How Can I Play Better Golf?

That question is a common one. How to get a lower score is something every golfer wants to achieve.

The simple answer is self evident.

Get better at putting!

Just assume your last game you played 100. And further say you had 8 3-putts on that particular day. Go figure the result if you had the same number of 2-putts instead. Your score would have been a lower 92 instead of a 100!

There have been many studies and reports on putting, and they all come up with the same conclusion, namely that what distinguishes good putters from less good putters is how good they are at long putts.

Looking at longer putts it is evident that the Pro Golfers are better at these than amateur golfers.

The magazine "Golf Digest" did a survey years ago, comparing the results between Pro Golfers and amateur golfers regarding putts sunk from different lengths from the hole.

The difference between the two groups was striking at 24 feet, with the Pro's doing much better, it was 33% better for the Pro's!

But at the 3 foot range the difference was practically nil. In other words - Pro's can accurately judge how long they putt the ball, which is what us normal mortals are not as good at doing.

Very few golfers will be 10 feet to the side of the hole, but they may well be 10 feet short (or even too long at times).

So, the first step in improving your game quickly is to practise long putts, and to concentrate on distance control above all.

The second step is to start practising medium length putts, around 10 feet or so. Short putts come last, most golfers have no problems holing out from 3-4 feet or so!

All right, point taken. I have to start practising distance control.

But how?

There are lots of drills promising to improve your putting, but the best way to do it is to ... wait for it.... to practice!

Yes, I'm sorry, that's the only workable way.

Just don't imagine you can hit ball after ball without thinking about it, all you will learn is how to hit the putter into the ball, but you won't get that "putt feeling" you want.

You need to think about the grain of the grass, the lie of the green, it it is uphill or downhill, if the grass is wet or dry etc, etc.

You know the saying "you may be very good at what you do since you've done this for 30 years - or maybe you've just done your first year 30 times over!"

Playing golf for a long time does not automatically mean you are a good golfer...


------

I hope you found this article useful and illuminating. You will find much more about putting and how to play better golf on my website.