What Took Your Game from Good to Great?

[MN.LeftyGolfer]

Everyone is always searching for the magic that makes their game better.  What are things that have worked the best?  Whether it was a piece of advice, a piece of equipment, or a drill that has become ritual, what is the one thing you wish you would have known or tried earlier in your golfing career?

 

Any and all insight is appreciated!

Edited January 13 by MN.LeftyGolfer

[MattF]

The lessons I took from GolfTec and having a sim to practice on has changed my game, hands down.

I'm really excited for the season to start this year to see how everything goes.

[EasyPutter]

I started golf at 50 and never considered handicap a thing until I got involved with the MGS Forum and had that spot to fill on my profile.  I was a regular triple digit score guy and my touchstones were how many strokes over par on each hole.  I've played a lot of golf since 2019 when my last child graduated high school and I lost my Dad's Taxi role, the local muni about 10 minutes away has seen more of me than any other course and frequent play improved things with practice, PGA HOPE with the Western NY PGA Section provided skills instruction.  Probably not the advise sought but what I attribute my enjoyment of golf to is attitude.

I started out wanting to hit good shots and was frustrated that despite trying to hit my shots somewhere specific, if there was a tree in range I hit it instead.  The only club in my bag that has never hit a tree is my putter.  For me improvement, more than the instruction I have received from some excellent PGA teaching Pros, was in quieting my mind to stop thinking in the swing accomplished by focus on setup then just letting the body swing the club once the backswing begins.

Probably sounds too simple but I know anything that requires split second timing is for the body and not the mind.  I watched my children struggle to learn to walk until they were distracted and then they were doing it without thinking until they realized they were walking and fell down.  My golf is literally about not thinking; assessing the target and setting up the shot yes, but the next thing I think about is how much I enjoy where I am, who I am with, and that I am playing golf. 

My SwingU phone app is used to track club shots, more to know where to look for the ball but it gives me an idea how far each club works for me.  Score is always a surprise when I touch "end round " and I see how many strokes made the round.  

Hope you find your "something" to improve your game in whatever way you define improvement.  My definition is having a good day, everything else is a bonus.

[Headhammer]

Great? I'm still looking for something to turn my game from trash into "good."

[cksurfdude]

1 hour ago, Headhammer said:

Great? I'm still looking for something to turn my game from trash into "good."

Yep. 'zackly what I was gonna say.....

Work. In. Progress. 

[KC Golf]

Finding a great pro that meshes well with what you are trying to improve in your game.   For me… I think it’s fixing your swing plane and all of the body movements that make that happen.  I believe the modern golf tools like Trackman, GC Quad and Video really help make the average golfer better.  

[Preeway]

When I was a kid I quickly became a bogey golfer before I started high school. Problem was I stagnated there for several years. It wasn’t until I got a job at a golf course and the head pro told me to spend less time on the range and more time on the putting/chipping green. A good and consistent swing will only take you so far. If you want to break 80 then you have to learn how to score. If you are currently struggling to break 90 then get lessons and focus on improving your swing so you can keep the ball in play and in better positions. 

[MN.LeftyGolfer]

7 hours ago, Preeway said:

When I was a kid I quickly became a bogey golfer before I started high school. Problem was I stagnated there for several years. It wasn’t until I got a job at a golf course and the head pro told me to spend less time on the range and more time on the putting/chipping green. A good and consistent swing will only take you so far. If you want to break 80 then you have to learn how to score. If you are currently struggling to break 90 then get lessons and focus on improving your swing so you can keep the ball in play and in better positions. 

"then you have to learn how to score"

^^ that right there is gold.. I really appreciate that sentiment.  

[Josh Parker]

7 hours ago, Preeway said:

When I was a kid I quickly became a bogey golfer before I started high school. Problem was I stagnated there for several years. It wasn’t until I got a job at a golf course and the head pro told me to spend less time on the range and more time on the putting/chipping green. A good and consistent swing will only take you so far. If you want to break 80 then you have to learn how to score. If you are currently struggling to break 90 then get lessons and focus on improving your swing so you can keep the ball in play and in better positions. 

Agree 100%

[Preeway]

Just now, MN.LeftyGolfer said:

"then you have to learn how to score"

^^ that right there is gold.. I really appreciate that sentiment.  

Granted, it’s much easier than done. But, most of my friends fail to recognize that you don’t score low by simply hitting a lot of good shots. Yes, it is a prerequisite, but I’ve hit a lot of good shots in a round and still scored in the 80s. It’s the little things like where to aim so your misses aren’t bad misses. Or how to make 2-putts from 30-40 feet. Or even where to hit your drive to give yourself the best chance at par or better. It’s so easy to just grab driver on every par 4&5 because it’s just what you do. Strategy is by far the hardest part of the game and it’s why it’s hard to score consistently in the 70s. A great way to learn to score better is to play a round with irons only. Force yourself to play different and discover where your weaknesses are when it comes to playing smarter. 

[cnosil]

2 minutes ago, Preeway said:

Strategy is by far the hardest part of the game and it’s why it’s hard to score consistently in the 70s.

I think this used to be the case.  IMO, since strokes gained metrics were published and things like the book Lowest Score Wins and the DECADE app was released strategy isn't that hard.  The hard part is sticking with the strategy and mental focus to keep doing it when you aren't playing well.  

[Preeway]

22 minutes ago, cnosil said:

I think this used to be the case.  IMO, since strokes gained metrics were published and things like the book Lowest Score Wins and the DECADE app was released strategy isn't that hard.  The hard part is sticking with the strategy and mental focus to keep doing it when you aren't playing well.  

Very true. It isn’t a mystery any more how to score lower. But being disciplined enough to pay the smarter shot is sometimes really hard. And for those who have inquired about caddies before, I think this is their #1 job. It isn’t like a pro golfer doesn’t know how to play smart, but having someone on your bag to prevent you from going on tilt or remind you what your strategy was going to be on a certain hole can be huge. 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

The big thing that changed my game was getting an Optishot2 for the house. This showed the club face direction. Open, closed and it showed it by degrees. I worked for a couple of years to fine tune the path. The second thing was playing more. If you want to get better, once a week isn’t gona cut it. I spoke with the pro at my old course. I asked him to look at my swing. He watched me for a bit and he said “Do you want to get better? Absolutely, I said. He said “Your swing is fine, your ball contact is good. You just need to play more”. He was right.

Between the two things I went from a 6 to my current 0.5. Granted it took a couple years. 

[chisag]

... There is no magic and like all sports it takes dedication, practice and a positive attitude. The latter being extremely important with golf. If I had to give one piece of advice (and it was a constant with most of my students when I taught) it would be concentrate on the process and not the results. This cures many high index and some mid index players problems. The amount of time I see someone move their entire body up and out on a chip or putt, hitting it poorly because they want to see the results is off the charts. Making the best chip or putt you can will produce the best results and as crazy as it sounds, not caring about the results allows you to do just that because you are focusing on the shot/technique not trying to make/wish the ball into the hole.   

[tdroma98]

On 1/13/2024 at 4:25 PM, MN.LeftyGolfer said:

What are things that have worked the best?  Whether it was a piece of advice, a piece of equipment, or a drill that has become ritual, what is the one thing you wish you would have known or tried earlier in your golfing career?

The things that worked best for me, starting out it had to be lessons.  Learning the basics of the grip, posture & stance, is so important & often times overlooked. 30 yrs later, I still do a couple of drills, one is to check posture making sure I don't hunch over and another is to hit golf balls with feet together for balance, turn & tempo. 

The mental side is important and one good book I read early on  & have mentioned many times on MGS threads & to @Jnoble89 is "Every Shot Must Have a Purpose" by Pia Nilssion & Lynn Mariott. They were Annika Sorenstam's instructors.  I love this book. It changed my entire approach to golf. It gave me the understanding of a routine.  Not a five minute pre-shot routine. It can teach you commitment to a shot. How to practice at the range, instead of just pounding a bucket of balls in 10 minutes, but work on hitting different shots, narrowing your aim & focus. Course & Game management. 

Good club fitting. Often we just buy clubs off the rack because the club looks great, then take it the course or range then ask why did I buy that club? LOL. However, getting fit for clubs: fitting your Length, Lie & Grip size, amazing how it makes a difference.  

Lastly, the short game - chipping & putting. no doubt if you can routinely get up & down when around the green or drop a long putt from time to time, it can save a round. Great you can hit a 275 or 300 yd drive. But if you don't hit greens, and need to get up & down to save par, can you chip it close?  can you sink the 5 or 6 footer for par? 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Practice. That’s it. Sounds simple, and it is, and it isn’t. To get better, lower handicap, gain consistency, etc., one has to put in the hours working on their game. And while working on your game, practice with purpose. If you are hitting balls into a net, and have the benefit of a launch monitor (mevo, rapsodo, garmin, etc.) work on hitting to target yardages to dial in gapping. When rolling putts on a mat, work on line and distance control. Always be working on something. 

also, as others have mentioned, playing as frequently as you can will also help in getting better and it’s fun. 

[Bossfan]

I can’t haven’t gotten to great yet but I can tell you what got me from 20 to the 13.7 I ended this year at. Lessons , the biggest help with those have been when something gets off with my swing I know what the cause is and I know what to do to hopefully correct.  Getting better on and around the green. The last might sound weird. Stop caring about GIR. Let me explain. A few years ago I would go for a GIR from just about anywhere. I must of gotten tired of triple bogeys. Now I don’t worry about GIR unless I’m on the fairway. Bad tee shot now and my thought process now is where can I put the second shot where I can get on in 3 and 1 or 2 putt. Even from the fairway if there is a forced carry and I’m uncomfortable with the shot I lay up . It’s not sexy but it’s lowered my scores quite a bit with also improving on and around the green. I’ve averaged mid 80s the last 2/3 years.

[Kenny B]

22 hours ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

Practice. That’s it. Sounds simple, and it is, and it isn’t. To get better, lower handicap, gain consistency, etc., one has to put in the hours working on their game. And while working on your game, practice with purpose. If you are hitting balls into a net, and have the benefit of a launch monitor (mevo, rapsodo, garmin, etc.) work on hitting to target yardages to dial in gapping. When rolling putts on a mat, work on line and distance control. Always be working on something. 

also, as others have mentioned, playing as frequently as you can will also help in getting better and it’s fun. 

I agree almost 100%, IF you already know what you need to do and know how to do it.  The other piece of the puzzle is lessons from a qualified instructor to help you gain that knowledge.  

I started playing late in life and didn't know how to fix a horrible slice.  Lessons fixed that.  I played with a club pro who once told me that I had "hands of stone"; good for boxing, but not chipping and putting.  Lessons helped me develop some skills with short game and putting... then a lot of practice improved those skills to help me score.  My continuing development really began when I retired and had the time available to put in a lot of practice time... so time is an essential element.  Even though I have lost distance with age, I have managed to maintain my handicap over the past 10 years with Lessons and Practice!!  I still enjoy learning through lessons (there is always something to learn), and I actually like practice sessions!

[RoverRick]

I played golf for 30 years. I could probably not actually break 100 playing by the actual rules of golf. Meaning playing it down, putting it out, and no Mulligans. I loved golf, but didn’t really care about my score. On my 45th birthday, I decided I was going to be a scratch golfer on my 50th birthday. I had a 0.2 Index on my 50th birthday. Since then, in the past 9 years, various things have contributed to my increased handicap index, but I am retracing some of these steps to reduce it. 

To me the “secret” to shooting lower scores is not about totally about making more birdies. It’s about making pars and then taking advantage of situations that result in birdies. Rarely can you make a birdie from the tee box but you can definitely make a double or worse.

I developed a long term plan of course management and focused practice. 

To break 100. Eliminate the big number and play to make double bogey as the worst score.  
To break 90. Reduce penalties and learn to lag putt and to hit the driver straight or eliminate one side. 
To shoot in the low 80’s. Eliminate penalties and learn to get the ball close to the hole with the wedges.  
To shoot in the low 70’s.  Improve my distance control with irons and hit more greens. 

Interestingly, I had a flawed swing and never really addressed that. Oh, I tried, but the changes never really took hold. Since I was hitting the ball 20 yards left of target, I simply aimed right. It wasn’t until I tried to “fix” my swing, for health reasons, that my handicap began to climb. 

[Goober]

Separating my lower from upper half in transition.And not letting the club kick out early leading to pull hooks and pulls 

[Cfhandyman]

Find a good golf coach/teacher that you can relate to. Be open to suggestions and practice those changes between lessons. Take putting and short game lessons. Make sure your fundamentals (grip, setup, alignment and stance) are solid. Start slow with slow half speed swings. 

Go to a reputable fitter and invest in fitted equipment. Don’t forget to get fitted for your wedges (scoring clubs) as well as putter (35-40% of your strokes). You don’t have to buy everything at once. 

Dedicated Practice (have a plan) and practice some more. Don’t play all the time. Build regular practice into your schedule. Concentrate on shots from 100 yards and in as that accounts for 65-70% of your shots. You can save yourself a bucket load of strokes by developing a good short game by hitting the ball to within 5 o 6’ from the hole and then making 1 putt. Develop a wedge matrix where you know how far a half swing, 3/4 and full swing go. Practice your putting and develop a feel how far a 10’ putt goes vs a 20 or 30 footer. 

Course management. Work from the green back and calculate which distances you are more comfortable hitting as an approach shot. E.g 75 or 100, 125 yard full swing club vs a 42 or 67 yard shot. If you don’t hit the fairway with your drive, Don’t go for the hero shot, rather hit the shot you can repeat 8 times out of ten. I.e. Play for the bogey and avoid the double, triple or worse. 

Data - Invest in Arccos or Shotscope - the data provided is invaluable as you will reliably know how far you hit each of your clubs and where you are losing strokes. Data is your friend. An alternative is to spend an hour of time indoors using Trackman or GCQuad and hit 10 shots with each club and email the report to yourself. Eliminate the outliers and you will have a good idea of your carry and total distances for each club. 

Use the winter to set goals and practice and work on your swing.

And last but definitely not least, have fun. That’s why we play this great game. Try and make good swings. If you make a good swing, the score usually takes care of itself.  There will be days that you can’t miss and other days, where you can’t hit the broad side of a barn directly in front of you. It happens. Enjoy the experience. Long winded, but hope that helps. 

[grantc79]

I went from a 6 handicap to a little better than scratch in about 6 months. 

This is what changed for me:

1. Playing with and paying attention to better players and realizing its not how many birdies they make but how many bogeys they don't make. Learning how and where to miss and how to play. 
2. Moving back a tee box. I hit it plenty far so moving back a tee box didn't make it that much tougher but it made it to where I don't have to shoot 69 to get scratch but can instead shoot low/mid 70s.
3. Realizing that I shouldn't be hitting at pins to make birdies but hitting to the middle of greens and making 20 footers for birdies. 
4. Realizing I needed to never make double and making 4 less bogeys per round. Its all short game. 
5. Learning how to focus a lot more. Learning how to slip into and out of golf mode and having fun mode. You can have fun and grind a round out basically. 
6. Teaching my son how to practice and play and realizing I cant hold him accountable if I don't do the same for myself. 

[NC Golfer]

On 1/17/2024 at 12:25 PM, RoverRick said:

I played golf for 30 years. I could probably not actually break 100 playing by the actual rules of golf. Meaning playing it down, putting it out, and no Mulligans. I loved golf, but didn’t really care about my score. On my 45th birthday, I decided I was going to be a scratch golfer on my 50th birthday. I had a 0.2 Index on my 50th birthday. Since then, in the past 9 years, various things have contributed to my increased handicap index, but I am retracing some of these steps to reduce it. 

To me the “secret” to shooting lower scores is not about totally about making more birdies. It’s about making pars and then taking advantage of situations that result in birdies. Rarely can you make a birdie from the tee box but you can definitely make a double or worse.

I developed a long term plan of course management and focused practice. 

To break 100. Eliminate the big number and play to make double bogey as the worst score.  
To break 90. Reduce penalties and learn to lag putt and to hit the driver straight or eliminate one side. 
To shoot in the low 80’s. Eliminate penalties and learn to get the ball close to the hole with the wedges.  
To shoot in the low 70’s.  Improve my distance control with irons and hit more greens. 

Interestingly, I had a flawed swing and never really addressed that. Oh, I tried, but the changes never really took hold. Since I was hitting the ball 20 yards left of target, I simply aimed right. It wasn’t until I tried to “fix” my swing, for health reasons, that my handicap began to climb. 

Great Story, RoverRick! Can you share one full swing thought that turned things around for you?

Edited January 24 by NC Golfer

[Fletcher Martin]

I became a range rat for about 4-5 months.  I used to just go and hit balls to get lose or increase my feel, but going and practicing drills and actually recording my swing made a huge difference.  I also got fitted for a putter, that shaved a few strokes off on the greens.  

[RoverRick]

47 minutes ago, NC Golfer said:

Great Story, RoverRick! Can you share one full swing thought that turned things around for you?

Full swing thought? First a story. Back in the 90’s (score not the year) it was rare that I would shoot 45 per 9. That was a good round. We gambled a bit, and the winner paid the bar tab. The goal was to drink more than you lost, and the “winner” usually lost money. Win $150 and pay $180 to the bartender. 

One day I determined that I had way too much too much to drink to drive home so I played another 9 holes. My swing thought was “hit the effing ball.” That was the first time I ever broke 40 and I actually parred the first 8 and then made bogey. 

What truly works best is a consistent set up that allows you to deliver the face square at impact from the inside of straight. But the best swing thought would have to the yardage. By that I mean, you can stand at the back of the box and have all the thoughts you want, left wrist bowed, full back swing, etc. but then step up to the ball check your alignment, proper set up and think 230 yards is okay, or 106 yards, or 66 yards or 12’. And make a relaxed swing. 

Thanks for making me think of this. I have not been doing this except for wedges and putter. (Which is probably why this is the best part of my game. But if the weather ever gets dry again (Friday) I will go back to this on “full” swing shots. Full vs max. 

[NC Golfer]

1 hour ago, RoverRick said:

Full swing thought? First a story. Back in the 90’s (score not the year) it was rare that I would shoot 45 per 9. That was a good round. We gambled a bit, and the winner paid the bar tab. The goal was to drink more than you lost, and the “winner” usually lost money. Win $150 and pay $180 to the bartender. 

One day I determined that I had way too much too much to drink to drive home so I played another 9 holes. My swing thought was “hit the effing ball.” That was the first time I ever broke 40 and I actually parred the first 8 and then made bogey. 

What truly works best is a consistent set up that allows you to deliver the face square at impact from the inside of straight. But the best swing thought would have to the yardage. By that I mean, you can stand at the back of the box and have all the thoughts you want, left wrist bowed, full back swing, etc. but then step up to the ball check your alignment, proper set up and think 230 yards is okay, or 106 yards, or 66 yards or 12’. And make a relaxed swing. 

Thanks for making me think of this. I have not been doing this except for wedges and putter. (Which is probably why this is the best part of my game. But if the weather ever gets dry again (Friday) I will go back to this on “full” swing shots. Full vs max. 

 

Good stuff, thanks, for sharing. You can have the best swing thought, but, if your stance, balance and alignment are not right, it never works. So, you're on target there. 

I also call it the eff it swing. That tends to be the swing I use after I duff one and it usually works well. 

I guess as experienced golfers and ones on golf forums, we're always searching for the secret. I kind of know it's coil/full turn in the backswing and swing from the ground up (through swing). But, it never works out any better than just swing your swing. 

Course and yardage management is good too.

My hybrid irons (Launcher XL Halo) help mask some issues, which is nice.