The golf club market is valued at $3.66 billion and it’s growing. Many of those golf club sales are made to golfers hoping to see their investment make a return on their scorecard. But new clubs aren’t the only way to improve your golf.
Is it your dream to live near a golf course? It’s one of many ways to improve your scores. Read on to learn how to get better at golf.
Live Near a Golf Course
Great golfers play more golf. It’s obvious, isn’t it? But it’s not easy to do.
Life can get in the way of your golf. You may have work commitments and time with your family and partner are important too. Finding time to play golf regularly and frequently can be a challenge.
Living near a golf course can make it easier to get time on both the practice ground and the golf course too. It reduces travel time to and from the course leaving you more time for playing and your other commitments. It makes a short visit to the practice ground more viable so you can work on individual elements of your game.
Yardage Advantage
Do you know how far you hit the ball with each of your clubs? This simple piece of information can transform your club selection around the course. It will make a difference to your scores even if you don’t do anything about improving your swing or putting accuracy.
Knowing how far you hit the ball with a specific club means you can avoid that water hazard or bunker by choosing a club that will leave your ball short of the hazard or will easily clear it. Use your knowledge of the course, a course map, or a distance measuring device to assist your calculations.
Improve Your Fitness
Have you ever noticed weariness towards the end of your round? Golf can be a tiring game. By the time you complete your round, you will have burned around 1,500 calories and many more yards than detailed on the scorecard.
Your performance is likely to decrease as your fatigue rises. There are several ways of reducing fatigue.
Reduce the effort you need to expend just getting around the course. If you normally carry your clubs, try reducing the weight of your bag. Use a lightweight cart or get some help from a motorized cart or even take the sit-on option.
You could also improve your general fitness. Losing a few pounds and exercising more frequently might improve your golf score and lengthen your life too.
Putt for Dough
The well-known golfing advice to concentrate on your putting practice makes perfect sense. Make some notes on your club selection for one round of golf. You’ll find that the club you use most is your putter.
It stands to reason that practicing with the club you use most is going to make the most difference to your overall scores. It doesn’t matter whether the extra stroke you have to add to your score was hundreds of yards or a few inches. Every stroke is worth one on your scorecard.
Short Game Drills
When you practice, it’s tempting to get out your driver and starting belting balls. You might find that practicing your short game will benefit your scores more.
Short game drills can help you develop a routine that will make your short game more reliable. Practice with a variety of short clubs and remember to practice for different lies. Practice for down-hill and up-hill lies will replicate the reality of on-course challenges.
Avoid Danger
Invest a little time in studying the dangers of the course. Note which holes have out-of-bounds to the left or right of the fairway. Be aware of the water and sand traps around the course.
This awareness of the dangers should help you avoid card-wrecking mistakes that can ruin your score. Work out the best way to avoid the worst of the hazards. For example, it may be that a compromise on distance off the tee, is worth it to avoid a lost ball, out-of-bounds, or extra recovery shots.
Go to School
Taking a few lessons can make a huge difference to your game. You might be happy to spend a few hundred dollars on a new club but balk at the idea of spending money on a lesson.
You might be surprised how much importance professional golfers place on having a lesson. Get some feedback on your swing or some putting tips and you’ll notice the difference on your scorecard more than you will on your bank balance.
Practice More
Playing a round of golf may feel like a good way to improve your golf but it’s not the same as practicing a specific aspect of your game. Work on the practice ground can pay dividends around the course.
Work on your consistency with each club. This will mean that when you select the right club for the distance you need to make, you’re more likely to end up where you want to be. Set yourself the challenge to group 10 practice balls as close as possible then move on to the next club in your bag.
Eradicate Your Weaknesses
Keeping a few notes about your game can help you identify and then eradicate your weaknesses. Study how many fairways you hit or miss, how many times you take an extra putt, and how many times you take two shots to escape the sand traps. This analysis can give you a clearer idea about what you need to work on to lower your score.
Now You Know How to Get Better at Golf
It’s one thing to know how to get better at golf. It’s quite another to make it happen. Make a commitment, do the work and you will see your score improve.
