lets-go-golfing

[lets-go-golfing]

How to go beat up on your friends

Once you’ve began to understand the basics of golf, it’s time to start trying to shoot good scores. This can be difficult, but there’s some steps you can take to help you out. 1, take smart shots. This sounds simple but let me explain. If you’re playing a tight par 4 that has very little room for error off the tee, maybe instead of hitting your driver off the tee you could reach for an iron that you trust hitting straight and onto the fairway. 2. Lay up. While you might want to always try to hit it as far and as close to the hole as possible, sometimes it’s the better decision to hit a shorter but more reliable shot to put yourself in a better position for your next shot. Finally, number 3, no 3 putts. This is one that takes practice, but you can lose many strokes on the green. Guaranteed 2 putts or less on a green is one of the most important things you can do to have better scores.

[lets-go-golfing]

Having Some Fun

Sometimes playing golf straight up stroke play can get a little boring or frustrating. So to lighten your mood a little bit there’s different games you can play with your friends on the golf course. The most popular (and most fun in my opinion) is scramble. In scramble, you and your partners work together to try to have to lowest score you can. Each teammate will tee off and as a group you will choose which tee ball was the best and all continue the hole from there. You will continue to all hit and choose the best ball until the conclusion of the hole. This is a fun way to play golf that is great for team work and is also great for newer players. It has been popularized by the YouTube golf space by channels such as Good Good Golf and Bryson DeChambeau’s “Breaking 50 Series”.

[lets-go-golfing]

Short Game Soirée

For most golfers, around 135 yards and in, a wedge will be in your hands. Until you make it onto the green of course. Personally I spend the most time practicing on my short game because it can really make or break you out on the course. There’s a lot of thinking that goes into a wedge shot. Do you want to hit a high flop shot and stick it on the green? Do you want to hit it low and spiny and have the ball rip backwards when it hits the green? While both of those are things to think about, the most important thing to think about when chipping is your distance control. With a wedge in your hands, a lot of the times you will not need to take a full swing at the ball. For this reason, it is important to practice hitting shots to different distances to build muscle memory for certain yardages. When I practice this, I like to grab my range finder and pick certain targets that have ideal yardages to try to hit. I will hit my wedges tons of times trying to drop as many balls around the target location. Once you feel comfortable with your distance control, you can then start to practice all the different shot shapes that can elevate your game even more.

[lets-go-golfing]

Just Tap it In

There’s one club that you’ll use on every hole (for the most part) and that club is the putter. Putting is the easiest part of golf to learn but can be the hardest part to master. Although it seems simple, putting is a very technical aspect of golf. It begins with the grip. Personally I just use a standard golf grip when I putt because it feels the most comfortable to me but there’s tons of different ones that people use. I will attach a link below with some putting grip ideas. The next part is reading the green and speed control. No putt is the same so it is important to be able to look at the green and have a general idea on how it moves. I could try to tell you how to read a green but the best way to learn is to just go out and practice. Just being out on the course and learning to get a feel for it is the best thing you can do. It may be hard at first but if you can become a good putter, you will save yourself a lot of strokes in the long run.

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Getting the Swing of Things

To play your best golf, your round really starts about an hour before your tee time. A solid warm up session is critical to play your best. Although there is no right or wrong warm up routine, I’m going to share my personal routine. I always begin by stretching and just getting generally loose. I then move onto wedges and irons. Typically I will hit my 60 degree, pitching wedge, 7 iron, and driver. I’ve learned that when at the range, less is more. So I will only hit around 3-5 balls with each club. Then I move to the putting green to hit a couple putts and get a feel for how the greens will be rolling that day. Warming up is very simple but is crucial for golf success. Below I will attach additional information on different ways to warm up.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/five-exercises-that-will-get-you-ready-for-your-round/amp

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Teeing Off

No matter what you’re doing, it’s always best to have a good start. This is definitely the case with golf. However, for most players the tee shot is the weakest part of their game. But why? Is it something to do with your swing? Perhaps maybe the wind? Personally, I think the tee shot is more a mental battle than a physical one. I’m sure I can’t be alone in feeling copious amounts of pressure when I lean down to place my ball. The feeling that every pair of eyes at the golf course is staring at you waiting to see if you either impress them or embarrass yourself. It can be terrifying! Especially for the casual player who will play a couple weekends here and there. But, if I have learned anything about tee shots, it’s to just not think and swing. For the longest time I would stand over my ball overthinking about my swing and how many people were watching. Almost always I would have an awful shot. This was until one day I decided to just put my ball on the tee, set up, take a deep breath, and swing. Miraculously, it was one of my best shots ever. So, to anyone reading who has the same struggle, just stop thinking and swing. I’m not guaranteeing perfect shots because trust me not all of mine are great either, but if you can just get out of your own head, golf will suddenly become a whole lot easier. Below I have attached some additional sources that will reiterate as well as provide some more tips and tricks to combating nerves out on the course and tee box.