Surely improving your golf game is as simple as bashing a few balls at the range and hitting a few putts? Alas, it’s not. The truth is that making real improvement takes time, thought and effort. Here are some of the reasons why you’re not improving and how you can break through the plateau.
You're Confusing A Warm-Up With Practice
Whacking some balls in a golf net, a few chips and putts before playing will help to get your eye in, but it won’t make you a better player, so try not to confuse the two. A practice session doesn’t have to be hours, it can be as short as 20 minutes, but it does need to have a purpose. It should be challenging and engaging so your mind is fully focused on what you are trying to achieve.
Your Practice Is Too Easy
“Comfort is the enemy of progress” P.T Barnum (The film The Greatest Showman is based on this man). And he’s not wrong. When it comes to making improvements, true gains are made by challenging yourself to do things that are out of your comfort zone. Things that you mess up a few times before you slowly start to get the hang of it. Smacking fifty 7-irons and thirty drives, something you enjoy doing, is unlikely to move the needle on your scoring. Embracing the chaos of trying shots you struggle with will improve your game and your scores.
You Don't/Won't Have A Lesson
I’ve met many golfers over the years who declare proudly with hands on hips and puffed out chest that they’ve never had a lesson. Congratulations, well done, make sure you add a * on your scorecard and write ‘*never had a lesson’ so people know you’ve achieved that score all on your own and you can gain extra recognition.
Except you won’t, because nobody actually cares, and you’ve made life harder for yourself. People can have the misconception that golf lessons mean swing surgery and horrible uncomfortable changes, but it really doesn’t have to be that way. Working with a pro is a partnership, you become a team to talk about your golf and what you want to achieve. A good pro will introduce any tweaks and changes slowly without compromising your needs.
Witness The Fitness
The professional game has transformed over the last 20 years. Golfers are athletes now, with just as many hours spent in the gym as on the practice ground. For us mere mortals, we often have basic limitations that will prevent us from getting more from our golf.
Swinging a club at 50 plus miles an hour is a physical demand and one that can be improved with some basic stretches and movement exercises. So, rather than catching up on the latest Rick Shiels video on YouTube, check out some stretches for golf instead, or better still, start Yoga or Pilates because your body and swing will thank you.
Ego Is The Enemy
There’s no easy way to say this but…you are simply not as good as you think you are and it’s making you miserable. A google executive coined his own happiness equation and it applies well to golf. Happiness = Reality - Expectations
Essentially, when our golf falls short of our expectations it leads to disappointment, or worse, temper tantrums on the course. I honestly cannot fathom how anyone actually expects to be good at this game, it is ridiculously hard with such small margins for error.
The joy has to be found at the times when things do go right and you get those lucky bounces. Having unrealistic expectations of what you think you should be doing is a one-way ticket to misery and ultimately worse golf. Approach each round with a sense of wonder and adventure, no two rounds are the same and that is the magic of golf.
Let's Talk Golf Gear
This is not a sales pitch, telling you to run to your nearest pro shop and buy the latest £500 driver because as a pro with plenty of experience, it’s not about having the latest gear, it’s about having the right gear. With all the second-hand sites, there has never been a better time to find what you need at a reasonable price.
All too often I see people with clubs that are unsuitable, be it tall women with standard women’s length clubs, men with shafts too stiff, and juniors with heavy hand-me-down steel irons. It makes an already difficult game that much harder. I liken it to trying to run a marathon wearing the wrong size trainers.
Taking time to get advice on the right golf clubs really can make all the difference, including the smallest of things, like having the right grip size or adding a club to fill the gap in yardages. Making marginal gains will compound to make big improvements.
The Biggest Game
Calling it the short game does diminish the importance of this area of the game. If golf practice facilities were designed to reflect the parts of the game we play most, they would look very different. It would be short game greens everywhere and putting skill challenges all over the show.
But we know what we like to practice and that’s bashing the club we use for an average of 14 shots per round, the big stick. Ignore the short game at your peril because when it comes to getting better, dedicating time on and around the greens is the closest you will get to a golfing life hack. The truth is, you won’t see a huge difference between the drives of a 20 handicapper and a single figure handicapper, but you will see a huge difference in skill and adaptability in their short games. Therefore, spend the time that will have the most impact.
If you recognise yourself in any of the above points, there is still time to make some progress before the season starts. The path to improvement starts with taking stock of where you are and comparing it with where you want to be. Then consider the simple things you can implement into your game to help you reach your goals. It really is all about doing the small things well, so give some of the above tips a go and you could be in for a great golf season in 2025.
