Immediate amateur improvement tips

[Goober]

Here is my opinion.For golfers limited on practice time, funds etc. Work on low point,face contact. 
 

How ? Hit golf balls with a towel laying on ground 5 inches before the ball. (Low point) … critical for good golf 

second, use baby powder on face of club to see where your hitting it. Fix by swinging thru golf tees or head covers. Slight inside out path

Imho, fixing those 2 areas even slightly will drop ones handicap. 
 

what advice do you have ?

[Rearviewmirror]

Course management. Don't hit driver on any par 4 under 400yds, and punch out sideways if you're in the trees vs try to "make it up" on the next shot. Play the toughest 5 stroke holes for bogey unless you're off scratch.

[Shapotomous]

Do NOT think about your total score while playing.  Break up the round into three hole blocks and try for a 13 or 14 score (depending on par 3 or 5 holes or tough par 4's) for those three holes.

13 or 14 is for low 80's scoring... pick a 3 hole score appropriate for improving your game.

Edited September 9 by Shapotomous

[alfriday101]

Fundamentals—nail your set up.  Practice it over and over.  Balance, posture, grip, alignment.  If your not starting from a consistent set up, you’ll never be consistent.

[cnosil]

6 hours ago, Rearviewmirror said:

Course management. Don't hit driver on any par 4 under 400yds, and punch out sideways if you're in the trees vs try to "make it up" on the next shot. Play the toughest 5 stroke holes for bogey unless you're off scratch.

Where did you find these course management strategies?    You are giving up large amount of distance and having to play longer approaches with that diver strategy.  Why would I want to play the 5 toughest holes that way?  As a 7 I want to par all the holes;  I am not playing for bogey on any hole.   

I personally would correct your strategy to say you can drop back from driver if you can get yourself to say 9 iron distance.   I would say the goal is to avoid doubles by not making hero shots and following your punch out strategy but also remember that bogeys do happen.  

[Rearviewmirror]

12 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Where did you find these course management strategies?    You are giving up large amount of distance and having to play longer approaches with that diver strategy.  Why would I want to play the 5 toughest holes that way?  As a 7 I want to par all the holes;  I am not playing for bogey on any hole.   

I personally would correct your strategy to say you can drop back from driver if you can get yourself to say 9 iron distance.   I would say the goal is to avoid doubles by not making hero shots and following your punch out strategy but also remember that bogeys do happen.  

The title is “immediate amateur improvement tips”. There’s also no such thing as immediate improvement in anything other than course management/decision making. Shaving off penalty strokes and avoiding doubles/triples will do more for most amateur’s scorecards than anything else. 
 

If you’ve watched any of Golf Sidekick you’ll get a sense of what I’m referring to. The vast majority of amateur golfers are not even close to parring the five hardest holes on a course.

[Old New Golfer]

Change your mindset when practicing. You are training your autonomic mind. Your nervous system. Everytime you goof up. Your teaching it to goof up. They know all about the autonomic mind in MMA. They train it on purpose.

Just relax. Take it slow and methodically. Patience is the key. Concentrate on what your doing. Everything you're doing. Swing slower if you have to. But do it correctly! Train your autonomic mind to do it correctly. And no other way.

[cnosil]

47 minutes ago, Rearviewmirror said:

The title is “immediate amateur improvement tips”. There’s also no such thing as immediate improvement in anything other than course management/decision making. Shaving off penalty strokes and avoiding doubles/triples will do more for most amateur’s scorecards than anything else. 
 

If you’ve watched any of Golf Sidekick you’ll get a sense of what I’m referring to. The vast majority of amateur golfers are not even close to parring the five hardest holes on a course.

Didn't disagree that course management is probably as close to immediate improvement as you can get.   I still disagree with the driver unless the hole is over 400 yards and as a seven I am always close to or score par of better on the 5 hardest holes.   I am not scratch and I regularly break 80 and I am not following that advice because all I would see is an increase in score.  I looked a their site and I would say they are targeting strategy for 15+ handicappers.  

[TK2HOUSE]

Really learn and practice the difference between pitch and chip. Stance, follow through, weight distribution etc. If you practice this (along with putting) as much or more than hitting balls on the range, it'll make a meaningful difference in score.

[Off Map Oscar]

https://youtube.com/shorts/-nKt5Trn_FI?si=m4Qzi1IS26ww-ieP

John Daly has some points ^^^^^

MY TIP coming from a 27 handicap in Jan to a 10.8 as of yesterday is in the same range as what JD said.

Wedge card. 

You need to know exactly what a waist high, shoulder high and Full swing does with every wedge in the bag. Range the stick and the front edge of the green and use your card to know what shot is going to clear the fringe but not roll too far.  

Here is my card. I used a sim to get the numbers and the roll is on hard greens. I adjust for softer in my mind so these are worst case roll. 

[JMooreTX]

Best way to get immediate improvement is to practice your putting and short game 2-3x more than your irons and woods.  Good putting and short game can make up a lot of strokes lost from the tee and fairway.  Leave your driver in the bag and hit whatever you can get into the fairway off the tee.  Minimize penalty strokes as much as possible and your scores will drop. 

Worst case, make sure the pencil has an eraser on it   

Edited Thursday at 10:26 PM by JMooreTX

[Shrek74]

After the putter, our wedges tend to be the most used clubs. Me personally, in 17 rounds this season, my PW-LW are 23.75% of my shots (putter is 42.5%). We higher handicap golfers don't hit greens with the same regularity that single digits do. So we need to ensure our short games are on point.

The wedge matrix is a great option that anyone should have. It's been on my to do list for a while and I just need to get it done to help me, especially seeing how often I use my wedges. I have no doubt that I lose strokes from not being more accurate on distances and wedge outcomes.

Lag putting is another area where we can help drop strokes. Again, stats show us higher handicap golfers tend to be farther away from the hole once we do get to the green. So lag putting is a huge part of our scoring, or not.

When we get into trouble, get out the easiest way possible. Even if it means going backwards, get out to the fairway however is best/simplist/easiest. Stop the hero shot attempts. We're not PGA pros. Those attempts cost us so many shots that are unnecessary. My last round I found myself on both ends of this. I thought I had plenty of space to make a shot at the right side of the green as opposed to hitting to the fairway just short of the green coming from around some trees. I didn't catch it cleanly, and ended up being around the white stakes and in some leaves and dirt. I got on the green, but not well on the next shots. I likely lost 2 strokes by not making the smart play. Later in the round, I found myself in a similar situation. I made the smart play even though it left me about 50 yards away. I have no doubt I saved at least one stroke as I was able to get my pitch close and made a putt.

Lastly, keep your ball in play. Make smarter calls from the tee when things get tight. Make smarter decisions on approach when dangers lurk. Center fairway, 20-30 yards back is better than OB 30 yards farther up. Middle of the green is better than rolling into a pond because you went for a sucker pin and missed.

Just my $0.02.

Edited yesterday at 04:29 PM by Shrek74

[jaz29]

I had a golf pro tell me at a young age that amateurs should not focus on par unless you are a scratch or low handicapper. I am a bogey golfer. He said focus on that. If I do not hit the fairway, give up on par and play for bogey. This allows you to not have large numbers. I am not sure if my handicap is any better, but i am more consistant now. If I hit a ball in the woods, I forget par and play to not get double!

[ottogoss]

I second what a lot of people have already said, short game practice is crucial, nothing throws your game off like leaving it short or skying it over the green. Secondly, play your game, not the one you 'think' you should.

[JAYER38]

I'm a little unsure what "Immediate amateur" is considered honestly... But I'm going to assume its a 15-25ish handicap  who scores in the mid 90's to low 100's with no real consistency?

I believe @Goober did hit the nail on the head with Face/Ball contact. Have to be able to move the ball fairly consistent to score. (DO NOT over practice the towel in front/behind the ball drill as it will cause you to get to shallow or to steep so I say 5 stroke with it and 5 stroke without for maybe 3 reps)

Next thing would be learning YOUR shots/clubs you consistently have. Don't try to play something you don't have. That goes for Driver down to chipping/bump-N-runs

After that it is course management/eliminating penalties. There is no shame in laying up if your on a par 4-5 with a dog leg left and your a slicer. Grab a hybrid and get it in play!

 

[LeakyValve]

Something I think alot of people struggling with is that mental side, like other have mentioned. I've fallen to it too. Playing your own game is so hard when you have to stand and watch someone hit good shots and recover from bad ones. Then trying to match and beat someone just throws everything out of whack. 

 

I think everything from 50-75 yards to the green including putting has to be a priority. Along with practicing with purpose and not just hammering the same club for 30 balls to hit 5 good ones. 

[Josh Parker]

Course management, short game and scrambling. 

We aren't going to hit every green, but you should be able to get up and down from anywhere close. Or at least have the confidence you are going to put it close.

[Erin B]

@cnosil @Josh Parker are spot on in my opinion. My approach this year sucks, yet I am still in my handicap range because of short game and putting. I generally do better on the toughest holes on the course because I am playing for par, even if I am looking at 3 shots to green. I'm not extremely disappointed if I get bogey, but I am a little. I expect to par. I have trouble understanding "playing for bogey". What I try to do is not have a hero shot and try to not have double bogeys. Some days it works, other days not so much.

Edited 18 hours ago by Erin B