What age do you stop improving

[stefanovic]

Nobody gets better at sport as they age, unless they were plain bad in the first place.
So when do we show signs of ageing?
Soon after puberty there are parts of our body that start to decay.
In other words the slow process of death begins in our early teens.

If you haven't licked golf by your 20's you'll never lick it.

 

[Mandofred]

64, played golf occasionally (mostly not) since I was about 14. At retirement almost 11 years ago I started playing about 20-25 times during the warmer months (too cold during the winter...as in no golf courses open). Since moving back to the UK 7 years ago I've joined a club and play regularly for the first time. I had a quick dip to 6.3 last summer but am sitting at 7.9 at the moment (putting in my first card of the season tomorrow). I've lost distance, but have made up for it by being a sneaky old ba*****. When I'm in one of my better streaks I should be playing off about 5-6....but then when I go through my usual crappy dip I play more like 10-12. I've shortened the swing to try and become more consistent...the search for more distance is a soul killer so I've mostly stopped trying. Actually going to spend a bit of time on my short chipping game this Spring with hopes that it will bring my hcp down to about 7. But to the point of the question....I'm playing my best golf now at 64. What's really made the difference for me the last few years is practicing with cones in the field...usually at 30-50-70-90 yds and just going through the short clubs hitting those distances and the spaces between (on purpose).

 

[patricks148]

I suppose until the body starts to give up would be the reason for me. Last year I got down to.my lowest handicap of 2, I don't hit the ball miles but on my day I can get it around a course. But my days of good scores off the back tees are numbered. On the plus side, I can now move down tees all the seniors comps are the daily tees and after that the club seniors comps are off even further forward tees now since the course changes.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Nobody gets better at sport as they age, unless they were plain bad in the first place.
So when do we show signs of ageing?
Soon after puberty there are parts of our body that start to decay.
In other words the slow process of death begins in our early teens.

If you haven't licked golf by your 20's you'll never lick it.

Not really true is it though

There are lots of cases of people taking up golf later in their life and then continuing to improve well into their 50’s

 

[stefanovic]

Not really true is it though
There are lots of cases of people taking up golf later in their life and then continuing to improve well into their 50’s

But they don't continue to improve to scratch.
They might get off an initial handicap (say 25) and get down to the teens, but very seldom to single figures.
It's all down to evolutionary biology, which makes us but soon breaks us.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

But they don't continue to improve to scratch.
They might get off an initial handicap (say 25) and get down to the teens, but very seldom to single figures.
It's all down to evolutionary biology, which makes us but soon breaks us.

I know plenty who have got down to single figures and very low - I started when I was 37/38 and have got down to 1 , I know plenty who have done the same and some that have got to scratch and into plus handicappers

 

[Sats]

I think you can always improve, it's just knowing your limitations, be them physical, mental or that you cannot dedicate that amount of time to your given craft.

 

[SteveW86]

Maybe this should be a “how long after I’ve started a sport will I stop getting better” question

 

[Mandofred]

Maybe this should be a “how long after I’ve started a sport will I stop getting better” question

Somebody will argue about that as well.....never ending story......

 

[SteveW86]

Somebody will argue about that as well.....never ending story......

No they wouldn’t

 

[Mandofred]

No they wouldn’t

Golfers....need I say more.

 

[AliMc]

But they don't continue to improve to scratch.
They might get off an initial handicap (say 25) and get down to the teens, but very seldom to single figures.
It's all down to evolutionary biology, which makes us but soon breaks us.

I know a guy, played a lot with him, decent player who was always off 3 or 4, he retired at 60 and emigrated to Australia where he had family, he decided to take a series of very intense lessons and committed to practice 3 or 4 times a week, he sent me a screenshot of his h'cap certificate a few weeks ago, he's now off +3.3, he's just turned 63

 

[Backsticks]

I know plenty who have got down to single figures and very low - I started when I was 37/38 and have got down to 1 , I know plenty who have done the same and some that have got to scratch and into plus handicappers

You were still disimproving effectively from age 35 though. Taking it up late means you can improve late, but I dont think thats what the question is. Take it up at 100 and you might still be improving at 101.
Had you taken it up at 27, you quite possibly would have got to scratch or plus.

 

[Voyager EMH]

I got down to 5 in 1977.
In all the years since. I've been as low as 3 and as high as 7.
Currently 3.3.
I will be going up, I fear, as my next 3 scores to drop off my record are all in my best 8.
Then I hope to get back to around 3.0 as the summer progresses.
I believe I am as good a player as I have ever been. (Or I am as poor a player as I have ever been)
Anyway, definitely not feeling any decline in physical or mental ability just yet.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I know a number of 60+ golfers all off very low single figures. I think it is possible just very hard. With proper tuition, structured practice and playing a lot there is little reason why anyone shouldn't continue to improve

 

[Crazyface]

I met my doubles partner yesterday and he's about 75. He come down from 20 down to 14 in the last year. He always seems to be at the course. I hope he's still improving.?

 

[RichA]

Nobody gets better at sport as they age, unless they were plain bad in the first place.
So when do we show signs of ageing?
Soon after puberty there are parts of our body that start to decay.
In other words the slow process of death begins in our early teens.

If you haven't licked golf by your 20's you'll never lick it.

If the sport only involves raw physical performance, like sprinting, jumping or throwing then maybe.
If the sport involves a huge amount of skill, technique and exercises the brain more than the muscles then there's absolutely no reason you can't continue to improve right up until the point of complete physical decline.
At 51, I'm much better at golf than I was in my 30s.
In my 40s I was a better cricketer and footballer than in my 20s. An improved knowledge of technique and tactics more than made up for any reduction in strength and speed.
Golf is so much more about the brain than the muscles.

 

[MarkT]

I always remember playing with the club champ at Wimbledon Park in the late 80s and he said he was just about to start playing his best (in his late 40s). Said he would have loved to have had his mental game then as opposed to his teens and that he just understood the game on a different level. I hit the first five greens and was two over, he missed four of them and was one under. He shot in the 60s, I barely broke 80. That round has always stood out for me as he just played it as 18 holes and didn't freak out over the odd bad shot. It did help that he hit it 270 yards and didn't have any weaknesses whatsoever but he was a plotter and I now think of him when I play.

 

[Slab]

I'm mid 50's and been playing regularish for about a dozen years and currently at the lowest handicap I've been (17.7)
I worked out I've got between 6 & 7 months to go before I reach peak ability... after that it'll be a slippery slope

 

[stefanovic]

I know plenty who have got down to single figures and very low - I started when I was 37/38 and have got down to 1 , I know plenty who have done the same and some that have got to scratch and into plus handicappers

So how much time do you -
A. Spend on the golf course.
B. Think or dream about golf.
C. Practice golf.

Maybe that's where I went wrong because I hardly thought about it until Saturdays.
How many here are addicted to golf?

When I started to play I heard a lot about golfing widows.
I once worked for a company where the MD was usually absent on the course and the firm went bust.
The main reason was that we lacked leadership.