How to Improve Your Golf Score

A very wise golf instructor once gave me a very valuable lesson, and it wasn't on the golf course or practice range! I became acquainted with David at the golf course where I regularly play. (by regular I mean a couple of times a month) I had admired his playing ability for quite some time, and finally one Sunday afternoon, I summoned enough courage to ask him for some advice.

I explained to him that I had been playing golf for quite a number of years, but had been stuck on a scoring plateau (mid 90's) and couldn't seem to improve. After an uncomfortable silence, David asked me, "How often do you practice"? I felt the flush creeping up my neck as I answered, "hardly ever". David simply answered, "How can anyone ever expect to be good at something they don't work at?" "Even if you own the best, custom fitted equipment out there, it'll probably not help much if it never comes out of the garage". "Set yourself up with a couple of lessons to make sure your grip, set up, and swing tempo are in order, and then just hit as many balls as you can".

The answer to the question,"How to improve your golf game", can be answered in one powerful word. PRACTICE!

David went on to explain that a good practice regime should contain at least four elements, and that the place to see the fastest improvement is to work on the areas of your game that are the weakest.

He broke the game down to four simple elements: Tee shots, Long and mid irons, Pitches and chips, and Putting. His first suggestion was since putting generally accounts for about 36 strokes per round, this would be an excellent place to start!

The next suggestion was to break your practice time into separate periods. For example, if you have an hour a week to practice, allocate 15 minutes to irons, 15minutes to woods, 15 minutes to wedges, etc., always allowing a few extra minutes for your weakest area.

I remember reading somewhere once that PGA tour players probably hit about 1000 practice balls for every one shot hit in actual tournament play!
So there it is guys! Whether your swing came from The David Ledbetter Academy of Golf or your brother-in-law, PRACTICE is the key to improvement!