How I dicovered Potentially

Handicap Index® chart showing progress.

Like a lot of golfers, my relationship with the game has had its chapters. I played a lot when I was younger, then life got in the way. For ten years, my clubs gathered dust and rust.

Three years ago, I rekindled the obsession. I came back to the game and after a couple of rounds, I had a pleasant surprise: I was no worse than I was a decade earlier. A definite result! But then, a more frustrating reality set in. After two and a half years of playing regularly, I was also no better.

I was stuck. My handicap hovered stubbornly, refusing to budge. I was putting in the hours on the range, but my on-course performance felt completely disconnected from the effort. I was practising, but I wasn't improving.

That frustration sparked a question. I work in tech, and I was curious: what if modern technology could do more than just track my shots? What if it could help me understand the why behind my stagnant scores?

So, in February of this year, I started a personal project. The goal was simple: to build a tool for myself that would force me to focus on my game in a smarter way. I didn't know it then, but I was building the first version of Potentially.

“When winter subsided and I started playing outdoors again in April, my handicap was 25.8. Today, it is 18.5.”

— Adam, Potentially App Founder

That 7.3 shot drop in just a few months wasn't a miracle. It was the result of a new process. Here’s how the philosophy I built into the app changed my game, and how it has informed the platform we are now launching.

From Frustration to Focus: The Power of Reflection

The first thing I built was a guided journal. After every round, I forced myself to answer a few simple questions about my performance. What was my mindset? What was the story behind my best and worst holes? Did the round feel like the scorecard looked?

This was the first "aha!" moment. I’d walk off the course convinced my driving was the problem, but my own reflections, paired with the data, often revealed the truth was my approach play from 100-150 yards. My emotional frustration was pointing me in the wrong direction. This guided self-reflection forced me to be honest with myself and identify the real areas of potential.

From Guesswork to a Plan: The Coach

Once I had these insights, the next problem was what to do with them. This is where the Coach came in. I designed it to be the objective, unemotional strategist I didn't have.

It would analyse my stats and, crucially, the context from my reflections, and provide a clear, prioritised plan. It would say, "Forget your driver for a week. Based on your performance, the single biggest opportunity for improvement is your wedge game." This eliminated the guesswork. For the first time, I had a clear mission for my practice.

From Hitting Balls to Purposeful Practice

This is where everything came together. Armed with a clear plan, my time on the range was transformed. I stopped mindlessly hitting a hundred balls and started engaging in purposeful practice.

If the plan was to work on my wedge distance control, every ball I hit had a specific target and a clear intention. The app gave me drills designed for that exact purpose. My practice sessions were shorter, but they were a thousand times more effective because they were directly connected to the weaknesses I'd identified on the course.

This simple loop—Perform & Reflect, Practice with Purpose, Realise Your Potential—is what broke my 12-year plateau. It's the engine that has driven my own improvement, and it's the core ethos we have built into every feature of the Potentially app.

What started as a personal project to fix my own game has become a mission. I truly believe that by giving golfers the tools to understand themselves better, a better game is in everyone's potential.