We All Want to Get Better at Golf..... But HOW?
Former D1 Golfer's Approach to Improving Your Practice, to Achieve Better Scores
For the majority of us, we can relate to the idea of “I want to get better.” Want to shoot your best score, lower your handicap, or beat your boys in the weekly skins or Nassau game? My goal is to help you do just that, get better.
Here is a bit of background on me. I am a former D1 college golfer (UCONN) and still play competitive amateur golf as a 41 year old here in MN. I have been fortunate enough to have a club in my hands since the age of 6. Growing up in New Jersey, I had great instructors at the clubs my family was a member at (Thanks Dad!) More than just the swing instruction, the best things I learned at the golf course as a kid/teenager were: how to practice, and to do it with purpose. This to me, is the #1 struggle for amateurs, so let’s dive into how I think you can get better.
HOW to P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E
When you practice, always do it with intent. Just beating golf balls at a range will not make you a better ball striker. Just hitting random putts at the practice green won’t make you a better putter. And lastly, just chipping from the same spot 50 times at the chipping green, won’t make you the short game chef you strive to be.
So let’s discuss these 3 areas of practice and what you can do to improve yourself
Putting
Start with the long ones. 40 feet or so. This is the best way to get a feel for the speed of greens. The more you can two putt from this range the lower your handicap will go.
You can’t finish this part of putting practice until you hit 8 putts and at least 6 of those putts are within 4-5 feet of the hole
Short putting drills
3/6/9 ft drill- make 3 putts from each spot in a row, you can’t move back to the next spot until you do. Extra points for making 9 in a row.
Do this drill from 4 spots. Straight uphill, left to right, right to left and straight downhill
10 -15 footers. In all reality even the best pros only make 25% of these putts. Practicing these are fine, but majority of your time should be in the first two areas.
Chipping
Find two clubs you have confidence with. One with loft (SW or 60) and one with less loft (gap wedge or PW preferably)
Less loft
Put a golf towel on the ground where you want to land the ball on a simple chip. Take 10 balls and you can’t move onto a new spot until you hit the towel at least 3 times in 10 shots.
Do this drill from different shots. Uphill, downhill, rough, fairway etc. You RARELY GET perfect lies in golf, if ever.
Lofted chips
This can be a 56-60° wedge.
Remember that loft and bounce is your friend. You don’t have to lay the club open to add loft and change the bounce. The club will do the work for you.
I’m not able to give a lesson to your skill, but I can give you basic advice using lofted clubs to chip. Open your stance slightly, play the ball just inside your left heel (righty), and just focus on consistent contact. Where my buddies struggle is trying to do too much with a lob wedge in their hand. With more loft there is less roll out, so be more aggressive to your target and COMMIT!
The best drill for loft is never chip from perfect lies. Drop the ball down in the fairway or rough from waist height and play it. We don’t play golf with perfect lies, we shouldn’t practice this way. Once again, use a towel for reference on where you visualize your ball to land in order for it to release to your target properly
Bunkers
This is all about finding a shot you can hit with consistency. Walk before you run. Most mid handicappers lose strokes from here. Just get the ball on the green to 20ft and a chance at a putt. You’ll be surprised how often you exceed your expectations when you commit to a more conservative target
Stance help —- Open your stance more than you think. Play the ball towards the front of your stance. Hit down and through just behind the ball with conviction. Let’s hear that THUMP! The decel in the club is where the strokes add up. You can find yourself in an even stickier situations when you don’t trust what you are doing. Practice BUILDS TRUST!
Driving range
This is where we all want to go with our free practice time. I can tell you that 50 balls hit with purpose, is better than 100 without
Stretch! Spend at least 3-5 minutes getting your body loose. You will be amazed at how much it helps get you swing dialed earlier in your practice session.
Use alignment aids. It’s the one place we get to use it, so take advantage. I am a fan of the one stick/club at my foot line, and one on the outside of the ball about 4 inches away. Should be just enough so we don’t think we will hit it.
Find YOUR shot. Do you fade it? Draw it? Slice it? Who cares. Find your shot and hit it ALL THE TIME.
Start small. Some sort of wedge for 5-7 balls with a target 50-75 yards away. Focus on making solid contact.
5-7 balls with a full wedge. 100-120 yards.
Move your target to a new place. Then take 5-7 balls and hit to new targets with every other club. I rotate odd and even irons each time I practice (save on the wear and tear).
Woods
I like to hit driver before 3 wood or 5 wood/hybrid. Getting the feeling of the longest club makes the fairway woods feel easier.
Pick a field goal of flags, trees or any object you can. Your goal is in 5-7 balls to hit 50% of those in between the uprights. And then do the same with your fairway woods.
Closing: sand wedges. I like to take 3 final balls and hit to my favorite yardage. The one I am most confident in to hit an accurate shot. This is helpful to find that number whenever you can on the golf course.
Pre-round practice
We don’t always get the time to warm up before every round. But if you can, 30-40 minutes of work pre round is so helpful to your day. Here is how I spend 40 minutes.
5 minutes putting - 40 footers (lag practice getting the speed dialed)
5 minutes - chipping with less lofted wedges. This helps your feel for impact at the range
3-5 min stretch
15 minutes at the range
Use alignment sticks
Focus on 5-7 wedges to start.
Move to my irons (I hit 3 balls per iron odd or even irons)
Drivers/3 wood - I don’t stop until I hit 2 in between the uprights in the drill I mentioned earlier with both driver and a fairway wood
Finish with my 3 balls at my favorite yardage.
5 minutes- make 3 five footers in a row on left to right, right to left and straight putts
So with all the above being said, it may be a touch overwhelming and seem like a lot. However, what I will stand by is that it is truly just a process. Once you build routine it becomes second nature. These drills and disciplines are what has kept me at a +1 handicap into my 40s. The implementation of these skills is what can build a foundation to you dropping that handicap or taking that $10 off your buddy. If you can find 2 hours a week to practice the game with intention like outlined above, you will see improvement when you tee it up. Practice with purpose.
Thanks for the ideas Jeff! Can't wait to start implementing some of these ideas