TIPS AND DRILLS

Driving Range

How to get the most out of your practice on the range. 

Improving at golf means you got to practice.  There’s so many golfers that go to the driving range with no purpose or plan. The driving range is where you get to practice golf. I suggest coming up with a plan and have purpose when going to the driving range. You don’t need to hit hundreds of balls to get better at golf. Sometimes you just need a plan. To come up with a practice plan, knowing your weaknesses or areas you want to improve can help. A great way to accomplish this is to track certain stats while you play golf. Some stats might be greens in regulations, fairways hit, short game up and down percentage, and whatever else you feel is important to you. By looking at those stats, you can decide more intelligently what to work on. 

 

Do’s and Don’t on the range 

We can all relate on getting to the driving range and immediately pulling out the driver and trying to hit the ball as far as we can. This strategy probably wont help you shoot lower scores on the course. Here are some basics that I use on the range before I hit my first ball. 

  • Warm up and stretch- Get loose and prevent injury 
  • Aim and align- Lay two clubs on the ground perpendicular to your target.  
  • Check your grip- do you have a strong, neutral or weak grip? 
  • Work on pre-shot routine- Think about visualizing the shot and work on your breathing.
  •  Don’t buy the large bucket- No more rapid fire. Slow down and practice like you play.
60 minute session 

Only got an hour to practice? Try this 60 minute session that will make you better. Pro Tip: Put your phone away and have extreme focus while doing this. 

  1. Hit 50 chips inside of 30 yards. Hit 10 bunker shots ( 20 minutes)
  2. Hit every wedge and iron twice in your bag  (15 minutes)
  3. Hit every fairway wood and driver in your bag four times (10 minutes) 
  4. Go to the putting green and work on starting line and set up. (10 minutes) 
  5. Get four 2 putts in from about thirty feet. ( 5 minutes) 

 

Short game and putting

Never 3 putt again in your life

Putting in golf seems like it should be easy. Well, if you’ve played any golf you know its actually really hard. To shoot lower scores, you need to be good at putting, but why is it so hard? No real golfer really knows. Something we do know is that we hate to 3 putt.  You can do everything right leading up to the green, but you could 3 putt for bogey or worse. Something that most amateur golfers are bad at is called “lag putting”. One of the main reason we 3 putt is because when we have longer putts we can’t get it close to the hole. My advice is to start practicing putts 20 feet and longer. Focus more on the speed rather than trying to make the putt. Getting the speed right is the major factor when lag putting. Get the speed correct, and you’ll have a better chance of getting the putt close. Best of luck. 

 

Chipping vs Pitching- Whats the actual difference 

Do you know the major differences between pitching and chipping? If not, you are not alone. The short game is a very important part of golf and will make the biggest difference when trying to shoot lower scores. The words chipping and pitching are used very interchangeable in the game of golf, but there is actually a difference. A chip shot is used around the putting surface with a low trajectory and generally travels mainly along the ground. A pitch shot is a shot with a higher trajectory and more spin, designed to keep the ball in the air more as it travels to its target. Each shot is important to practice and execute on the golf course. The next time you encounter a short shot, take a second look to determine what type of shot you should take to get the ball closest to the hole. 

Beyond the course

Take care of the course- fix divots and ball marks

If you want to anger people on the golf course, don’t fill your divots or repair your ball marks. Unfortunately too many golfers don’t do these things. Fixing ball marks and filling your divots is one of the important rules of golf. When you hit a shot onto the green, it leaves a mark. It’s up to you to fix the mark. If ball marks are left unfixed, it damages the greens and also creates uneven surfaces. Both things are not good if you like to shoot low scores. They make a tool called a divot repair tool which helps with fixing ball marks on the green. When using a divot tool, simply dig the prongs behind the mark and gentle pull towards the center of the mark. You might have to do this a couple times in different spots around the mark. Another important rule is to fill the divots you make in the ground from your club when you hit the ball.  This is more simple than fixing a ball mark. If the divot is intact and there is soil attached, simply replace it in the correct orientation and press the divot firmly into the ground with your foot. If the divot is not intact, fixing the divot with divot mix is the best solution. Depending on the course and grass type, divot mix may be pure sand or be a mix of sand and seed to help with recovery.  These are important rules to follow. If we all do our part, we will continue to make golf fun and have beautiful courses to play. 

 

What is pace of play and how to keep up with it

Have you ever been stuck behind a group of people that are taking forever? I’m sure we all have at some point on the golf course. Nobody likes slow play. So how long should a round of golf take? How can we make sure we don’t slow the pace of play down? An average round of golf is said to take about 4 hours and 30 minutes. 9 holes is about half that time. That’s about 15 minutes per hole. A few things that could affect this time could be how many people are in your group or how skilled your group is. If you have a group of 4 or 5, it will take longer than a group of 2 or if you have a group of newer golfers that will take longer than a group that have skilled golfers. 

 

Use these few tips to make sure your group is keeping the pace of play.

  •  Choose the correct set of tees to play. To help pick a set of tees, multiply the distance you hit your 5-iron by 36. If you hit your 5-iron 175 yards, the set of tees you are most likely to succeed with will play around 6300 yards.
  • Don’t take more than 3 minutes looking for a lost ball
  • Play ready golf. Ready golf is exactly what it sounds like. Whoever is ready to hit their shot goes.
  •  Let faster groups play through. Wave faster groups ahead.