Are you looking to improve your golf game? In today’s post, I am going to step through how I was able to take 3 shots off of my handicap in a single year.
At the end of 2016, I felt like I was really struggling with my golf game and didn’t know what I needed to do to get better. In searching for the answer, I developed a system that I think can be helpful for any golfer that is looking to improve their golf game. Let’s get into it.
Establish a baseline
The first step you need to take to improve your golf game, is to establish a baseline. By that I mean, you need to know definitively how good you really are.
For example, at the end of 2016, I decided that I was going to track every single round of golf I played for the entire 2017 calendar year. I then decided that I was going to break the year up into 20 round segments to see how I was performing across a predetermined sample size.
Why 20 rounds?
That is the number of rounds used to calculate a USGA Handicap.
After the first 20 rounds of 2017 my handicap was 3.4. This equated to an average round of 79.6.
By mid-March of 2017, my baseline was established.
Take inventory of your game
Now that you have established a baseline, the next thing you need to do is to determine what areas of your game need to improve. To do this, think about your last handful of rounds and try to determine what areas of the game cause you to lose strokes.
Figure out if there is a pattern to where your bad holes come from.
Is it because you cant keep your ball in play off the tee? Are you struggling to get out of the bunker? Do you miss too many putts inside of 6 feet?
Ask yourself these types of questions and try to pinpoint a couple of areas of the game that are causing you problems on the golf course.
When I looked at my game in early 2017, I knew that I needed to work on my lag putting, my bunker play, and my ball striking. Those three areas of the game were consistently causing me to lose strokes.
Develop a plan to improve
Now that you know what you struggle with, the next step is pretty simple. You need to develop a plan to improve upon those areas of the game.
Take a look at the list of skills you identified in the previous step and prioritize them.
Once you have them prioritized, develop a plan that focuses your practice time on those specific areas that you need to improve.
In 2017, two of the three areas I identified for improvement were short game skills. For the rest of 2017, I would get up every morning, and practice my short game and putting. I would start my practice on the putting green working on the putting fundamentals. Once I felt comfortable with my stroke, I would then work around the green hitting lag putts to different holes.
After about an hour of practice, I would move over to the short game area and work on my bunker play. For the entire year, almost all of my short game practice time was spent in the bunker.
Commitment, Consistency, and Resilience
The final step in the process of getting better are what have often been referred to as the intangibles. For me, the most important intangibles are commitment, consistency, and resilience.
Improving at something takes a lot of time, effort, and energy. To reach your goals you need to commit to a plan, consistently execute that plan, and stay resilient when times get tough.
Putting it all together to improve your golf game
At the end of 2017, I had improved my handicap by almost three and a half shots. I went from a 3.4 handicap to as low as a 0.2 handicap. My average score for 20 rounds went from 79.6 to as low as 75.6.
To get there I followed the strategy that I just laid out for you.
- Established my baseline
- Identified the areas of the game I needed to improve
- Develop a plan
- Committed to that plan and stick with it through thick and thin
The number one key to improving is to know where you stand. Record your scores. That is my number one piece of advise. Record every 18 hole score that you play for a year and break that year up into sections to see how your doing. Doing this will give you the feedback you need to determine if your plan is working or if you need to make adjustments.
I hope this was helpful. Going through this process helped me to improve and I think it can help you too.
If you want read more of my latest posts, head over to the blog linked here –> Chasing Birdies Blog.
Until next time,
Enjoy the chase!