Start Keeping Statistics
It sounds simple but why would this help? Are we just keeping a record of play for the sake of posterity? Keeping relevant statistics is vital for helping both you, and potentially your coach, identify weaknesses in your game. By pinning down the areas that are the weakest and causing higher scores than you hope, you can immediately address your biggest troubles.
Most people think of their statistics anecdotally or have a tendency to keep ones that are not really important for drilling down on your game (fairways in regulation, greens in regulation, or total putts). This data is too generic and will not lead to proper evaluation. Consider the many stat keeping software options out there right now that will show your various Strokes Gained categories (Columbia Business School professor Mark Broadie’s paradigm-shifting approach that uses statistics and golf analytics) and really dig in to find your trouble areas.
If you are serious about your game, evaluate it properly to find a path forward.
Strategy
Time after time I see students making mistakes on the golf course that have nothing to do with their swings, leading to scoring errors and limiting their potential.
Choosing poor clubs off the tee; taking on too many aggressive targets on the green, and failing to properly calculate the effects of wind on ball flight are just some of the spots where players sink their prospects
Golf for many, is a mindless wander around the course, where they just swing a club and hope for something good to happen. I guarantee you the best in the world have a plan. Even if you are not a high level player, you will have some tendencies that are predictable and can be planned for. And what could be easier than saving strokes without having to do anything physically?
You don’t have to go as deep as a system like DECADE Golf, but consider a playing lesson or some time spent with a good coach on the subject.
Green Reading
I witness plenty of golfers with very good putting techniques but who fail to make a lot of putts. It mostly comes from their inability to analyze the putting surface under their golf ball and give themselves a higher probability of making putts. I hear green-reading myths shared among friends, all sorts of falsehoods that come from TV analysts, and techniques like “plumb-bobbing” that have been proven to be inaccurate.
One of the best investments I ever made was time with putting coach John Graham, who teaches more than the Aimpoint Express system of green-reading, but also educates people about green reading fallacies in general and how simple mistakes are costing you strokes. That means not only in shorter putts that you don’t convert, but longer ones where you needlessly three-putt.
Find a good coach who teaches proper green-reading techniques, and you will undoubtedly improve that aspect of your game.
Loft is Your Friend
Golf equipment fitting is very low-hanging fruit when it comes to bettering your golf scores. Things like lie angles, shaft flexes, and club lengths are important, but as we know driving distance is important and many golfers are hindering themselves with improperly lofted drivers.
Most amateurs play drivers with too little loft, not allowing them to launch the golf ball optimally and hampering their driver distance. Too low of loft can also lead to too low of spin rates, creating ball flights that are unstable and move more easily off-line.
Yes, ball speed created from lower lofts may look good in a fitting on a one-time shot, but you need a balanced approach to your equipment, especially in the driver. You need the club that needs to keep you from taking unnecessary penalty strokes and allows you to carry the ball as far as possible, drive after drive.
Warm-up
Golf is an athletic motion, especially the full golf swing, and the only way that you move that golf club is by using your body properly.
How many times have you headed to the first tee and then the early swings of the day feel nothing but awkward? It leads to poor shots, deflated confidence, and before you know it you are spiraling into another bad scoring day on the course.
A proper warm up of your body is always helpful. Yes, we realize you are not a pro golfer with hours of spare time to use before you tee off, but a quick five minute stretching routine can effectively prepare your body for action, and better yet, help you to avoid an injury that could hamper your entire golf year.
Use this simple warm-up routine by Jason Glass, and you’ll be ready right from the opening drive to score your best, or at least give yourself a chance to do so.
There you go, five ways you can improve you scoring without any tedious swing changes. I mean, we suggest you consult with a coach and see how you can improve that too, but always remember to take a holistic approach to golf. To score better you need to take into account many elements.
If you’re serious about improving your scores, there is no better time to start than now.
