Do you agree with this article?

[Javs]

The title of the article grabbed my attention. I am a single digit and believe I do these five things. However, believe there are a few more items that could be added to this list.

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/5-things-all-single-figure-handicaps-do?utm_term=CFEB69DA-8695-406A-822D-71925C4B6E39&lrh=afabd56f8788996dec1eed39e53e29756a4fe34c1aff9fa4fdfa9f254cbb042a&utm_campaign=075440B8-601C-4440-A9B1-8A7444061AA8&utm_medium=email&utm_content=EF0D02CA-6DE3-496A-B5E9-2CCEAAF707DE&utm_source=SmartBrief

[cksurfdude]

Just skimmed through it to see the 5 points. Can't disagree but a few thoughts...

1. Why wouldn't they apply to any golfer seeking to either maintain a high level of play or to improve their level of play?

2. A few points seem to me to kinda blend together - eg believe you can do better, want to lower your handicap, spend time practicing*

These all seem to me to fall under "I wanna improve" .. no?

* Practicing - from everything I've read practicing efficiently is much more productive vs "bashing balls" as written in the article.

 

Edited February 4 by cksurfdude
A typo

[Javs]

2 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Just skimmed through it to see the 5 points. Can't disagree but a few thoughts...

1. Why wouldn't they apply to any golfer seeking to either maintain a high level of play or to improve their level of play?

2. A few points seem to me to kinda blend together - eg believe you can do better, want to lower your handicap, spend time practicing*

These all seem to me to fall under "I wanna improve" .. no?

* Practicing - from everything I've read practicing efficiently is much more productive vs "bashing balls" as written in the article.

 

Tend to agree with you

[Subdiver1]

Yes/no. I agree with 1,3 and 5; disagree with 2 and 4; I guess one could say, "that evens it out."

I don't obsess over my handicap, though I am aware of it 4.8 at the moment I beleive); I rarely know where I get a stroke, and though I know dbl max is the rule I record ALL strokes and let the system kick it down.  I don't ever think of a snowman as a dbl, it IS  a triple or quad. I know blow up holes are inevitable, but yes, I keep playing to achieve those "clean" rounds.

I also don't play to "get my handicap down." I play to get better so I can win events. I don't do that for prestige or accolades, I do it because aside from Par, the standard measure in golf (yes I understand how that relates/translates to hcp), the one other measure is how we compare to others that day, in those conditions, on that venue. How did I hold up under pressure, etc.

But that is just my 2 cents in response to the question posed. I look forward to reading other's thoughts though.

[funkyjudge]

1 hour ago, Javs said:

The title of the article grabbed my attention. I am a single digit and believe I do these five things. However, believe there are a few more items that could be added to this list.

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/5-things-all-single-figure-handicaps-do?utm_term=CFEB69DA-8695-406A-822D-71925C4B6E39&lrh=afabd56f8788996dec1eed39e53e29756a4fe34c1aff9fa4fdfa9f254cbb042a&utm_campaign=075440B8-601C-4440-A9B1-8A7444061AA8&utm_medium=email&utm_content=EF0D02CA-6DE3-496A-B5E9-2CCEAAF707DE&utm_source=SmartBrief

When I was in my 40s through early 50s, I played to a single digit handicap (between a 6 and 8 index for the entire time, and a few times that index dipped just below 6). In addition, my 9-hole league handicap has been as low as 2, and hovered between 3 and 4, even into my late 60s and early 70s.

The reason that my handicap didn’t get even lower when I was 42 to 55 years old was because I worked a lot, traveled extensively for my job and not usually on trips where I had any opportunity to play golf, so I wasn’t getting out to play and/or practice enough. On the rare occasions where I played golf in corporate outings or with my bosses, including my immediate boss who played to a 3 or 4 handicap the entire 11 years that I worked for him, I would hear constant criticism that I was a “sandbagger” or that I played better than what my handicap indicated (I still hear that from opponents in my statewide senior travel league). I feel that if I had the opportunity to play golf and work on my weaker areas or areas that needed attention, I could have gotten closer to a scratch player (maybe not to a zero index, but at least to half of my lowest-ever index). However, I loved my job and earned a very good income, so the golfing frequency and handicap index had to take a back seat to the job*.

By the time I retired at age 63, and had more opportunities to play golf and work on my game, a variety of health issues, including multiple bouts with different types of cancer, and numerous injuries, including multiple tears to my left knee (ACL, MCL and dual meniscus tears), plus to my left shoulder, kept me from playing golf for some long stretches. My handicap slowly (sometimes not so slowly) crept up into the double digits where it continues to reside.

• * There were a couple of periods where I was actually “off the road” and able to play more golf and work on my game regularly, and that is when I not only shaved strokes off of my handicap, I also won some very nice events. When people come to my house and see the golf trophies, including one huge crystal trophy with the inscription “Grand Champion, Jasper Open, 1990” and a few photos of me accepting individual and team (non-scramble) trophies, they ask if I am or was a golf pro, to which I just chuckle and reply that I was just a reasonably decent amateur golfer “back in the day”.

I guess that my (very) long response indicates that I generally agree with the author of that article and the points that he makes. There are probably many other factors that he omits or downplays, and he seems to overemphasize the fanatical nature of single digit players when it comes to lowering their indexes, but it is certainly a significant factor in that quest to get closer to scratch.

Edited February 4 by funkyjudge

[sirchunksalot]

1 hour ago, cksurfdude said:

Practicing - from everything I've read practicing efficiently is much more productive vs "bashing balls" as written in the article

That was definitely a bad way of phrasing it, I don't think anyone is going to improve just "bashing balls", if that were the case I would have been in the single digits a long time ago. 

Also, I don't know how much single digit handicappers watch videos haphazardly. I would think that if they're watching videos it's something specific that pertains to their game and that was possibly recommended by their instructor. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

There are some that don’t need to keep working on their game and can maintain it get better just by playing.

Not all obsess over the handicap like they suggest and especially during the round. The ones I know only focus on the shot at hand and don’t even consider what their handicap might do at the end of the day. Also think less have the attitude of the most I can take is a net double bogey. The good ones are trying to avoid the big number rather than eh if I have a blow up hole who cares 

[funkyjudge]

7 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

There are some that don’t need to keep working on their game and can maintain it get better just by playing.

Not all obsess over the handicap like they suggest and especially during the round. The ones I know only focus on the shot at hand and don’t even consider what their handicap might do at the end of the day. Also think less have the attitude of the most I can take is a net double bogey. The good ones are trying to avoid the big number rather than eh if I have a blow up hole who cares 

Correct on all counts, and I think that would also apply to low-mid teens handicappers (like me), when it comes to avoiding big numbers and blowup holes.

[Javs]

1 hour ago, funkyjudge said:

When I was in my 40s through early 50s, I played to a single digit handicap (between a 6 and 8 index for the entire time, and a few times that index dipped just below 6). In addition, my 9-hole league handicap has been as low as 2, and hovered between 3 and 4, even into my late 60s and early 70s.

The reason that my handicap didn’t get even lower when I was 42 to 55 years old was because I worked a lot, traveled extensively for my job and not usually on trips where I had any opportunity to play golf, so I wasn’t getting out to play and/or practice enough. On the rare occasions where I played golf in corporate outings or with my bosses, including my immediate boss who played to a 3 or 4 handicap the entire 11 years that I worked for him, I would hear constant criticism that I was a “sandbagger” or that I played better than what my handicap indicated (I still hear that from opponents in my statewide senior travel league). I feel that if I had the opportunity to play golf and work on my weaker areas or areas that needed attention, I could have gotten closer to a scratch player (maybe not to a zero index, but at least to half of my lowest-ever index). However, I loved my job and earned a very good income, so the golfing frequency and handicap index had to take a back seat to the job*.

By the time I retired at age 63, and had more opportunities to play golf and work on my game, a variety of health issues, including multiple bouts with different types of cancer, and numerous injuries, including multiple tears to my left knee (ACL, MCL and dual meniscus tears), plus to my left shoulder, kept me from playing golf for some long stretches. My handicap slowly (sometimes not so slowly) crept up into the double digits where it continues to reside.

• * There were a couple of periods where I was actually “off the road” and able to play more golf and work on my game regularly, and that is when I not only shaved strokes off of my handicap, I also won some very nice events. When people come to my house and see the golf trophies, including one huge crystal trophy with the inscription “Grand Champion, Jasper Open, 1990” and a few photos of me accepting individual and team (non-scramble) trophies, they ask if I am or was a golf pro, to which I just chuckle and reply that I was just a reasonably decent amateur golfer “back in the day”.

I guess that my (very) long response indicates that I generally agree with the author of that article and the points that he makes. There are probably many other factors that he omits or downplays, and he seems to overemphasize the fanatical nature of single digit players when it comes to lowering their indexes, but it is certainly a significant factor in that quest to get closer to scratch.

I can feel the story you outlined. When I was on active duty in the military and later as a government employee golf took a back seat. Additionally, after getting wounded and having issues surgeries etc. it took a long time to get back on the course. I feel your pain with injuries and surgeries. At least 13 surgeries, but I will say having my knees replaced took away a lot of pain. I have found my new capabilities. I still deal with back and shoulder issues. I must say that I am very lucky as many others were not. However, since I am retired golf has become a more important activity now! 

Edited February 4 by Javs

[RickyBobby_PR]

7 minutes ago, funkyjudge said:

Correct on all counts, and I think that would also apply to low-mid teens handicappers (like me), when it comes to avoiding big numbers and blowup holes.

Agree. When I was a a high to mid teen hdcp the mindset of avoid the big number was one thing that helped to get to a single digit. The other was to leave the last shot in the past and worry about the one in front of me. Not looking at score goes a long way to playing better as well because I’m not thinking ok if I par or birdie this hole I can be to X score. Its takes away the urge for the hero shot

[Javs]

1 hour ago, Subdiver1 said:

Yes/no. I agree with 1,3 and 5; disagree with 2 and 4; I guess one could say, "that evens it out."

I don't obsess over my handicap, though I am aware of it 4.8 at the moment I beleive); I rarely know where I get a stroke, and though I know dbl max is the rule I record ALL strokes and let the system kick it down.  I don't ever think of a snowman as a dbl, it IS  a triple or quad. I know blow up holes are inevitable, but yes, I keep playing to achieve those "clean" rounds.

I also don't play to "get my handicap down." I play to get better so I can win events. I don't do that for prestige or accolades, I do it because aside from Par, the standard measure in golf (yes I understand how that relates/translates to hcp), the one other measure is how we compare to others that day, in those conditions, on that venue. How did I hold up under pressure, etc.

But that is just my 2 cents in response to the question posed. I look forward to reading other's thoughts though.

I like your thoughts on the article. I do not obsess over my handicap either. I am very aware of where it is each day. Especially since the GHIN site sends me my daily update. I rarely get shots in our games here. I am usually giving multiple shots. I am usually a zero or plus depends on the course and tees. Fully agree that I do not play to achieve a particular handicap. I work to become better and more consistent. Handicap then takes care of itself. Also agree, it’s more rewarding to win events, tournaments and cash games. The more pressure, harder conditions the more I was pushed the better. I enjoy the battle each day. I have a desire to win and play my best. Whatever, that best can be on the day or each hole or each shot. I really like hitting shots that get the attention of the other decent players. I also like seeing great shots out of other players. So, my two cents is handicap never really drives me. It’s the competition that gets my juices flowing!