6 Tricks to Become a Better Golf Player

From toe position to weather conditions, golf is a sport that requires precision and attention to detail in order to achieve top results. If you’re trying to advance from amateur to pro, or you just want to perfect your game for better golfing experience, definitely consider at least some of these useful golfing tips.

Maintain Your Stance

The shorter the club, the deeper the knee flex, right? Instinctively, you might assume that the stance changes, depending on the club. Not true! When it comes to full shots (not pitches, chips or putts), maintaining a consistent stance is critical to becoming a better ball striker. With that being said, there are some adjustments that need to be made depending on the shot, so for longer clubs, such as woods or drivers, make your stance a bit wider and for short irons and wedges, bring your stance in a bit.

Clubhead Alignment

One of the most common mistakes made on the golf course is having improper club alignment during each shot attempt. You want to align your club by assessing the target from behind the ball. This will give you a better perspective of the hole and where to place the ball near the green. Before taking your stance, set the clubhead behind the golf ball and align it directly towards the target.

Chose the Right Clubs and Golfing Equipment

Before applying any of the technique-related tricks, make sure to be properly equipped with good quality footwear, and most importantly, the right clubs for your game. Most beginner players tend to choose what club to use based on the hole distance. On shorter holes, they use shorter clubs and vice-versa. However, there’s more to selecting the right club than distance. Make sure to take into consideration natural shot tendencies, wind, hazards and whether or not hidden dangers lurk in prime landing areas. If you’re not sure what you need, nowadays there are plenty of useful resources like Wired Golfers and other great websites and blog forums where you can find everything you need to know about proper clubs to use and other golfing gear.

Practice More on the Golf Course

Hitting shots at the driving range is great for improving your technique, but there is much more to good golfing than mastering your swing. Try spending more time on the golf course, playing rounds, in order to improve your scoring and reduce the number of strokes you play per round. Anyway, the game mostly consists of shorter shots and putting, which requires more focus and attention than the longer shots.

Use the Wind to Your Advantage

Golfers usually fear over playing in heavy winds, but knowing how to tackle bad weather conditions may help you turn the score around in your favor.  Focus on the wind direction and strength and make the needed adjustments accordingly. It doesn’t matter how far you can hit a golf ball, the wind will win every time. Your best approach is having the conditions work for you, especially at the tee box. It is better to hit a fade than a more traditional tee shot when winds are high. This will allow the wind to bring the ball back onto the fairway.

Chipping, Putting, and Pitching – Key to Pro-Level Golfing

The best way to improve your score is to work on your short game. What you do at close range is sometimes much more important than hitting long balls. For a better chipping technique, concentrate on stacking your impact position. This means that the left arm, the shaft and your weight should all be stacked over your left leg. This helps you better control the shot and ensure you hit it nice and solid. If you aren’t stacked, your chipping will be inconsistent, and it’ll be hard to judge distances and how much the ball will fly and roll. If it’s stacked, the only thing to worry about is judging how far you need the ball to get and lengthen or shorten your backswing so it fits the shot.

Mastered putting skills is half the job done. It’s all about regular practicing, so try working on your putting at least 15 minutes a day. Place ten balls in a circle, move around and try to sink all of the puts. You will know you are making progress when you start making more and more shots in a row until you master it to perfection. If needed, try shortening the distance first and then gradually progress to a regular putting length.

To get better score results, don’t forget about pitching. Your pitch shot is best when you rely on your arms instead of using your wrists and rotating your forearms. Keep your arms in the shape of a “V” as you do this swing and don’t forget about the upright posture.

Keep in mind that practice makes perfect. No technique trick can help you become a high-level player if you’re not willing to train your muscle memory and become skillful. Nevertheless, taking into consideration these neat tricks may come in handy on the golf course.