Playing on the golf course is the most underrated aspect. Every player I teach needs to play more! What good does the mechanically perfect swing do, if you cant get the ball in the hole?
When you are on the golf course you get in different situations you cannot simulate in practice. If possible, always try to find a friend to play with to increase the intensity. If possible put something on the line. It doesn’t have to be money, play for push ups! The more you can create pressure when practicing, the better it will translate to the golf course.
If you can’t find someone to play with, here are a couple ways to get the most out of playing golf by yourself:
How to Practice on the Course
- 2 balls, play worst ball
- One club plus wedge and putter
- Work on pre-shot and post-shot routines.
- Try different shots…
Identifying hole locations – Green Light, Yellow Light and Red Light.
Green Light = Attack the pin
Yellow Light = Middle of Green, conservative line
Red Light = Find somewhere safe, easy up and down or maybe a long
Below is an example of a “Green Light, Yellow Light, Red Light” lesson:
- Begin to recognize when you can go for the pin and not. Example scenario: As we discussed back left pins are more difficult for you b/c you fade the ball. So you may need to adjust your starting line and accept that a 15-20 footer right of the hole is the right shot, rather than aiming left of the pin (short side or trouble side) and trying to hit it perfect. For now, until you develop a greater skill to repeat that shot, aim right at the pin and if you pull it your OK, you hit it perfect your 10-15 ft and if you push it you’ll have 40 feet, but coming from the strong side.
Mental Golf Scorecard:
It is impossible to shoot a perfect score in a round of golf, but you can have a perfect mental score. Your mentality is a controllable factor. This is how you rate your self on your mental scored card
- Perfectly executed pre-shot routine would receive a 10
- Terrible, distracted pre-shot routine would receive a 1
- Write down after each shot, how well you did on the pre shot routine. This will hold you accountable to control your thoughts and execute your pre shot routine every time!