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THP Handicap Watch & Update Thread

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I am currently at 1.2 and trending up, which isn't a bad thing. It allows me to see what needs to be sharpened in the game and what can be left alone. If I can stay at or near my current number for the year I will be pleased.

I don't work in drivers or irons. I work on stance, posture and grip with every swing. I also work on positions in my swing and a lot on tempo. I don't hit too many balls on the range as I am looking at club positions through out the swing. Once I feel I have the positions I want I mimic each small segment in a full swing. At this point I am looking at trajectory and feeling at impact. If these are correct, I know the swing is good.

But if I hit a pull or slice I am able to correct because I know it's one of two things that caused it. I correct that, take a few more swings and move on. When I arrive for me next round or practice session I am looking for the same feel I had on my last shot of my previous round. I make it a point of always ending on a positive swing, no matter what.
 
I have never participated in any THP events, but in the future may like the opportunity, so I had already planned on taking my handicap and tracking more seriously this year. I had a short season last year but ended it at a 12.5 which was by far a all time low for me.

As this season gets back into gear I expect to be playing closer to 15-16 but I have started at 15 lesson package with golftec and have been allowing for 5-6 range sessions a week since the end oh January. Once the weather turns I will be able to add outdoor short game practice a couple of hours a week as well.

I have 3 goals this year.

1. To get back to that 12.5 level early in the season.
2. To reduce my putts per round average from 34 last year to 30 or less this year.
3. To to get my handicap down to an even 10 by the end of the year.
 
Sitting at an ugly 36. My goals through practice, lessons, and increased golf time is to drop down into the low 20s by the end of the year. I feel that many parts of my game are clicking together, it's just needing to trust my clubs, work on my weaknesses and let my strengths help.
 
Tadashi70 said:
This is great thread and I am loving what I am reading. Lots of goals, lots of plans and lots of golf. I hope everyone reaches their goals and makes another set after currents goals are reached.
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That's a great point freddie, once your current goal is met, it even gives you more confidence and energy to set your next one. Maybe I should have gone in smaller increments and keep setting the bar higher and higher with each goal.
 
Alek Babel
Currently 17.0
My goal is to be a 11.9 by the end of our active season (Oct 31) with a stretch goal of 9.9.

A year ago, I was at 22.2, and I think I can drop at least 5 strokes again this year.

Last year, I had one lesson at the beginning of the season, and that was it. I played a lot, and didn't practice as much. I didn't take any other lessons because I didn't try hard enough to find options that were more affordable.

This year, I've already taken a handful of lessons, and I have been fit into most of my equipment. I will continue to take lessons, probably once a month during the season, and I will practice more, especially on the short game. I live on a boulevard, and there's no reason I can't work on shots from 10-50 yards out there. I just have to make the effort to do it.

It is going to be a busy spring and early summer, as I am getting married in July. This means I have to be focused with the time I have available to work on golf.

I know I'm going to play the best golf I ever have at #theKing, and it is only going to get better from there!
 
Ended at 7.1 last year but realistically about a 10 right now. GHIN starts here this month. Hope to get enough rounds in this month to get a more accurate index.
Goal is to be at 5 by the end of the season. Working on freddies tips he gave me. Hitting the range for an hour 3 rimes a week and plan on playing at least 2 rounds a week.
Driver consistency is the key for me, tempo, tempo, tempo!!!!!!
 
Currently - 14.1

Started last summer at 16.7.

Goal for this year is to get below 11. I've downloaded some stat keeping apps, which I've never done before and need to take the time to work on 50 yards and in. Off the tee I'm alright and with full irons I can't really complain, but from 50 yards and in I'm not giving myself enough looks at saving par when needed.
 
NiteOwl03
12.2
Goal: 5

I have remained fairly stagnant for the last 6-8 months. This has gotten annoying. I have signed up with an instructor and already had 2 lessons so far. The improvements I am already seeing ar fantastic. My short game has always kept my scores fairly low, but Im tired of having to rely on it instead of being able to hit greens and score well. This will change this year. I have been told numerous times that I have the ability to play golf at another level but I havent done what it takes. That changes this year. I will achieve this goal one way or another.
 
Current: 16
Goal by MC: 9/10

I started last season at a 12.4, but screwed up my swing over the winter by not taking any lessons and only playing simulator golf. The result was a flat swing, with an early release and very little lag that resulted in a lot fat shots. I took lessons during the season and fought through it, only breaking 90 a few times. Frustrated, I decided in September that it was time to tear everything down and start all over again. Since then I have been able to totally overhaul my swing from my setup to finish. I learned how to use the big muscles in my legs and core to drive my swing. There are still some gaps, however. I have a tendency to slide my head forward on the back swing a couple of inches, and I also have a fraction of an early release as well.

The biggest hole in my game is/was my short game. Now that my swing is in a good spot and just requires some tuning we have started hammering on chipping, pitching and putting. The last round of outdoor golf I played in November I shot an 87 with 7 3-putts. A couple of those were inside 8 feet. I purchased a birdieball putting green as well as got fitted for a putter instead of buying what looked good. My instructor saw a few faults in my stroke that we have been able to correct. Once of those faults was the length of my putter. I was using a putter that was a inch too short which had me hunched over. I never learned to properly pitch or chip, so learning the proper way has been an epiphany to my game.

As the weather warms up, I will continue to work on all aspects of my game and focus on my chipping and putter outdoors.

Below is a video comparing my swing from December to a couple of weeks ago. And yes, that is "More Than a Feeling" playing in the background.

 
March 15th Revision - stayed at 9.4. Got three rounds in during the period: 85, 90 and 79. Had one good round knocked off but replaced it with the 79 to keep the index the same.
 
2014 THP Handicap Watch & Update Thread

2014 THP Handicap Watch & Update Thread

Rob (rbarthle17)

17.6 via DiabloGolf

Goal: I am unsure what the handicap numbers relate to in terms of score, but my goal is to break 90 more often than not. I did it for the first time last year with two 85s. So I'll be conservative and say 14? Is that feasible?

The plan is short game. I completely reloaded my bag except for the driver last November. My biggest trouble spot was any iron above a 7. I switched to the a12 OS and focused multiple simulator range sessions on full swings with all the clubs. I now feel comfortable that I can pull any club and and hit at least a decent shot or better.

So now I turn my focus to inside 100. Below is my practice bag. It is what I will take to the practice greens 2-3x a week.

image12.jpg


In this are three clubs. My Smart Sole C and S and my putter. If I can get dialed in with these clubs I expect to save a lot of strokes because I should be a lot better this year at consistently getting the ball to the green or close from 160-200y out with my hybrids and then these three clubs become the score saver. And on the green, no three putts (which admittedly I am already pretty good at). But I want a lot more makeable one putt attempts than I've had before as well.

In reading these posts, I am amazed at all the low handicaps here! So many of you have fun little sayings on your profile for handicaps that I had no idea! It's a tad intimidating but it also gives me another goal, to become your peer!
 
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Shakey said:
GHIN Handicap Index: 10.4

Goal: A comfortable 8

Plan: 2 main things
1. Continue spending the majority of my practice time on shots less than 100 yards. I've seen the results over the last month or so of what this can do for my game & I like it. It's turned a part of my game that I used to avoid into something that doesn't bother me.
2. Quit monkeying around with different putters. Pick 1 & stick with it. My putting used to be the most stable part of my game. Then I started messing around with several different putters of different sizes, shape & weight. This will probably be my biggest challenge becasue I like to tinker.
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I'm on my way to my goal with today's revision. A couple rounds of 77 (1 @ home course & 1 from the blue tees at Cowboys Club) were the main reason.

New hdcp index: 9.9

I am now officially sorta kinda a single digit for the 1st time.
 
24.5 targeting 18.

This can be achieved by eliminating duffs and better management of misses. I firmly believe I have the game of 18, had a round with 6 pars in it the other week but bad shots followed by poor choices in recovering contribute to more high hole scores than necessary.
I will also be continuing lessons and as mentioned in another thread, practicing with purpose.

Solid progress made on impact lately, next topics to work on are right knee flex, more on impact, and release.
 
Revision is in, down to 4.7 from a 4.8. I have high hopes for rounds tomorrow and next Saturday to start driving that down even more.
 
fupresti said:
Revision is in, down to 4.7 from a 4.8. I have high hopes for rounds tomorrow and next Saturday to start driving that down even more.
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A new putter should get you below 4
 
With today's revision, I officially possess a handicap for the first time...starting now with an official 17.2.
 
EaglevsFalcon
2.8
My goal is to get to scratch.

I'm starting off in a really good place mentally but my long layoff has brought about some swing flaws that need dealing with. Lessons out here are rather cost prohibitive, so I hope to use the resourceful THP crew and FK to help redevelop my swing. I also plan to focus hard on improving my greenside game. I must improve my up and down numbers if I'm going to get to scratch. I lose far too many shots with sub par chipping and pitching.
 
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I'm at a 21.2 and my goal is to be 15 by the end of the year.

I am starting my lessons again soon and focusing on hitting more fairways and on my game from 100 yards and in.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
 
Ward Flowers Current GHIN 8.9 somehow...

not sure I fully understand the handicapping system and how it could be with my current scores, and I am now (just since 2014) starting to post everything versus last year where only my MGA events were recorded. Anyway I played last year MGA at a very easy wide open course and had some great scores. I have just joined a local private club that has a much higher difficulty ranking and put up a couple of good scores which quickly took me from a 12.1 to a 9.0 The last 5 scores were all closer to 13 over on average with new swing changes--but they must have knocked some previous high scores out of the calculation bringing it down to the 8.9. I would honestly rank myself closer to a 10 but as I post more and more rounds I think the system will balance out to a true number.

My current swing work (trying to change for the better) has me simply missing more greens and having to scramble more often. I would love to get 5.5 as a goal for the MC this will include working with a swing coach as well as some putting instructor work.
 
Handicap update GHIN was unchanged obviously this update at 6.1. I can not wait to get out there and move this number down.
 
Name - TheDoctor (aka Glenn)
Handicap - None yet

Aim for the year

First objective is to obviously get my cards submitted to my club to get an official handicap and then I will be working on dropping that as far as possible during the year playing in the club competitions whenever I can - last year I was hovering just under 17 so assuming my official handicap lands around there to begin with, I would like to try and drop 5 strokes

Plan for dropping the handicap is two-fold

First is to work on my short game now that I have access to a short game practice area at my new club as it has been difficult to practice certain types of shots on the 'normal' range area - distances I can work on, but the touch shots around the green aren't possible
Second is to put more practice into putting as this has been severely lacking over the last couple of years (and my club has 2 practice greens I can use)
 
I'm a little late getting mine posted up because of traveling.

Current GHIN: 12.0
Goal: 9.0*

My plan includes:

1. Lessons every two weeks from now thru May or June.
2. Physical Fitness to improve flexibility and strength.
3. Focused practice on short game, and weaknesses (in addition to what I'm working on with my instructor).
4. Heavy tournament schedule.

* Could be revised depending on progress, but only down.
 
Really I am focused on getting my Handi down to 5<. Still at a 9.4. I am finally getting the new job under control which is helping.

I started playing lessons on top of my regular lessons. I am going to do 1 playing lesson a month with my coach. 18 at a very tough course to work on shot making.
Short Game, Short Game, Short Game

MarchGHIN_zpsae78ac31.jpg
 
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