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Play Better GolfHow do you play better golf? You've got your swing figured out, your short game, putting and sand play, now what? How do you get better? How do you improve your score? Well, practice better golf, that's how! I'm not trying to be cheeky here. Just honest. Just playing more rounds will make you a better player. So will playing with better golfers. After a while, you will reach a plateau. Your score and your handicap will level off. Don't get frustrated, this is a very common situation. How do you 'fix' this problem? What I mean is, you have to take your game to another level. You have to move yourself out of the comfort zone -- the rut you're in. How do you do this? From my experience, solutions include the following:
Analyze Your GameIf you chart yourself as I've suggested in Track Your Performance, this is where that data can pay off, big time. When you start to feel you're in a slump or missing too many opportunities to score better, take the opportunity to review your charts. Look for patterns in the mistakes. Is it poor putting, sloppy wedge play form around the green, bad chipping?Focus Your PracticeWhatever you discover your weakness to be, take note of it and plan your practice sessions around that flaw. To play better golf, work out a plan and apply it. Stick with the plan until you feel your confidence has grown to eliminate or minimize the problem or game situation from your rounds.Practice Like You PlayJust mindlessly hitting buckets of balls at the range is not a very effective or efficient way to practice. It is not useless, but it doesn't make the best use of your time or money. As best you can, try to simulate he game situation in your practice time. To play better golf, mentally visualize the circumstances where you experienced the swing flaw, miss hit or whatever the problem was, and "practice the flaw out of your mind." That is, if you were frequently missing greens from 100 yards, hit your sand wedge from that distance on the range until you're confident that you can hit your target from that distance in your sleep.When I played basketball, my coach would always say don't just stand there and shoot the ball around during a warm up, pretend your are being guarded by someone. Practice shooting as if your check was all over you, just like in a game. Never just stand in one place and mechanically shoot basketballs, unless you're practicing foul shots. Practice like you are in a game. To play better golf, it's the same as in any other sport; practice better to play better. Competitive PressureOut on the course with friends you can make side bets with your friends. Put some 'game-like stress' into your match. Pros do this almost all the time. They'll make little side bets with one another just to put an edge on a shot; enough to make it seem like a tournament situation. Michael Jordan used to bet with friends when he played golf in the off season. When asked how much to bet he would say, "Just enough to make you nervous."Simulate Game SituationsAnother, less expensive, practice method is just to simulate a game situation. A common example of this is the putting drill Phil Mickelson uses. He places balls in a circle around the hole, starting at 3 feet. He forces himself to make 100 putts in a row before he moves the balls out to 4 feet and repeats the process. If he misses one putt, he starts all over again. Try that and you will soon feel the pressure build. After starting over a few times, you will definitely feel the grip tighten on the putter, trust me!The other thing about Phil's putting drill is that he steps up to each putt in the circle and goes through his game pre-putt routine. Everything is the same. He extends his practice to the tournament situation. You see this when he putts an imaginary ball in the tournament before putting the actual ball in the hole. In a tournament he actually imagines he's doing the practice putts in a circle before he putts his tournament ball in the hole! So you could say Mickelson plays like he practices and practices like he plays. Phil's one of the best putters on Tour and this is a pretty compelling endorsement for visualization in your practice strategy! To play better golf, practice like you play.
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