Plateau...have you made a step change

Scott W

Scott W

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Ok so here is he deal. I am currently a 19 handicap, have been between 19 and 20 for too many years

Many people I play with comment that my swing is better than 19 and I am pretty "athletic" (for 46) and hit it a decent distance. I can (on very rare occasions) play much better than 19, a run of 3 or 4 pars has been known!

I could list the issues, occasional destructive tee shot OOB right, short game woes etc. all of which I have a plan to work on this season (as I do every season ) but my 2 part question is this

1. Has anyone on here been stuck at a level for a long time but then made a material improvement?

2. If so what was it that aided the breakthrough?

...or am I destined to expire a frustrated 19 h'cap ...please give me hope!

Thanks in advance for input
 
Been stuck between 10-12 for far too long and still think I have single figures in there. Inspired by the antics of friends like HawkeyeMS and ADS749r who are going great guns, 2016 is about keeping it simple and not looking for anything special other than tightening up the short game (chipping in particular) and going our and playing as much as I can and learning what I need to do to score out on the course
 
Depends what you mean by a long time.

I bounced around from 10-12 for about 3 years with people telling me I should be much lower. There is a big difference between being told that (and even knowing it) and actually doing it though.

Once I got to 9 the shots dropped off relatively quickly.

The breakthrough (or series of them, in order) was...

Improved putting
Improved chipping
Better shot selection

I don't think I hit the ball a lot better now than when I was off 10, but my short game is much better and I either manage my game very well or am very lucky, because it's rare the trouble I put myself in costs me more than a shot.
 
Short game is what I have to focus on. It's good - but not as good as it needs to be if I want to get back to 6-8.

I tend to be too lackadaisacle with it. If I have missed the green , I too often rush things a bit or don't quite bother enough - especially if I 'have a shot' on the hole (which of course in medal I don't). So even if my chip is easy and no risk, I'll still be tempted into thinking I'll get down in three anyway - when I should be working hard at the shot to get down in 2. And of course being so lackadaisical about things I'll sometimes mess it up completely and then fail to get down in three.
 
I plateaued around 12, I reckon I'd still be there if I didn't address my full swing. Yes short game is important but I wasn't getting near the green in nearly enough shots. This winter I've worked on iron/wedge contact and improved that to the level I'm very happy with so look forward to the season ahead and hopefully some cuts. When I plateau again I know what's next to fix in the full swing. I also know improving my short game will also see the h/c tumble. So plenty to work on but even more to look forward to. If you really want to improve then focussed, guided practice is the way most folk do it. There are some who are self-taught and fair play to them, but in most sports I think there is a consensus that coaching (and your willingness to practice effectively) is the path to improvement.
 
Identify where the issue is.

Ridiculously you think you are poor in x, when it turns out to be y (certainly for me). I knew that short game needed some work and then started to take part in Jason Dransfield's short game challenge (in the lounge somewhere) and found that it is in fact woeful. Seeing what he is doing will hopefully start off my improvements to get me down further. For this reason take down numbers, look at where you are poor statistically and then work on that whether it is short game, course management or hitting fairways/ greens.

Generally I believe that many higher handicapped players can reduce their scores and handicap using course management. Your handicap of 19 gives you a shot a hole +1 extra. So by managing the course you can score lower. Do you try to hit every green in regulation or do you lay up on the more challenging holes? Trying to par everything will lead to disaster if things go wrong for you. Alternatively you can manage that by using the shot on the more challenging holes but going for par when it is achievable.

For example, when I played off 12, this worked out as 2 shots every 3 holes. I chose to try to play each 3 to +1 rather than +2. The first at my course then was a hard par 3 and this was followed by a relatively easy par 4 and then a relatively easy par 5. The first was my bogey hole and the others were where I went for pars. I played for this throughout the course and this gave me an achievable target. Much better than trying to par everything.
 
jamielaing said:
Identify where the issue is.

Ridiculously you think you are poor in x, when it turns out to be y (certainly for me). I knew that short game needed some work and then started to take part in Jason Dransfield's short game challenge (in the lounge somewhere) and found that it is in fact woeful. Seeing what he is doing will hopefully start off my improvements to get me down further. For this reason take down numbers, look at where you are poor statistically and then work on that whether it is short game, course management or hitting fairways/ greens.

Generally I believe that many higher handicapped players can reduce their scores and handicap using course management. Your handicap of 19 gives you a shot a hole +1 extra. So by managing the course you can score lower. Do you try to hit every green in regulation or do you lay up on the more challenging holes? Trying to par everything will lead to disaster if things go wrong for you. Alternatively you can manage that by using the shot on the more challenging holes but going for par when it is achievable.

For example, when I played off 12, this worked out as 2 shots every 3 holes. I chose to try to play each 3 to +1 rather than +2. The first at my course then was a hard par 3 and this was followed by a relatively easy par 4 and then a relatively easy par 5. The first was my bogey hole and the others were where I went for pars. I played for this throughout the course and this gave me an achievable target. Much better than trying to par everything.
Click to expand...

Understand the point but I have had a par on every hole on the course (and birdied a few) so in my head I believe I should go for par. As a 19 h'cap it is not unusual for me to have 5,6 or even 7 pars a round...just some blow ups
 
Scott W said:
Understand the point but I have had a par on every hole on the course (and birdied a few) so in my head I believe I should go for par. As a 19 h'cap it is not unusual for me to have 5,6 or even 7 pars a round...just some blow ups
Click to expand...

Yep, you have the game to par any hole but inconsistency means when the wheels come off it goes all wrong. What causes the blow ups, anything in particular? For instance is it a bad drive made worse by trying to get the second shot too far/into a position you can't reach? Or is it around/on the greens you lose shots?

Do you want to improve the swing, or manage how you handle those moments better? Because they are different solutions (though can be pursued at the same time). What is likely though is managing yourself better will just take you to the next plateau. The way to get better is to actually get better, the handicap comes down all by itself.
 
Scott W said:
Understand the point but I have had a par on every hole on the course (and birdied a few) so in my head I believe I should go for par. As a 19 h'cap it is not unusual for me to have 5,6 or even 7 pars a round...just some blow ups
Click to expand...


Those blow outs are the ones that kill you (or at least were the ones that killed me). At 19 hcp you need to really minimise the double bogey and worse scores that will wreck your card. Even if this means you sacrifice a few opportunities for par. I think you'll be surprised how often you make par when you lay up for a safe bogey. Think about where a miss will leave you before you play the shot. Often a nicely placed lay up in the right place is just as good as being on the green and in the wrong place.

Also make sure you take enough club, often being over the green is actually quite benign as the bunkers etc are at the front so being a bit too long if you hit a super sweet strike is no great punishment. Especially compared to a knee-trembler over the bunker to a tight pin.
 
Scott W said:
Understand the point but I have had a par on every hole on the course (and birdied a few) so in my head I believe I should go for par. As a 19 h'cap it is not unusual for me to have 5,6 or even 7 pars a round...just some blow ups
Click to expand...

I can understand that but, despite that your handicap is higher. Look at your blow ups, do they regularly occur on the same holes? Is it that once you get a run going you get over excited and blow up? If it is that you blow up due to scoring well it may be worth not counting your score as you go. Some of my best rounds have been due to not knowing where I am in relation to par. On the other hand, I was once level par through 9 in the championship qualifying and the guy marking my card really wanted me to do well. After every bogey he told me I was doing ok as I was only x over and I could bring it back. After every birdie he told me how I would be able to go round in x over if I kept playing well. Knowing it all reduced me to a wreck. If I was in my usual state of blissful ignorance it would have been better (demonstrated by going round the next day in +4 compared to +9 after I politely asked him not to tell me my score this time).
 
When I first started playing the game(was I suppose 26ish), found it fairly quickly to drop my handicap to about 16-18. This was playing a round onces a fortnight. Never practise at driving ranges etc(perhaps twice a year).

Then one year, about 7 years after starting to play, I was playing on average 16 holes a week(yeah had a spreadsheet and that was the average), so almost once a week. Again never practised etc. Everything in my game got better as was playing more regular which help my scores dropped, could shot in single figures fairly consistently. Then stopped playing. Never had a mental issue over golf, which a lot of golfers seem to have, and always felt I could birdie every hole on the course, self belief is very important for golf and focus on the shot rather than the swing.

So playing more regularly can work wonders for scores, depending on how much you play now.

After hardly playing for a long time and now 46 as well, I am now trying to play more regularly this year but am finding hard to get back any consistently and the weather isn't helping. I have even now bought a net, so I can practise more on the longer game and which I will start using in the next week.

Best of luck, golf is a love hate game. I love it and it hates me!
 
Scott W said:
Understand the point but I have had a par on every hole on the course (and birdied a few) so in my head I believe I should go for par. As a 19 h'cap it is not unusual for me to have 5,6 or even 7 pars a round...just some blow ups
Click to expand...

That's it in a nutshell. You have the capability sotake that as a positive and something that should be within your gift. The issue will be consistency. Say you par the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] - if you couldjust walk back to the tee box and play the hole again 10 times, how many timeswould you par it?
Sometimes you hit OOB right, is it on specific holes?
If so, don’t take driver onthose holes. Are all your approach shotsgood? This is what killed me. A sweetmid-iron strike on one hall is followed by a fat / duff on the next. Getting to the point when there is aconsistency of strike, even if the ball is slightly off line, will see you notlose shots in the middle of the fairway. I would say you could save anywhere between 4-8 shots just by being sureyou’re actually going to hit the ball in the direction of the green ‘x’distance.
 
Scott W said:
Ok so here is he deal. I am currently a 19 handicap, have been between 19 and 20 for too many years

Many people I play with comment that my swing is better than 19 and I am pretty "athletic" (for 46) and hit it a decent distance. I can (on very rare occasions) play much better than 19, a run of 3 or 4 pars has been known!

I could list the issues, occasional destructive tee shot OOB right, short game woes etc. all of which I have a plan to work on this season (as I do every season ) but my 2 part question is this

1. Has anyone on here been stuck at a level for a long time but then made a material improvement?

2. If so what was it that aided the breakthrough?

...or am I destined to expire a frustrated 19 h'cap ...please give me hope!

Thanks in advance for input
Click to expand...

I don't know if you mentioned the reason without knowing[frustration].
I used to beat myself up and get angry that I couldn't hit single figures from my 12 handicap,as soon as I calmed down it happened very quickly and then when I improved my putting I got lower.
 
Region3 said:
Depends what you mean by a long time.

I bounced around from 10-12 for about 3 years with people telling me I should be much lower. There is a big difference between being told that (and even knowing it) and actually doing it though.

Once I got to 9 the shots dropped off relatively quickly.

The breakthrough (or series of them, in order) was...

Improved putting
Improved chipping
Better shot selection

I don't think I hit the ball a lot better now than when I was off 10, but my short game is much better and I either manage my game very well or am very lucky, because it's rare the trouble I put myself in costs me more than a shot.
Click to expand...

God you do hit the ball well.
Scary you being off 10 and hitting it as well,I might have been calling you names:D
 
jamielaing said:
I can understand that but, despite that your handicap is higher. Look at your blow ups, do they regularly occur on the same holes? Is it that once you get a run going you get over excited and blow up? If it is that you blow up due to scoring well it may be worth not counting your score as you go. Some of my best rounds have been due to not knowing where I am in relation to par. On the other hand, I was once level par through 9 in the championship qualifying and the guy marking my card really wanted me to do well. After every bogey he told me I was doing ok as I was only x over and I could bring it back. After every birdie he told me how I would be able to go round in x over if I kept playing well. Knowing it all reduced me to a wreck. If I was in my usual state of blissful ignorance it would have been better (demonstrated by going round the next day in +4 compared to +9 after I politely asked him not to tell me my score this time).
Click to expand...

Recognise that! I was recently 6 over on the 13th tee and thought "you have 13 shots left"...guess what, I used 12 of them!
 
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