Improve Your Golf Game in 2023
By Dan Williams, PGA Professional & Golf Instructor at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club
Is improving your golf game part of your New Year’s Resolution? Let’s talk about how you can make 2023 your best golf year yet!
Everyone wants to improve their swing or get more consistent, and that’s great, but those things are hard to measure which makes it hard to know if you are actually improving. Instead, think of goals you can track. Try to hit more greens in regulation, lose fewer golf balls on the course, break 90, have fewer than 36 putts for 18 holes … goals like this will allow you to track your actual progress rather than a perception of your progress. This can also help give you a better idea of where you can improve.
One thing that all golfers have in common is that the closer we are to the hole, the more likely we are to be able to make the shot. Everybody is different, but statistically speaking, once we get outside of six or seven feet, our odds of making putts goes way down. So, when you are inside of five or six feet we need to be able to take advantage. Here are three drills/challenges to train yourself to make more short putts.
Easy: Hit 20 putts from three to six feet from the hole and record how many you made. Repeat drill trying to improve the number of makes.
Medium: Hit putts from three to six feet from the hole trying to see how many you can make in a row. Repeat drill trying to improve the number.
Hard: Hit putts from three to six feet from the hole until you make 20 in a row, without missing.
You can modify each of these drills depending on your current ability. If you are struggling, keep most of the putts at the three foot range. As you improve get closer to the 6 foot range. If you can achieve all of these, up the target number to 30 or even 40.
Get Out and PracticeI often tell my students that they don’t need to practice to see improvement, but without practice you are limiting how much you can improve. So, get out to the club and practice! I often hear from students that they would practice, but they are afraid they’ll practice the wrong things. Don’t let the fear of getting worse keep you from trying to get better. If you focus on your ball flight rather than what you think your swing is doing, you’ll be just fine!
If you don’t practice much right now, start easy, find one hour sometime in the week. Come out and split your practice into three areas. Full swing on the range for 20 minutes, putting for 20 minutes and chipping for 20 minutes. The next time, you can sub out one area for working on your sand shot, or any other area of your game. Be careful not get stuck on the range hitting endless amounts of balls. Hitting a lot of shots on the range can help if you are able to maintain your focus, but you might be better off keeping your range sessions relatively short.
There are lots of ways to improve your golf, but setting measurable goals, making more short putts and getting out to practice are great places to start!
Looking for a few more tips? Check out the advice Dan has to give for avoiding double and triple bogeys.
To book a lesson with Dan, shoot him an email at: dwilliams@superstitionmtngc.com
