Single figure handicaps

[matt01]

Just sat and read through the handicap goals for 2010!

looking on it there are alot of single figure golfers (very low at that)

what does it take to get to such a handicap and even more what do you have to do to maintan such a handicap

as i would say you can not just turn up on saturday morning and get your clubs out of the car and play to such level

there maybe one or two who can but you must have to do some work on it

 

[golfcitydweller]

matt
it`s not just one thing that helps u get ur h`cap down ..it`s a lot of different things.. 1/ desire 2/technique 3/commitment. 4/ if married - an understanding wife! 5/ learn how to score /course management.. 6/ patience 7/ lessons /magazines tips..8/ play with good players and learn from them ...matt the list goes on and on and other low guy`s /girls will have there own ideas as to how to get better ..talk with a pro and ask him what his approach would be ..i`m sure other forumer`s will have good advice and there experience`s on how they lowered there h`cap ....u`ll only get out the game what u put in to it ,so work hard and good luck

 

[Junior]

I play regularly with a 4 h/cap and his game stems from him playing stacks of junior golf. His summers were spent at the golf club !!! Now at 38 he just plays once a week in winter and twice, maybe 3 times a week in Summer. He doesnt really practice.

Another friend of mine has only been playing 3 years, he's off 8, has a lesson a month, lives at the driving range in Winter and the practice ground in Summer.

I guess most of us are in the second catagory, the only way to get better is to to be very dedicated and practice. I think its important to work with a pro to understand the fundamentals and then practice what you are tought.

 

[RGDave]

as i would say you can not just turn up on saturday morning and get your clubs out of the car and play to such level

there maybe one or two who can but you must have to do some work on it

Some can, I'm not one of them......

I played off "just-into-single figures" for a while, after about 3-4 years of playing and regular practice. I'd have stayed there if *life* (kids, work) hadn't got in the way.

I don't think I want to go there again, 1 or 2 games a week + 1 or 2 range sessions, too much!!

 

[thecraw]

I know a scratch golfer whoes warm up on the 1st consists of three draws of a fag, drop it onto the tee, select the club, put a ball down, swing, boom down the middle, pick up fag again and walk on.

 

[kid2]

I admire and respect anyone that plays in single figures,and i hope one day i will achieve this target.
It shows dedication, discipline, commitment, passion and enjoyment for a game that even hardened pro's are baffled with at times....
Now the players that are just out for a bit of fun and banther and a walk in the fresh air cannot be critised either....Im sure that thats there way of winding down and getting away from it all for a few hours and more power too them....Im just not one of them i always aim to better myself and from playing football for the past 27 years its hard to shake the competitive streak in me even when its just a knock about between friends.....

 

[Dodger]

I think alot of it comes down to simply having the talent.

Some can practice and practice and will never get there as they just don't have the talent.

 

[RGDave]

I think alot of it comes down to simply having the talent.

Some can practice and practice and will never get there as they just don't have the talent.

That'll be me then!

 

[Screwback]

I think you either have it or you dont!

If you are good, working at it will be easy and effortless! But if you put the hard work in and dont get down low you just dont have it IMO!!

 

[birdieman]

Have to echo Dodger and screwbacks comments, you need some degree of natural ability to play single figures.

Swing needs width and tempo but you also need good hand eye co-ordination which can't be trained.

 

[SharkAttack]

Desire and a willingness to practice on and off the course (With the help of a few lessons from a pro) should be enough to get you to single figures.

Now getting to the low end of single figures that requires more of the above and some natural talent.

Oh boy now it's serious, to get to the otherside of zero you have to be willing to give up most things start young and still have masses of natural talent.

Once you get there and can comfortably hold your attained level for a few years, you will know what it takes to stay there. THEN the big decision do you want to stay there and keep up the graft you need to put in or drop back a level and hold that with a lot less effort???????

 

[didsbury_duffer]

I've only ever been as low as 8.6, and so there will be others with much more experience in these matters. My own story is that after leaving a previous employer after 29 years I was unemployed for 8 months, during which time I played at least twice a week, and practiced three times a week. Result: h/cap reduction from 13.0 to 8.6. Then I got another job and so was mainly restricted to Saturday golf again. Result: h/cap increase from 8.6 to 12.8.
Currently out of work again and wey-hey, down to 9.7. I'm not saying that the best advice is to lose your job, but I am saying that Gary Player's comment still rings true - "the more I practice, the luckier I get."

 

[andiritchie]

What i like about the really low handicaps is there ability to keep a score going no matter what and imo cant be taught

I'm a 6 hcp and a dont have a clue how i going to knock 3-4 shots off

 

[Tommo21]

I think most really low HC golfers spent most of their summers on the golf course when they were juniors. I cant speak for the likes of dodger and screwback, but the younger you start the better chance you have of making it. But, as the Dodger said, you still have to have the talent in the first place. In saying that I know and play with a couple of scratch golfers who just walk up and smack it…….all the work was done many years ago.

Myself, I’ve worked my ass off to get where I am now. I’m not a good striker of the ball, don’t hit it very far, so I just play a lot of golf and need to be on form to score. I was always a good 8 or 9 HC golfer. Never started until I was in my twenties so to get down to 6 or even 5 is something I never thought I would achieve, even just a couple of years back, never mind at the age of 57.

One big fault that many higher HC golfers make is listening to others who are not much better, and they will do that before going to a good pro. Basic alignment, grip, posture and the such like are requirements that most of the best golfers have right from the start and that’s where others go wrong.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I spent every daylight hour in the holidays as a kid on the course, putting green or practice ground and got to be quite good. I think I've the ability to get down to single figures again nxt year (proof of the pudding and all that..). I do agree though that part of it is natural although I do know a few guys who have got there by having lessons and becoming Faldoesque and becoming technically good as opposed to naturally gifted.

I do admire the guys that have been there and can remain very low with family committments/work etc. If you are category 1 I salute you

 

[pokerjoke]

Golfcity dweller,spot on

 

[Herbie]

Everybody is different in the way they learn, the speed they learn and the standard they achieve....

That standard depends on how much natural tallent you have, how much commitment you have, how much practice you do, how often you compete, how determined you are etc etc...

With enough factors in your arsenal even those with limited natural tallent can achieve in golf.

Having a single figure h/c can be both satisfying and sole destroying, for most people off single figure h/c it is fairly easy to keep it, more difficult to win with it and the lower it gets the more difficult it becomes. When a single figure player is on their game they all can appear impressive,even spectacular, few like to discuss those days they turn up and play like a 36h/capper

 

[Imurg]

I've been there and I want to get back there. "Only" got as low as 8 but I must have got there on talent and talent alone as I've only ever had one 30 minute free lesson that took about 10 minutes!
I've always been decent at sports - more especially the "bat'n'ball" variety - so I must have the natural ability to progress.
Makes me wonder where I'd have got to if I started playing 20 years before I did and had decent lessons as well.

 

[Doh]

Only ever got as low as 9 last time i did i went through a bad patch so quickly went back up to 10 and have been there for a while now which is probably about right although the last 6 or 7 times i have played i have consistantly played better or to my h/p (unusual)have not been reduced as only the top two or three players have had reductions.

 

[mancity101]

I played as a junior, I was fortunate enough to be given a months intensive coaching from the old BBC commentator Alex Hay, he gae me a report card at the end of the sessions which outlined the mechanics of the swing - I still refer to this. Added to that I played approx 3 times a week up to my 30s,when I got down to 4, then gave up f0r 16 years, I have joined a club in Jan09 and started again with a handicap of 10, has been hardto get the short game back, but I feel I am getting there, not sure if I will ever get as low again but feel 7 is attainable.
Basically I put it down to being lucky to have a coach, taking the game up young and having lots of encouragement.