Want to become a Tour Pro?
In this new video series, The Rookie Year, I’ve teamed up with European Tour professional and TaylorMade Tour staff player Kim Koivu to document his progress throughout the 2019 season. In these videos we’ll explore what it takes to be a tour pro.
Golf course management is essential to your success as a golfer. Do you know what separates the great players from the good players? It is course management! While you may not be able to hit the ball like a pro or putt like a pro, you can learn to think your way around the golf course like a pro. Here I am going to give you 3 tips on how you can manage your game better.
1. First and foremost you need to realize the number one mistake that many golfers make is that we all tend to not take enough club. By this I mean that most golfers, especially men try to hit the ball hard and think they can hit their clubs further than they really can. I know for the longest time I tried to hit my 9 iron 150 yards on every shot, and then I realized that I have much more control from that distance with an 8 iron. The point is that in most circumstances it is better to hit too much club than not enough.
2. Another thing that many golfers do is try to get too close to the greens on a par 5. This may sound weird but what you need to do is lay up to a yardage that is comfortable to you. If this means laying up to 60 yards or 80 yards then that is what you should try to do. Most professional golfers tend to lay up at around the 100 yard marker because this gives them a full sand wedge to the green. This is a great way to improve your golf course management.
3. Last but not least you must remember that every golfer has weaknesses, but you must play to your strengths. Every successful golfer at every level does this. If you have trouble with your driver, then hit 3 wood off of the tee, if you have trouble with hitting your wedge then try to hit bump and run 8 iron shots around the greens.
Golf course management is crucial to your success, so to maximize your potential make sure you do not neglect this vital part of your game.
Don’t just play golf. Understand it.
Your Golf Swing vs. How You Play the Game
I recently played in the Southwest PGA Senior Open. I was hitting the ball great, but it didn’t translate on my scorecard. This reminded me of a few lessons I’ve shared over the years.
1. Remember that your score is not necessarily a reflection of who you are as a player. Use your experiences on the course to learn and improve.
2. Playing the game and working on your golf swing are two entirely different things.
Here’s a great conversation I had with Brendon DeVore @bebettergolf, talking about this very subject. It’s part of a 6-Part Golf Talk Series you can watch at malaskagolf.com.
Lower Your Golf Scores For Less Than a Dollar
As I give more and more golf lessons, it amazes me how much money people will spend with me and as soon as they leave it is like the golf lesson never happened!
I suggest to all of my students to keep a golf journal. With a golf journal, we can get together at the end of the lesson and discuss what their homework will be until the next golf lesson. The challenge for me is that less than 5% of my students do this and then wonder why they are not progressing as fast as they would like.
I have attempted to emphasize how important this is by bringing a clip board with a lesson sheet on it. I keep notes on it through the lesson for myself as well as for the student. After the lesson, we discuss what is on the sheet and I then scan the sheet and email it to them for them to use, record in their own way way, I guess, trash.
You can improve your golf game and handicap much faster for under a couple of dollars! Although you can purchase a nice golf journal such as The Ultimate Golf Journal by Lisa Bach, you can accomplish your goals with a small notebook that you can keep in your pocket, attach to your push cart or put on the steering wheel of the golf cart while you play.
inexpensive but nice Golf Journal.
There is no secret to improving your handicap and shooting lower scores. The answer is that it practice, practice, and more practice. We have all had those moments on the driving range where we can not miss and the next time out we can not remember what we were thinking or working on to make the ball react the way we wanted. By keeping a golf journal, you can jot it down as it happens or after your practice session.
Whether you take lessons or not, it is important to keep a golf journal or a small notebook (less than a dollar) with you when you practice or play. It is important to note the flight of the golf balls. Do they start by flying to the left or right? Once they get to the top of their flight do they topple forward or to the left or right? What about the trajectory of your golf shots? Are they too low, or too high? Occasionally after a couple of rounds of golf, you will start to see tendencies. If you do take lessons, this will be valuable information for your professional. As we all know, the golf ball sometimes tends to fly differently once we are on the golf course.
You will also want to begin keeping simple stats in your golf journal. I do this a lot by using a scorecard and using each line for a separate statistic. You will want to keep fairways hit or missed, greens hit or missed, up and downs that are converted and the number of putts that you take on each hole.
By keeping a simple golf journal with some of these easy suggestions along with others that you will come up with in your own, you will begin to see good and bad patterns forming. With this information, you can improve your weaknesses and lower your handicap.
inexpensive but nice Golf Journal D.I.Y. Golf Journal tutorial
Breathing!! We all do it, but how and when we do it can play a huge role in how well you perform out on the course. Focusing on this during your next round of golf can really help you with focus, routine, composure and tension. In this short video Chris Ryan shows you exactly how to use breathing to help you and your game.
