What things have made the biggest difference to your game?

[2blue]

For me it is this that I just saw the other day https://www.thoughtco.com/the-golf-grip-1564425 …. the 'dots' conveyed the message for me!!
I've got to 10 H/cap & my grip's been wrong for all my golfing career. No wonder my short game has had to be so good as my GIR has been appalling. My irons are now 'pin seeking' so maybe yet will make single figures before I'm 80!! which I'm also hopeful of making..... must remember not to drink with Big-Stu... (Wokingham-Paul take note!!) Hahaha!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Lots of things over the years have made the game easier. Cavity backs, the array of balls, GPS devices, electric trolleys have all helped me

 

[anotherdouble]

Playing golf with liverbirdie, Stu and Davy Mc, I now know how bad I could have been. Cheered me up no end

 

[Curls]

1. With woods learn to hit up, with irons/wedges learn to hit down

2. Never go full swing on a wedge. Tbf I’m as far as 7 iron before I’m feeling like a full swing (and I’m sure it isn’t)

3. Only accelerate through impact, starting the aggression at the top is a waste of energy

4. Focus on striking the middle of the club face. Off centre strikes undermine everything else you’re trying to do. Pick one club, your favourite club, and try to hit 10 in the middle. Not easy is it?! Keep trying.

5. When pitching/chipping- ok you need to have a somewhat decent technique when swinging but you should be more focussed on where you want the ball to land than where your hands are

6. Be patient. Sometimes a good round comes out of nowhere. Maybe even a bad start. But even the best in the world don’t win every week, you need a perfect blend of things to happen to allow you to excel. That’s not admonishing poor prep and play. If you don’t put the effort in don’t expect results - that’s life (-and golf is a serious microcosm in that regard).

7. Stay in the here and now. I did a long post about this recently so it’s easily searchable.

8. Putting. My Achilles heel. If someone can unlock that for me I’d be most grateful.

 

[6535]

1. With woods learn to hit up, with irons/wedges learn to hit down

2. Never go full swing on a wedge. Tbf I’m as far as 7 iron before I’m feeling like a full swing (and I’m sure it isn’t)

3. Only accelerate through impact, starting the aggression at the top is a waste of energy

4. Focus on striking the middle of the club face. Off centre strikes undermine everything else you’re trying to do. Pick one club, your favourite club, and try to hit 10 in the middle. Not easy is it?! Keep trying.

5. When pitching/chipping- ok you need to have a somewhat decent technique when swinging but you should be more focussed on where you want the ball to land than where your hands are

6. Be patient. Sometimes a good round comes out of nowhere. Maybe even a bad start. But even the best in the world don’t win every week, you need a perfect blend of things to happen to allow you to excel. That’s not admonishing poor prep and play. If you don’t put the effort in don’t expect results - that’s life (-and golf is a serious microcosm in that regard).

7. Stay in the here and now. I did a long post about this recently so it’s easily searchable.

8. Putting. My Achilles heel. If someone can unlock that for me I’d be most grateful.

Check out Axys Golf and Eric Kaplan.

 

[Ian_Bristol]

Being in contol of my takeaway (nice and slow) and an under conrol downswing. Together much straighter drives and long irons off the tee

 

[Curls]

Check out Axys Golf and Eric Kaplan.

Nice one - will do!

 

[jim8flog]

Stopping work and not having work on my mind for the first 5-6 holes.

A really good lesson from the pro where all we did for the majority of the lesson was to talk about the mental attitude to the game.

 

[patricks148]

course management, i don't take on hero shots anymore and always get the ball back in play on the short stuff

 

[bobmac]

A change in attitude saved me 3 or 4 shots per round.

After I turned pro I had no h/cap to protect/chase, no buffer to aim for, no worry about another 0.1........just freedom to score as low as I could on every hole especially the last 6 holes where many (previously myself included ) would try and protect a good score.

Play the hole to the best of your ability and never settle for a nett score.
For example
Bill.
Are you gong to risk that shot over the water or lay up?
Ben.
I'm not sure, do I get a shot on this hole?

If you don't think you can carry the water, lay up, if you think you can, go for it.
But never base your decision on whether you get a shot or not or you want to protect a good card

 

[BrianM]

Lessons, 2 years ago i couldn't hit a ball (Still sometimes can't )

 

[IanM]

Getting a Club I was confident off the tee with...

Learning to chip

 

[spongebob59]

Getting a Club I was confident off the tee with...

Learning to chip

Wish I could chip

 

[Andy]

Carly Booth

 

[Orikoru]

Back when I was just a hacker playing at the driving range, the first thing that made a difference was actually remembering to keep my left arm straight.

More recently I think shortening my backswing has made the biggest difference. I started doing that a while ago, and since then I got a better contact much more consistently. So now when I swing back the club is pointing up about 45 degrees I think, rather than being fully level. But yeah, my strike was much more consistent after that.

Another thing that made a big difference to my scores was a mindset thing. Realising that you don't always have to go for the pin from every difficult position and lie, just get it back to a good position. Things like hitting 5 iron out of the rough and trying to get it 180 odd yards just wouldn't work for me, could end up costing me 3 shots, whereas hitting a 7 or 8 back to the fairway where you can get to the green with your next shot only loses you 1.

 

[BTatHome]

- realise that you don't need to hit it 300yds to score well, drop the club when it misses the target.
- learn to live in the now. A poor shot is not the end of the world, and a bad start is not the end of the round. Leave the course with a clean mind and start the next round without a thought for the last time you played.
- be happy with your putter, it's the club that could turn your round around.

 

[Curls]

I think that the propensity to take on a crazy shot is inversely proportional to how good you are.

When I started I’d often try a hero shot around a tree, because I thought if I pitched it sideways I still have little chance of getting on the green in my next shot and scoring. When you get better you feel you can still score if you pitch it out sideways, so you do.

What’s the solution of you don’t think you can hit a green from the 180 you’d be left with? Pitch it sideways anyway. You never know you might make a great up and down. You definitely won’t draw it around the tree out of the clag. Figure out how much you can cut off and then give yourself some additional comfort space. Always play the shot that lowers your heart rate.

 

[Grant85]

Agree with a lot of the comments about playing it safe.

I read the Mark Brodie book Every Shot Counts and from that thought I had to take every shot on and hit is as far as I could. But for someone at my level it is more like aim away from the trouble and make sure you don’t put yourself in a worse position after a shot than you started it.

I now play 3 wood off the tee quite a bit, lay up more often and don’t really play more than a 6 or 7 iron out of rough, and often play much less. A bogey isn’t a bad score after all, but a bigger number can wreck your round.

 

[sawtooth]

Grip change.

 

[ChrisB0210]

Interesting to see the range of topics that has cropped up here. For me it would be the following:

1. Changing coaches to someone that can improve my Golf rather than someone that teaches a “one size fits all philosophy”.

2. Dr Bob Rotella’s excellent books, especially “Putting out of your mind”. Certainly helped my approach to the game, especially when it doesn’t quite go as I’d like.

3. Properly custom fitted clubs. Had them 2years now and no desire to change as I know I can still get more from them (and myself!).

4. I’ve tried to play the same make and model of ball all summer and that’s definitely helped as I know how it will behave in different circumstances and conditions.