Question For All The Other Single Digit Handicappers on Here

[blakesmittkamp]

1 minute ago, DShepley said:

Strokes gained tells us that driving the ball well is pretty important.  How far you hit the ball is also a significant contributing factor to getting to a low handicap.  The closer you are to the hole, the fewer strokes on average it takes you to hole out.  I don't know what the threshold is, but I don't know any scratch golfers who hit their driver 220 yards and don't have an iron in their bag they can carry 190.

100%. I tell all my beginner to intermediate friends to learn to hit driver well and get super confident with it.  I've been blessed with ability to still move it at 113-115 at 42 and hitting wedges vs 7 irons makes a a HUGE difference in my scoring.  

[DShepley]

Just now, blakesmittkamp said:

100%. I tell all my beginner to intermediate friends to learn to hit driver well and get super confident with it.  I've been blessed with ability to still move it at 113-115 at 42 and hitting wedges vs 7 irons makes a a HUGE difference in my scoring.  

I'm in a similar position.  Have always been one of the longer players at the club though at 48, I now hover in the 105-108 range with driver.  Years ago when I first got consistently to a 4-5 handicap it was because I learned to hit my 8 iron 150yds and started to never hit a wedge full.  I played with a kid who hit the cover off of the ball but absolutely blasted all of his irons...I told him when he learned to hit his 8 iron 150 yards, nobody would beat him.  He still misses everywhere!

[MGN01]

Playing to about a 6HI right now.  Been playing for about 30 years of which in the middle about 15 were almost no play while raising a family.  Reached about a 10 without lessons; just watching good YouTube videos and practicing on the range a lot, more than playing on the course.  Took a lesson at GolfTec a couple years ago and it improved my iron game and short game as well as my bunker play.  Not sure if this was the main reason, but being able to play once a week at least (getting more reps in is key) has helped me come down to a 6HI.  In the course of it, I've tweaked my grip (went to midsize from standard), got fitted for better irons, changed some shaft flex/weight, and I believe that has helped too.   

[GwrxMod]

Keep it civil or stay out of this topic. This applies to everyone including the OP. 
 

One more report and this topic will be locked. 

[SNIPERBBB]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

I'm with the others who aren't going to judge people based on their priorities or make sweeping generalizations about how much free time they have or how they should spend it. Some people simply don't have a bunch of extra time. I've said many times that if they're posting here or elsewhere, they can probably spend 15 minutes a day working on their golf game, or even five minutes, but that obviously doesn't necessarily include playing a lot, either.

As I said, most people have more time than they realize. Not everyone has jobs that barely give them time to eat and sleep when they come home or have family obligations. 

 

If someone says they don't have time for something, rarely is that true, the honest answer is that they don't want to. Which is completely fine.

 

Not trying to judge anyone, in guilty of it too. We waste a lot of time during the day when we can do something productive either at work or at home.  Some days I like having thqt luxury of wasting that time. Other days I feel like a slug for wasting that time 

[fred faldo]

1 hour ago, DShepley said:

I'm in a similar position.  Have always been one of the longer players at the club though at 48, I now hover in the 105-108 range with driver.  Years ago when I first got consistently to a 4-5 handicap it was because I learned to hit my 8 iron 150yds and started to never hit a wedge full.  I played with a kid who hit the cover off of the ball but absolutely blasted all of his irons...I told him when he learned to hit his 8 iron 150 yards, nobody would beat him.  He still misses everywhere!

I think it is great that you still have that speed I don't know what I envy more your speed or you being 21 years younger than me.......yes I do I will take the youth lol. This thread has become one of my favs very quickly but what I would tell everyone regardless of age no matter how young , STRETCH everyday. What is killing me is that my body is failing  me and it truly sucks to still know how to play and think like a scratch but your body won't allow it.I am having a procedure this Friday and I am really thinking that if I do not get any relief I may shut it down for the year and have a much more drastic surgery and that thought makes me want to throw up. You can't win a fight against genetics which I am facing now but you can fend it off a bit by something as simple as stretching every morning, hell you can do it while still being in bed. Stay loose and keep that speed as long as possible!!!

[DShepley]

16 minutes ago, fred faldo said:

I think it is great that you still have that speed I don't know what I envy more your speed or you being 21 years younger than me.......yes I do I will take the youth lol. This thread has become one of my favs very quickly but what I would tell everyone regardless of age no matter how young , STRETCH everyday. What is killing me is that my body is failing  me and it truly sucks to still know how to play and think like a scratch but your body won't allow it.I am having a procedure this Friday and I am really thinking that if I do not get any relief I may shut it down for the year and have a much more drastic surgery and that thought makes me want to throw up. You can't win a fight against genetics which I am facing now but you can fend it off a bit by something as simple as stretching every morning, hell you can do it while still being in bed. Stay loose and keep that speed as long as possible!!!

Just curious, what's making it a fav?

[fred faldo]

2 minutes ago, DShepley said:

Just curious, what's making it a fav?

just the views and personal expieriences with/on lessons that everyone is sharing minus the sniping. This thread takes me back to one of the happiest times of my life that I had not thought about in years, that first lesson/3 hour range session changed my life 

[Nels55]

43 minutes ago, fred faldo said:

just the views and personal expieriences with/on lessons that everyone is sharing minus the sniping. This thread takes me back to one of the happiest times of my life that I had not thought about in years, that first lesson/3 hour range session changed my life 

I agree that the experiences have been interesting to read!  I do find the 'strawman' battle to be a bit tedious though...

[DLiver]

22 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

I agree that the experiences have been interesting to read!  I do find the 'strawman' battle to be a bit tedious though...

Agreed. It is interesting to read the similarities to my situation, but also the contrasts as well.

[petep52]

My favorite thing about the original post title is how the word “other”. 

[b.mattay]

I had some basic lessons as a kid at about 8-10 years old (how to grip the club, how to stand to the ball), and haven't taken a lesson since. I've gone pretty heavy into the YouTube rabbit hole as well as purchased some golf instructional videos and was able to maintain an index anywhere from +1 to +4 the last 7 years, depending on how often I am playing. Understanding ball flight laws was the biggest thing. Likely going to take some lessons this summer to see what things I can improve in my full swing. 

[Obee]

Started at 20 after a shoulder injury ended my college baseball career. Would have been a 15th to 20th round guy my junior year, I was told. 
 

Took three or four lessons after that, then just went about it completely on my own. Read books, watched videos, emulated tour pros. Got down to a +3.8 and stayed between +1 and +3 all through my late 20s and into my early 50's (barring stretches of injury) with a full-time job and a wife and 3 kids. Keep in mind I played a LOT of golf, 150+ rounds a year. 
 

Now, at almost 58, I'm between +0.5 and 1.5, mostly. When my back is okay, I'm still 0 to +. I only go up when injured.

 

So I'm one of those guys who got well into + range without lessons. It happens. But @MonteScheinblum is right: my homemade swing almost certainly contributed to my serious back issues.

Edited June 18 by Obee

[DShepley]

2 minutes ago, Obee said:

So I'm one of those guys who got well into + range without lessons. It happens. But @MonteScheinblum is right: my homemade swing almost certainly contributed to my serious back issues.

Thanks Obee, your story is an interesting one.  Apart from the homemade swing, the frequency of play probably didn't help your back much either.  The one common denominator I am finding is that nearly all of the low handicap players, 'LIVED' the game and played a lot of golf.  Lessons can speed the process up however, it takes the right person with the right drive and desire to get there....Time in the saddle....

[Ty_Webb]

34 minutes ago, DShepley said:

Thanks Obee, your story is an interesting one.  Apart from the homemade swing, the frequency of play probably didn't help your back much either.  The one common denominator I am finding is that nearly all of the low handicap players, 'LIVED' the game and played a lot of golf.  Lessons can speed the process up however, it takes the right person with the right drive and desire to get there....Time in the saddle....

 

I've told this story before on here, but I have a friend who one year played 11 rounds of golf. 6 of them were foursomes (alternate shot, so only half the shots hit), 1 practice round and 4 tournament rounds at our club. Under the old UK system he went from 0.9 to +1.1. Rounds were 66, 67, 71, 69. Against SSS (equivalent to course rating) of 73, 74, 74, 73. People pointed to that as an example of how you can be good at the game without playing a lot. What they don't mention is that he put a LOT of time into it when he was younger. The one constant among really good players is that they put in the time. Sometimes you can shorten that time if you have done something else that somewhat carries over - like Obee's baseball I'm sure will have helped. And doing it under the eye of a good pro can help you be more efficient with that time, but you still have to do the time. 

[ChaosTheory]

On 6/16/2025 at 8:04 PM, DShepley said:

did it require intensive lessons with a pro or did you largely get there on your own through a lot of play and digging it out yourself in practice?

Not intensive lessons. One lesson that I worked on for the next two years. I didn’t work hard, but I persisted with it. 
 

Short game improvement came from trying YouTube ideas and watching fellow players.  (Bermuda grass)
 

Putting improvement came from a LAB putter. (ducking for cover).

[jwb10]

Interesting topic. Personally, I started at 15, having played everything else pretty well. Worked at it, bought magazines and books, now have won more than 20 club championships, and many other tournaments. We couldn't afford lessons but watching people who had them they seemed to always be afflicted by the "philosophy" of the teacher. sometimes that worked, others , not so much. And, my lowest index a was a +1....SO FAR !

[ryanmn4]

Omg, of course you can get there on your own, that's exactly what I did.  I was basically left alone at our club to figure it out as a kid, played 36 a day for years and honed my short, loopy swing.  I do see how it's more difficult starting as an adult, but I had zero lessons in my life until I was legitimately a scratch, competing at the state and regional level in my 30s.

 

I've had a couple of friends start as adults, one made it into single digits.  You have to play a lot.  You have to learn a semi-repeatable swing.  You eventually cross a point where breaking 80 is simply some combo of not taking penalty shots, not 3-putting, and not double-chipping.  Basically making bogeys instead of doubles or worse for your bad holes.  

 

Now - would I recommend that people get some lessons for their kids when starting, or when starting themselves?  Absolutely.  Get a few good habits to work on and get the basic footwork and lower body rotation figured out early.  After that it's not that tough.

[Iggy Fanlo]

Played baseball my whole childhood, then switched to golf at age 13 (1974)... Read Ben Hogan's Five Fundamentals of Golf, borrowed a friend's old 9I and PW... hit old balls at a ski pole with a tube sock on it in the park for weeks on end... played my first round after 8 months (shot 100)... within 8-9 months I was on the high school golf; next year I was about a 7-8 HDCP (not a member anywhere; public golf); walked on the golf team at college (Div I).. captain senior year at ~scratch... 42 years later I'm a 3.7-4.2 Index... you can do it alone... just needs focus; not long hours

[Boston_golf1]

I played a lot of sports growing up and reached single digits quickly after first starting when I was 14 (8-9 index range).  No lessons, but plenty of Golf Channel, Golf Digest, etc. but really came down to loving the game and happily putting in the work, trying different techniques, observing what better players did, etc.  Playing HS school golf got me down a tick lower to the mid single digits. Then I put the clubs down for a long time.  Fast forward, I began playing again about 4-5 years ago and quickly felt stuck in the high single digit range.  I started working with a pro maybe 1 or 2 times per year. Those lessons have definitely helped me improve but my view is it's the work in between lessons that makes the real impact.

[DShepley]

7 minutes ago, Boston_golf1 said:

I played a lot of sports growing up and reached single digits quickly after first starting when I was 14 (8-9 index range).  No lessons, but plenty of Golf Channel, Golf Digest, etc. but really came down to loving the game and happily putting in the work, trying different techniques, observing what better players did, etc.  Playing HS school golf got me down a tick lower to the mid single digits. Then I put the clubs down for a long time.  Fast forward, I began playing again about 4-5 years ago and quickly felt stuck in the high single digit range.  I started working with a pro maybe 1 or 2 times per year. Those lessons have definitely helped me improve but my view is it's the work in between lessons that makes the real impact.

This is what I'm trying to get at.  Time and desire and a form of starting athleticism are very important.

[Nels55]

3 minutes ago, DShepley said:

This is what I'm trying to get at.  Time and desire and a form of starting athleticism are very important.

The athleticism has to be combined with a certain type of intelligence that allows someone to 'figure it out'.  Most often that intelligence in is in the form of a good teacher.  For me single digits was most likely impossible without lessons as I don't seem to have much of that particular intelligence.

[DShepley]

2 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

The athleticism has to be combined with a certain type of intelligence that allows someone to 'figure it out'.  Most often that intelligence in is in the form of a good teacher.  For me single digits was most likely impossible without lessons as I don't seem to have much of that particular intelligence.

For some sure.  Interestingly, most of the replies here have been from people who largely got their on their own which is what I have seen in my experience.

[Valtiel]

2 hours ago, DShepley said:

The one common denominator I am finding is that nearly all of the low handicap players, 'LIVED' the game and played a lot of golf.  Lessons can speed the process up however, it takes the right person with the right drive and desire to get there....Time in the saddle....

 

13 minutes ago, ryanmn4 said:

I was basically left alone at our club to figure it out as a kid...I do see how it's more difficult starting as an adult

I would add that likely a majority of the golfers that "lived" the game either started as kids or "lived" it as kids in one way or another. The older you are when you start the game the more likely you're going to need guidance of some sort. Kids aren't strong enough to do some of the insane out of bounds stuff we see from adults that try to "go it alone". 

[DShepley]

7 minutes ago, Valtiel said:

 

I would add that likely a majority of the golfers that "lived" the game either started as kids or "lived" it as kids in one way or another. The older you are when you start the game the more likely you're going to need guidance of some sort. Kids aren't strong enough to do some of the insane out of bounds stuff we see from adults that try to "go it alone". 

I think you are right in that it helps if you started as a kid.  A lot of the responses here though, myself included, started at a later age after moving on from another sporting background.  I started at 19 years old at which point I started working in the proshop of our club and was given free access to the course and the range.  That was a lot of the key for me but also, once I got better quickly and showed promise, I was invited into games with much better players which proved to be great mentors.

[Nels55]

8 minutes ago, Valtiel said:

 

I would add that likely a majority of the golfers that "lived" the game either started as kids or "lived" it as kids in one way or another. The older you are when you start the game the more likely you're going to need guidance of some sort. Kids aren't strong enough to do some of the insane out of bounds stuff we see from adults that try to "go it alone". 

Kids can watch a good swing and emulate it with good results.  LOL in my case I don't remember ever seeing a good swing up close other than on TV until after I was not a kid anymore.  My concept of a proper swing was way off from reality.

[KD1]

29 minutes ago, DShepley said:

A lot of the responses here though, myself included, started at a later age after moving on from another sporting background.  I started at 19 years old

 

I still consider that a kid. Your brain is still squishy and pliable at that age.

[st1800e]

On 6/16/2025 at 8:51 PM, MonteScheinblum said:

There is no debate.

 

1.  Can you get to any level without lessons?  Yes

2.  Will you be hindered by 🐶💩 lessons? Yes

3.  Will you improve faster with proper instruction?  Yes

4.  After you have played for more than 3 or so years, can you improve without proper instruction and/or increased time at the course?  No

5.  Will you achieve your ceiling without proper instruction?  Extremely unlikely.

6.  Is using 1 and 2 as a platform to negate the effectiveness of proper instruction a strawman? Most definitely.

After 50 years of golf and a so called “student of the game”, I couldn’t agree more with Monte.

I’ll tell you why. 

1. I picked up the game at 23, (first game shot 122).  After a few years of just playing golf I developed a what some might call a respectable game, I joined a club and first registered Hcp was 15.  Had some bright moments , once shot net 61 off 13, some months later lost the title in a playoff in a very large net tournament off 11. My game then was a repeatable slice, not a fade, a slice. I really didn’t have an understanding why I could score well (for me) some days it just happened, and other days not.    Read a golf digest article at the time, that postulated if one could hit the driver 200 yards , you could get to a six hcp.  All of this motivated me to improve.   
 

2.  Sometime in this early period I asked a family member who was scratch, and had played in 3 Canadian opens and won a raft of competitions for a lesson. Off to the range we go, all I got was him showing me what masterful shots he could hit. Extremely disappointing. So it was a bad lesson, or rather, not a lesson at all.   Couldn’t afford a real lesson, could barely scratch together enough $ to play the munis.  So I continued on my own.  
 

3. I’ll come back to this. 
 

4. So no instruction, but increased time at the course for sure was what I did.  Never really practiced, sure I’d sometimes warm up or occasionally go to the range to practice, but found that a bore, and I really didn’t know what I was practicing anyways.  I played, and played and played.  
 

5. Now about 15 years in I continued to improve, got to an 8, fixed the slice (band aids) 20 years in, to a 5, and at 25 years a 3, then a steady 2, hit 1 twice for a couple weeks in that period.  Played in every provincial championship I could, amateur, mid amateur and Senior, in several provinces.  Had a few good showings. And played in 4 national Championships.  Thought I was pretty good, and proud I did that without instruction. But always a remote nagging thought, why did my game fail me at times?   And I mistakenly accepted that I’d reached my “potential”.  
 

From @MonteScheinblum…..”Yes, many and likely a majority of single digits got therewith nothing more than effort and grandfather cliche syndrome.  However, a huge block of my clients are former +2 to 5 handicaps that figured it out on their own, got to the 40-70 age group and had a rapid decline in both distance and score when their body was no longer able to perform the self discovered swing.”

 

 So that is me.  I’d developed a home made swing, problem was it included a significant slide to the target with restricted rotation and well timed contact.  Very repeatable.  Often hit all the fairways, and many greens , combined with a good short game. Best score ever was 66.  Dozens of game at par or better.    
 

Life got in the way (some significant distractions) and with advancing age, my game got worse, up to 5-then 7, then finally to 13.  4 years ago my back blew up, disabled for a few weeks, then lots of treatments. No doubt my home made swing contributed to the back issues.

 

Back to #3.  I finally sought out lessons. Went through a couple instructors before I found one that clicked.   Discovery time , and the light bulb went on.  

That was 3 years ago , and I’m still working on it, down to 7 a couple times. Hovering at 8 to 10 now. But advancing age is a significant factor…
 

I have a new swing but from time to time the old one creeps in , and it hurts.  Quite the reminder to swing properly.  
 

So here’s my bottom line, my biggest regret in Golf is not seeking out proper instruction.
I suspect I might’ve avoided the back troubles and exceeded what I once thought was my potential. Now I’ll never know what I might’ve accomplished.   
 

Govern yourself accordingly.  

 

 

Edited June 18 by st1800e

[The Recreational Golfer]

I was stuck in the high 80's because that was the limit of what I knew about the golf swing. I had a series of five lessons that gave me an entirely new conception of the golf swing, and had a lesson in chipping. That, lots of practice around the green, and hitting enough balls to solidify what I had learned about the swing, got me from and 18 to a nine in a year. I couldn't have done it without the lessons. Oh, yes, then there was the playing lesson mainly about how to hit off uneven lies. The most useful lesson I ever had.

[torbill]

I am 81 and my handicap is 7.  I used to be better.  I have had three lessons in my life.  I come from a different time, a time that few here can relate do.

 

I first picked up a golf club in the late 1950s when I was in high school.  I did it because friends were doing it.  We were the have-nots; if we had two Club Special balls in the bag to start the round we were lucky, sometimes just one.  Come across an actual Wilson Pro Staff in the rough and we’d yell across the fairway to our buddies and think we had hit treasure.

 

Anything that I ever learned about sports came for free, courtesy of the local playground or pickup games.  I became a very good ball player just by doing it, and through a passion for the game.  Golf was not much of an interest.

Golf lessons were country club things, things of the rich and famous.  We had no money.  Later on, as I got older and more serious about the game I found out that some of the muni courses had golf instruction that was affordable.  But the quality of instruction was not good where I was, so I avoided it.  So, there were the monthly magazines with “tips” that would work for about five holes.  And books like Jack’s “Golf My Way” (don’t believe it, nobody can do Jack except Jack).  And swapping misinformation about swing mechanics with buddies.  And so it went.  

In short, I am self-taught.  I don’t regret it, but I know that I was never nearly as good as I would have been with good instruction - no question.  The reason that I don’t regret it is because I didn’t have a lot of options at the time, and because digging it out on my own gave me a feeling of satisfaction to go with the ever-present frustrations.  For me there are few things in life as satisfying as self-improvement and finding my own way to success; good golf is infinitely complex and perfect in this regard.