Golf is, infamously, a very frustrating sport. For golf lovers, it’s more than just a game – it’s a lifelong pursuit of precision and mastery. It can take years –– if not decades –– to sharpen your skills and improve your overall performance. However, the good news for avid golfers is that with hard work, a bit of ingenuity, and a love for the challenge, becoming a better player is well within reach.
14 Best Ways to Improve Golf Game!
Today, we’ll list 14 key tips that will improve your golf game and your sporting skills –– regardless of your goals or ambitions. Check them out here:
1. Keeping the Ball on the Ground
The smaller the swing or stroke you take, the less time the ball spends in the air and the less the chance of error. Your game shot selection is very important and it is one of the quickest ways to improve your technique. It should be in the following order
- Putt
- Chip
- Flop/Pitch
You should putt it whenever possible. Go for Chip in circumstances when you cannot putt. But make sure you keep Pitching as your last resort as it requires a greater swinging motion and hence, carries more risk.
If you follow this order, there will be lots of room for error. Chances are high that your mistakes will go completely unnoticed by your partner!
2. Know When to Play Safe
Nobody can play golf without making mistakes. But you can certainly improve your golf game if you know exactly when to be aggressive and when to back off and play safer.
Let’s suppose, during a golf game, you are in a location where you cannot make it without giving your HERO shot. If you find yourself at such a point on a golf course, it is better to play your ball into a spot that leaves an easier shot.
Obviously, trying to make a hero shot is fun, but it often leads to huge blemishes when it comes to your scorecard which clearly isn’t fun at all. So avoid such mistakes to save your scores.
3. Look After Your Health
Have you ever tried to golf with a tight hamstring? How about with an aching shoulder? If so, then you know just how difficult it can be to do anything when you’re not feeling at your best. As such, it’s a good idea to schedule regular appointments with your doctor.
Remember, doctors can use sophisticated equipment to diagnose and treat many common conditions that could be bothering you. For the good of your overall health –– and your golf game –– make it a point to visit your doctor on a consistent basis.
4. Diet & Exercise
It can be easy to overlook the physical aspect of the act of golfing. While much of golf is a cerebral activity, it is still important to be as fit as possible if you want to bolster your golf game. So hitting the gym to improve your strength and stamina should enable you to drive the ball farther and maintain focus throughout an entire game.
If you ever find yourself getting winded on the golf course, then start going to the gym more often and consider altering your diet. You can try different exercises to improve your golf game as well.
5. Make Use of Your Favourite Club
How do you feel when you are unable to hit the ball like you are supposed to? And what happens when you are struggling with hitting the ball at all?
Our advice is simple; use your club more often! Try practicing all different kinds of shots in advance. From half-club shots to bumps and runs, this will help you be prepared for things when they go south.
Furthermore, by leaning on your favorite club, you will boost your confidence and make yourself a better player.
6. Play with Better Players
One of the most effective ways to get better at anything is to surround yourself with individuals who can provide you with helpful feedback and advice. While it might be fun to beat your friends or colleagues on a regular basis, doing so won’t help you become any better at golf.
Instead, seek out the best players at your club or in your community and ask to play with them from time to time. And of course, it doesn’t hurt to watch instructional videos from professional players either!
7. Aim Diagonally Into the Wind
When the weather is windy, hitting the ball diagonally into the wind will make a huge difference in your ball curving less. Practicing this will improve your golf game a lot.
If the direction of the wind is from left to right, tee off from as far right as possible. This will automatically cause you to aim left. Aiming left will give you an angle that will be directly into the wind. Hence, the wind itself will have a less curving influence on your ball.
Read More: Everything You Need to Know about Fistball
Another simple way to remember this rule is to notice where the flag is located. If it is on the right side, you will tee off from that side. This will help you control your ball flight rather than being at the mercy of the wind.
8. Practice Practice Practice
A question that gets asked often is How to improve golf swing! At the end of the day, the only way to seriously improve your golf swing and technique is to practice consistently. Go to the driving range, practice your short game at home, and envision yourself playing well as often as you can.
The more you practice, the more you can improve your golf game. It may not be a secret, but practice is still the best way to achieve an ambitious goal!
9. Calibrate Your Carry and Total Yardage
Another really important thing to consider when you want to improve your golf game is to calibrate carry and total yardage.
Golfers mainly make 2 mistakes when computing yardages. First, their club yardages are computed based on when they hit the ball really well. Second, they only consider their clubs’ total yardage, rather than actually knowing carry yardage as well.
Calculating yardage is very important. So if you’re thinking of even writing them down, it is worth spending time with. Not to mention, it will help you save a lot of shots.
10. Utilize the Power of Technology
With a huge advancement in technology, there is so much great tech out there that you can utilize to navigate your golf course. This doesn’t mean you use them on every shot.
But certainly, there are times when having such guidance can help you actually improve your golf game and shave strokes from your score.
11. Reshape Your Expectations
Having the right attitude towards your game can be as beneficial as your talent alone. Trust me; it is one of the fastest ways to improve your golf game.
When facing a really difficult par 4, rather than treating it as such, you can think of it as par 5. It will surely produce better results and help boost your confidence as a golfer benefiting you later in the round.
12. Carry one High-Bounce Wedge
There are many outstanding sand wedges out there to choose from with a high amount of bounce. This makes it easier to hit bunker shots and pitches that don’t dig or get stuck in the ground.
Having a sand wedge with a high bounce will also help offset minor mistakes you make. This includes the shaft leaning too far forward at impact or closing the face slightly.
13. Focus on Your Short Game
This aspect of your golf game has quite a bit to do with your state of mind. It is a simple way to reduce your stress level when playing a round. Moreover, getting your short game right will make you comfortable enough to handle your tee shots better. The same goes for your approach shots.
It is also a way to be more secure about how you play because there is always something to fall back on. Your short game has the potential to be the foundation of your entire strategy.
In clear, working on your short game gives you more control on the green. It is an efficient manner to really put yourself in the driver’s seat.
14. Make Sure You Get Fitted
Many golf enthusiasts wonder if it is worth getting custom fits. Well, the issue is more simple than it looks. Going on this path will improve your overall experience.
By using equipment that complicates your game, you deprive yourself of tools that can help you reach your full potential. While some prefer the one-size-fits-all approach, it is not the best one when it comes to getting the results that you are going after.
Shafts and lie angles are all different. This means they all impact your game in various ways.
Getting fit will improve your shots, and you will have the scores to show for it. With custom-fit golf clubs, even a good player can become a better one.
Of course, it is crucial to work with the right club fitter to succeed here. That help is valuable to making the right call to improve your game. In short, getting fit is a clear sign that you are taking your game seriously and you want to start seeing actual results. It is a win for you on different levels.
Bottom Line: Take Yourself Less Seriously
The more you accept that every single shot is not going to be ideal, the better it will help you improve your golf swing. Golfers who fly off the handle when they hit a bad shot do no good to their game. Like many weird sports, golf has its quirks, frustrations, and unique challenges that can sometimes feel impossible to overcome. Believing that it’s completely okay and the nature of the sport will only make you more realistic and calm. Unfortunately for some golfers, it only takes a few bad shots to self-destruct themselves for the entire day.
The most significant thing to remember is to manage this adversity by staying calm or reacting in a calculated way. Not that you will achieve a perfect score but at least you will still have some success.
So next time you catch yourself reacting to a bad shot, wanting to get mad, try saying to yourself “Oh well” and just move on. It is a learned skill and will surely be hard at first but the more you do it, the more you’ll end up enjoying the game.