat every day) and the week after to allow for the clean up and decamp
 

Glenfish

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Good post this mate!
Seems that the short game is the key here, my short game is terrible and costs me at least 18 shote per round!! I practice a lot these days I just really struggle to read the greens and drop those puts,
Can someone confirm for me what GIR is aon a par 4 and 5?
 
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