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What do you think is your golf handicap ceiling?

I've got my first medal in over 3 years this coming Saturday which will be the first card submitted to regain a handicap. Last time round before kid number 1 turned up I was off 9 after coming down from 25 in a couple of years. With a bit of application and coaching I reckon I could get to around 6 but with kid number 2 impending, other sports getting in the way and paying the mortgage being a priority, the opportunity (and cash for lessons) will be limited. It was exactly this same discussion that I was having with my BIL a couple of days ago on the range as we've had a long standing wager on the first to 7 (random number I know) and he was telling me about a blog that he's following about this guy in the states who is dedicating 10,000 hours to golf practice with a view to turning pro. It makes for interesting reading. It would be nice to dedicate yourself to anything, but 10,000 hours of golf sounds like a dream 'job' for many on here! If anyone's interested, the blog is called The Dan Plan.
 
Just responding to your statement of how poor your putting is Adey[bearing in mind your bigger than me]
Yes this is definitely an area you need to improve,and if you could become a better putter,a big handicap
reduction is just around the corner.
 
mine is probably 15 I hope. Age (41) and a hectic life mean I don't reckon I could go lower. If I was able to practice a lot more then maybe as low as 12 but I reckon that would be pushing it.

I am a realist and aslong as I can get to a steady 18 (1 shot per hole as opposed to 2 on any to stop the moaners ;) ) then I will take that :)
 
nobetterbruv said:
I've got my first medal in over 3 years this coming Saturday which will be the first card submitted to regain a handicap. Last time round before kid number 1 turned up I was off 9 after coming down from 25 in a couple of years. With a bit of application and coaching I reckon I could get to around 6 but with kid number 2 impending, other sports getting in the way and paying the mortgage being a priority, the opportunity (and cash for lessons) will be limited. It was exactly this same discussion that I was having with my BIL a couple of days ago on the range as we've had a long standing wager on the first to 7 (random number I know) and he was telling me about a blog that he's following about this guy in the states who is dedicating 10,000 hours to golf practice with a view to turning pro. It makes for interesting reading. It would be nice to dedicate yourself to anything, but 10,000 hours of golf sounds like a dream 'job' for many on here! If anyone's interested, the blog is called The Dan Plan.
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It is widely accepted that 10000 hours of proper practice (e.g not beating balls on the range) is the amount of time needed to become world class in any complex task.
In Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell he talks about how people in as diverse areas such as computing (Bill Gates) to music (mozart) had all put in their 10000 hours plus to become the people they are today.
BTW they reckon tiger had done 10000 hours by the age of seven
 
MadAdey said:
There is a limit to how low you can go, it is called natural ability. If with top coaching and lots of hours of good practice you can go as low as you want, then I am giving up work and going on the tour........
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Natural ability is only a fraction of how good you are the rest is ust how much hard work you put into it
 
miniscadge said:
Natural ability is only a fraction of how good you are the rest is ust how much hard work you put into it
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It may be only part of how good you can be, but that is the ultimate barrier in anything. You can change your coaching, you can change the way you practice, you can change your kit and change your approach to the game. If you wrote a formulae for improving your golf then natural ability would be a constant.

To me anyone who thinks that if they put in enough effort, then they can achieve anything is just living in an idealistic world. Plenty of lads on tour who have all the coaching and kit, but they still knock around the bottom of the order of merit making a nice living playing golf. But why are they not challenging for trophies, they have all the access to coaching and practice facilities as the likes of Rory and Luke, to me that is the natural ability getting in the way.

But like has already been discussed in the thread, how many club golfers ever reach their maximum potential as there is too many things that get in the way. I know of 1 club golfer that has hit his maximum potential, but that is it out of the thousands I have met over the years.
 
Im going to try to get as low as i can......I think having played ball sports since i was 8yrs old has its merits as regards having good co-ordination and talent... The rest will be firmly down to practice.....
I have got from a starting handicap of 21 3 yrs ago down to 13 and have crept back to 14 for last season without lessons..... Im now into my 5th lesson since last december and things are progressing along nicely...With my old swing my Pro said that it would be good enough to maybe break into high single figures...But to get lower i would have to change a few things..Which is the way i went.....

My short game is probably better than for my handicap which gets me out of a lot of trouble....My putting is probably the strongest part of my game...Where iv lost shots was from the tee.... Usually aiming to allow for a certain shape that ended up double crossing myself....

My goal would be to get to at least 5...As i know from there the game needs a hell of a lot of commitment and hours of practice which i may or may not have.... Im only 38 so i have a relatively decent amount of time to get the handicap down..

One advantage i do have is that my son who is 5 is bananas about the game and during summer months we get to practice a lot at the club....I make it my business to get there at least 2 evenings a week with him and again on Saturdays for 5 or 6 hours and also it gives his Mom and Big Sister a break from the madness like most that have a young son can relate to..:eek: .. But even though we might only get 3 hours or so before the light fades stands to me during the week as i dont get to finish work until 6 o clock in the evening.........

He can only hit the ball about 50 yards so most of my practice is short game biased....
I believe in that if you want to get better you'll find a way....Even though most people have hectic lives and families and Job commitments you can still squeeze in a bit of practice time....

I think golf is a game where you have to be honest with yourself and say "Well if i want to get better the time has to be put in"
If not then im happy just to go out for a knock about with the lads at the weekend....
Nothing in this game comes easy...Or any game for that matter....Even with both my Achilles injuries i found a way to practice.....If your a driven individual you'll always set goals for yourself...And always raise the bar...Thats me to a tee....

I can agree also with those that say you have to have a certain amount to natural ability..Which is true for any skill regardless of whether its a sport or a hobby....
 
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MadAdey said:
Plenty of lads on tour who have all the coaching and kit, but they still knock around the bottom of the order of merit making a nice living playing golf. But why are they not challenging for trophies, they have all the access to coaching and practice facilities as the likes of Rory and Luke, to me that is the natural ability getting in the way.
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Id have to disagree with this slightly MadAdey....
Natural ability is something that to be honest isnt a concern for anyone on those tours...Obviously they have Natural Ability...Or they wouldnt be there in the first place..

For me i believe the answer is that it becomes psychological and mental when you get to there level.....Enough of them probably dont believe that they are good enough to progress....It cant be talent as they are steps above a club golfer in that respect...

It has to be mental at that level.
 
I think i can get down to single figures, the biggest thing holding me back is that little thing between my 2 ears!

I have a habbit of loosing it a little if i have a bad shot or hole and find it hard to get it out of my mind and it can effect me for the next hole/shot.
 
kid2 said:
Id have to disagree with this slightly MadAdey....
Natural ability is something that to be honest isnt a concern for anyone on those tours...Obviously they have Natural Ability...Or they wouldnt be there in the first place..

For me i believe the answer is that it becomes psychological and mental when you get to there level.....Enough of them probably dont believe that they are good enough to progress....It cant be talent as they are steps above a club golfer in that respect...

It has to be mental at that level.
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It's mental at every level IMHO
 
kid2 said:
Id have to disagree with this slightly MadAdey....
Natural ability is something that to be honest isnt a concern for anyone on those tours...Obviously they have Natural Ability...Or they wouldnt be there in the first place..

For me i believe the answer is that it becomes psychological and mental when you get to there level.....Enough of them probably dont believe that they are good enough to progress....It cant be talent as they are steps above a club golfer in that respect...

It has to be mental at that level.
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But isn't the mental side of things all part of what we call natural ability, because I believe it is. Some people have the power to believe in them self and to have the will to achieve the best. So what you are saying is that some do not have this, so is this not a natural ability then?

Not trying to argue your point, just elaborating on my point. The top players do have the complete package of technique, mental attitude, equipment, coaching and quality practice.
 
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MadAdey said:
But isn't the mental side of things all part of what we call natural ability, because I believe it is. Some people have the power to believe in them self and to have the will to achieve the best. So what you are saying is that some do not have this, so is this not a natural ability then?
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I guess we are both reading the same book but just a different page.:mmm:
To me Natural Ability would be someones physical skill to be able to do something to the best of their ability...
But i guess that even though they have the physical skill to be able to do it their mind holds them back as per my reply above....

So i suppose its their minds ability or lack thereof to progress that stops them.
 
kid2 said:
I guess we are both reading the same book but just a different page.:mmm:
To me Natural Ability would be someones physical skill to be able to do something to the best of their ability...
But i guess that even though they have the physical skill to be able to do it their mind holds them back as per my reply above....

So i suppose its their minds ability or lack thereof to progress that stops them.
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The on going problem with forums, you can both be talking about the thing, but coming from different angles. It is so much easier to debate something if you are face to face.........:thup:
 
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