Golf Tips

What is the fastest way to lower your handicap, and ultimately your scores? Devoting enough time to practicing your short game is one of the surest ways to do just that.

Most people make the mistake of spending all of their practice time hitting a bucket of balls, rarely with a purpose in mind, and then MAYBE stroking a few putts before heading home. The average 18 handicap who shoots about 90 will use their wedges and putter for about 50-60 of their shots. That means that about %60 of your score is determined by how efficiently and expertly you hit your wedges, chip and putt.

Therefore, my suggestion is to devote 40 minutes of every hour of practice time to your short game. Spend half of that on putting alone! The other 20 minutes you should chip/pitch around the green, hit some bunker shots, and devise some contests around the green to test your skill. One of my favorites is to play 9 different holes with one wedge and a putter and ONE golf ball. Hit a shot, putt it in. Give yourself a par for an up and down, a birdie if you make the chip, and a bogey if you take more than two shots to get the ball in the cup. After 9 holes, if you are more than 3 or 4 shots over par, start over. Put some pressure on yourself to sharpen up your short game!