Golf can be a very challenging sport, I know from personal experience. It takes a lot of dedication and discipline to your habits to improve. Here are 10 ways that you can become a better golfer.
I’ve been playing golf over the last three years consistently. Whether that be practicing, doing video analysis, or getting out on the course, it can be a challenge and can cause some frustrations. That being said, there are many ways to become a better golfer.
There’s no specific order to this list, but here are the 10 ways to become a better golfer:
1) Playing as much as possible – Training and habits
Golf is a sport that has tons of variation to it. Each shot is different, whether a new club is required, wind direction and speed are varied, or even awkward ball lies. Overcoming these factors are dictated through the golfer’s training and habits, which comes from playing as much golf as possible.
Training and habits include:
- Playing holes/rounds
- Range sessions
- Short game practice
- Small games and healthy competition with others
Even if you haven’t got much free time available in the day, spending as much time as you can related to golf in any way and using these best-provided methods will help you become a better golfer.
2) Different brands and pieces of equipment
Each golfer is different. To accommodate each individual golfer, different brands can supply different things.
For example, Titleist and TaylorMade are top golf brands. These brands are in constant competition, because the products are different, and golfers usually have preferences.
Here are the best ways to finding your golf clubs.
- Club fitting: Club fitting allows you to find and customize your clubs. Also, they can be purchased brand new.
- Buying used: Used clubs aren’t a bad idea. They are much more affordable than fitted or brand new clubs, although not only is there wear and tear, but they’re not fitted to you.
- Buying brand new: Brand new clubs are very expensive. No, there won’t be any wear and tear, but for the price they cost brand new, it’s more efficient to be fitted as well, so they last longer and are customized to you.
3) Video Analysis
You will see that watching professional golfers is a great way to learn and become a better golfer.
Professional golfers are very consistent because they give themselves the best chance to hit the shot they want in any circumstance. They do this through their hours of training, but also video analysis. If you watch tutorials as well as get mental frames of certain swing positions, it can make or break you as a golfer. Another ideal usage with video analysis is watching yourself. You can see what you are doing good and what needs work. Compare your videos to professionals to see what some of the similarities and differences are.
4) Efficient training
As you most likely have limited time during the day, your training time needs to be optimized to produce the most efficient results.
To become a better golfer, you should have a plan. Working on specific things or broad categories works. Certain drills and timelines will help you use your time most efficiently without any potential progress losses that would occur when training inefficiently.
5) Lessons and tips
Having a coach to give you advice, or having other people to play with, can both positively change your game.
Small things you don’t notice can creep up on you. Having other people to constantly look at swings and impact positions can help fix this.
You don’t always need to take their advice, but having it as an option, in general, is a benefit.
6) Using schedules to your advantage
Having a schedule allows you to be more organized.
Being organized helps you become a better golfer most efficiently. When creating a schedule, you should take into consideration certain factors. The factors include the main focus of practice, time available, and drills you can do. These will help you determine what schedule to make for each golfing day.
For example, planning a day with limited time available for practice and a focus of putting, you can do some drills that focus on putting contact, stroke length, and reading greens. The small plans will make a huge difference to your game.
7) Focusing on the short term
Most golfers will have long-term goals to try and reach.
An example could be a golfer trying to break 80 strokes in a round. With this goal, there are many short-term goals to keep in mind.
Short-term goals can include:
- Practicing x amount every day, where x is your reachable goal
- Staying disciplined with following your set schedule
- Taking in golf content like video analysis
You should focus on short-term goals to reach the long-term goal. If you don’t stick to your short-term goals and tasks, the overall structure for the long-term goal will be broken.
8) Being positive
Golf is very much a sport that requires patience, and what I like to call, a “goldfish memory,” which means you forget about things in instants quickly.
Not everything in golf will go as planned, but it’s about how you make do with the situations that happen on the course. Staying positive helps you focus on one shot at a time, and not let past mistakes dictate your present situation. Even if you don’t hit the ideal shot, staying positive will allow you to calm down as well as focus on your next shot while lessening your chance of repeating the mistake.
Another reason to stay positive is that it can help people you are around. In many instances there will be a negative player, and they will bring others down with them.
9) Swinging your swing
People have the conception that you have to follow the swing that the majority of professionals have. Although it is a good starting point, sometimes it might be uncomfortable.
Take Matthew Wolff as an example. He is a great golfer, and his swing is different than most players.
Considering most of the tutorials and video analysis pieces on social platforms like YouTube, are done by a golfer using the classic swing, it’s much easier to change your swing than keep it. That being said, if your swing is working, then it’s most likely not necessary to completely change it. Working on it is different, because that’s improving certain aspects of the swing, but it isn’t changing the entire swing.
10) Swing thoughts
Whether it be during practice swings and swing routines, or when you are standing over the golf ball ready to hit the shot, a swing thought is a good idea. It will help you relax and focus on making ideal contact with the ball.
An example of a swing thought could be: “Lead arm straight.”
The action to this thought will most likely happen because you will be thinking of this before or during your swing, as the main focus of your swing.
The swing thought can be chosen based on improving the part of the game that you choose, usually your weakest point.
Having more than one swing thought at a time will tend to confuse you as there is more than necessary going on in the swing and your mind. For this reason, it’s best to master and make muscle memory of an individual swing thought before moving on to the next one.
Summary)
The 10 ways to becoming a better golfer are as follows.
- Playing as much as possible
- Brands and equipment
- Video Analysis
- Efficient Training
- Lessons and Tips
- Having a schedule
- Focusing on the short term
- Being positive
- Swinging your swing
- Having a swing thought
Now it’s time to make a plan to follow these steps, and then act on your plan. The results will come, just keep playing!
For more golf tips, tricks, and information, stay tuned for more blog posts at jimmyrodge.com/blogs and my email list that will launch in the short future.