Stuck on a handicap ?

[Longshot]

Are you (or have you ever been) stuck at a handicap level ?

I've been on 19 (give or take a shot) for about 3 years or so now. I just can't seem to make a breakthrough. To be fair, I play, at the very most, once a week and don't really practice. Even so, I would have expected a combination of experience and luck to have brought that down a bit by now.

Inconsistency is my biggest downfall. I'll get called a bandit (and other names) for 14 holes a round. I always tell people to wait - the truth will out in the end. It always does inevitibly :)

Any tips on making the breakthrough ?

[Mike]

Creosote is your man!

My two pence would be to try and make an hour here or there to go to an empty park, practice area or a decent range (where you can hit off grass) and pick a club or two to really focus on. I did this when I was around your mark with my 7 iron and pitching wedge. Got to the point that I really felt comfortable with them and could try different shots depending on the course/lie.

[Creosote]

Longshot - you are obviously playing well for 13 or so holes per round so you have the skills. You must be dribbling quite a few shots on the other 5 or so holes, which is most likely less to do with ball striking skills and more to do with the mental side of things.

It is worth keeping a record of your rounds for a few weeks, and look at where the common problems lie. Possibly its shots off the tee or your chipping going to pot, whatever doubtless there will be some common ground in the bad holes you have each week. Once you know where the shots are going determine a strategy to recover from then. We arent perfect golfers and will hit bad shots, its how we recover that often separates the 19 handicapper from the 12 handicapper.

If you've played with any single figure golfers try and put yourself in their mind when you are having a bad hole, what would THEY do in those circumstances, how would they get out of trouble, etc etc

Its not easy! But analysing where you are tripping up and coming up with a plan to resolve that will help, a lot.