Practice With Scoring Clubs to Cut Golf Handicaps
Many golfers work hard at improving their games.
They take golf lessons, memorize golf tips, and quiz better players.
They also hit ball after ball on the practice range.
Unfortunately, some golfers never seem to improve.
Despite hours and hours of practice they're unable to lower their scores and/or cut strokes from their golf handicaps.
Eventually, they get frustrated and abandon practicing, content with being mediocre golfers.
That doesn't have to be.
If you want to whittle down your golf handicap, you need to learn not only how to practice, but also what to practice.
Every round of golf includes critical shots that really impact your score.
Often, you use key clubs to make these critical shots.
These clubs are called scoring clubs.
They can save strokes during the round and lower your scores, if you know how to use them.
If you want a low golf handicap, learn to hit these clubs proficiently.
Scoring lower isn't magic.
It's just a matter of getting the most from these scoring clubs.
Master The Tee Shot One reason golfers don't improve is that they don't practice properly.
They don't practice with the right clubs and they don't practice the right way.
Since you can make as many as 25 strokes and still crack the century mark, you don't need to become proficient with every club-just the right clubs.
Golfers shooting 100 to 115 for 18 holes generally use four clubs to hit 75 to 80 percent of their shots: putter (36-40 strokes), fairway woods (15-25 strokes), driver (14-15 strokes), and wedges (10-12 strokes).
Spend your time practicing these four clubs and you'll see dramatic improvement in your scores and golf handicap.
Missing tee shots spells trouble.
It's like setting in motion a negative domino affect.
If you want to score well, you need to combine power and accuracy off the tee.
You'll make a lot more pars and birdies by improving your drives.
Instead of just bombing your shots down the practice range, imagine you're on a real fairway.
Try to hit the fairway 70 percent of the time with your drives.
To make it even more challenging, hit a set of 10 shots with a draw to a spot on the fairway.
Then hit a set of 10 shots with a fade to another spot on the fairway.
Practicing this way hones your ability to drive the ball in the fairway.
Sharpen Your Fairway Woods The 3- and 5-woods are fairly easy to hit.
But some golfers are not as proficient with the as they would like.
One way to gain proficiency with them is to hit them from a fairway bunker rather than from grass or artificial turf.
The fairway sand shot has a small margin for error, so you'll quickly learn to hit solid fairway wood shots.
Then when you play from the fairway, hitting them will seem easy by comparison.
Plus, you'll have the benefit of improving your fairway sand play.
Use the fairway sand bunker to improve your irons as well.
Harness The Power Of The Pitch Shot Most weekend golfers miss more green's in regulation than they hit, leaving a lot of pitch shots.
Get off a good pitch shot and a par is usually within reach.
Flub the pitch shot and you're looking at a double or even a triple bogey.
Since very pitch shot is different, your practice must focus on developing feel in key situations.
One way to do this is to pick pitch shots of varying lengths and difficulty.
Hit 10 shots from each of the three spots.
Keep track of how well you do.
Seventy percent is an acceptable average.
As you get to the last few balls in each batch, you learn how to pitch under pressure.
Once you've improved your pitching, you'll want to convert more putts for par.
Distance control on medium- and long-range putts is a good target to help improve putting.
You want to hit every putt hard enough to go in but not so firm that the comeback shot is doubtful.
To improve your putting, select a 20-foot and a 30-foot, putts on the practice green.
Place a club two feet behind the hole.
Count how many times in a row you can putt a ball past the front edge of the hole yet short of the club.
This drill improves your feel for putting.
Taking golf lessons, digesting golf tips, and talking with other golfers will all help prove your game, but only so far.
To make dramatic improvement, you need to practice more.
To make the most of practice time, you need to learn what and how to practice.
Put most of your time in on the scoring clubs to gain proficiency and you'll see your sore and golf handicaps drop dramatically.
They take golf lessons, memorize golf tips, and quiz better players.
They also hit ball after ball on the practice range.
Unfortunately, some golfers never seem to improve.
Despite hours and hours of practice they're unable to lower their scores and/or cut strokes from their golf handicaps.
Eventually, they get frustrated and abandon practicing, content with being mediocre golfers.
That doesn't have to be.
If you want to whittle down your golf handicap, you need to learn not only how to practice, but also what to practice.
Every round of golf includes critical shots that really impact your score.
Often, you use key clubs to make these critical shots.
These clubs are called scoring clubs.
They can save strokes during the round and lower your scores, if you know how to use them.
If you want a low golf handicap, learn to hit these clubs proficiently.
Scoring lower isn't magic.
It's just a matter of getting the most from these scoring clubs.
Master The Tee Shot One reason golfers don't improve is that they don't practice properly.
They don't practice with the right clubs and they don't practice the right way.
Since you can make as many as 25 strokes and still crack the century mark, you don't need to become proficient with every club-just the right clubs.
Golfers shooting 100 to 115 for 18 holes generally use four clubs to hit 75 to 80 percent of their shots: putter (36-40 strokes), fairway woods (15-25 strokes), driver (14-15 strokes), and wedges (10-12 strokes).
Spend your time practicing these four clubs and you'll see dramatic improvement in your scores and golf handicap.
Missing tee shots spells trouble.
It's like setting in motion a negative domino affect.
If you want to score well, you need to combine power and accuracy off the tee.
You'll make a lot more pars and birdies by improving your drives.
Instead of just bombing your shots down the practice range, imagine you're on a real fairway.
Try to hit the fairway 70 percent of the time with your drives.
To make it even more challenging, hit a set of 10 shots with a draw to a spot on the fairway.
Then hit a set of 10 shots with a fade to another spot on the fairway.
Practicing this way hones your ability to drive the ball in the fairway.
Sharpen Your Fairway Woods The 3- and 5-woods are fairly easy to hit.
But some golfers are not as proficient with the as they would like.
One way to gain proficiency with them is to hit them from a fairway bunker rather than from grass or artificial turf.
The fairway sand shot has a small margin for error, so you'll quickly learn to hit solid fairway wood shots.
Then when you play from the fairway, hitting them will seem easy by comparison.
Plus, you'll have the benefit of improving your fairway sand play.
Use the fairway sand bunker to improve your irons as well.
Harness The Power Of The Pitch Shot Most weekend golfers miss more green's in regulation than they hit, leaving a lot of pitch shots.
Get off a good pitch shot and a par is usually within reach.
Flub the pitch shot and you're looking at a double or even a triple bogey.
Since very pitch shot is different, your practice must focus on developing feel in key situations.
One way to do this is to pick pitch shots of varying lengths and difficulty.
Hit 10 shots from each of the three spots.
Keep track of how well you do.
Seventy percent is an acceptable average.
As you get to the last few balls in each batch, you learn how to pitch under pressure.
Once you've improved your pitching, you'll want to convert more putts for par.
Distance control on medium- and long-range putts is a good target to help improve putting.
You want to hit every putt hard enough to go in but not so firm that the comeback shot is doubtful.
To improve your putting, select a 20-foot and a 30-foot, putts on the practice green.
Place a club two feet behind the hole.
Count how many times in a row you can putt a ball past the front edge of the hole yet short of the club.
This drill improves your feel for putting.
Taking golf lessons, digesting golf tips, and talking with other golfers will all help prove your game, but only so far.
To make dramatic improvement, you need to practice more.
To make the most of practice time, you need to learn what and how to practice.
Put most of your time in on the scoring clubs to gain proficiency and you'll see your sore and golf handicaps drop dramatically.
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