Practice is the best way of lowering your golf handicap. Even the world’s best golfers know that. That’s why they spend hours and hours working on their games. With professionals, making a living is a driving force for practicing. All stand to make millions from tournaments and promotions, so it’s in their best interests to perfect their games. With gofers, pride is more of a motivating force.
But no matter what motivates you, practice is boring. Even the pressure of making a living doesn’t make it interesting. Still, if you want to lower your golf handicap, you have to practice. You have to hit ball after ball after ball until you’ve mastered whatever it is you’re working on. It’s one challenge all golfers face regardless of what their golf handicap is or how many golf lessons they’ve taken.
One way of reducing practice boredom is by turning it into a game we can play with someone else. Turning practice into a game not only ingrains key fundamentals, it also makes the effort interesting and fun. Anytime we do something interesting and fun, we find ourselves doing it again and again. Repetition sharpens our capabilities. Below are descriptions of two tried-and true games that improve your short game.
Pitching For Dollars
This one-on-one, closest-to-the-pin contest improves your accuracy and increases your aggressiveness. Here’s how to play it:
1. Get a bucket of balls and a friend
2. Pick a grassy spot about 20 yards off the green
3. Divide the balls between the two of you
4. Taking turns, pitch the balls to the hole one at a time
5. Keep track of whose ball stops closer to the hole after each shot
6. The person closest to the hole gets a point
7. Keep the game going until you pitch all the balls
8. The player with most points wins
Some golfers play this game for money, putting a dollar on each win. They then total the score at the end and the loser pays. But you don’t have to play for money. You can substitute a drink, a hot dog, or whatever you want for the prize. Use anything that keeps you competitive and drives you to win.
Horse
This game improves your ability to sink putts under pressure. It’s reminiscent of a game for basketball players, also called Horse. You can shorten “Horse” to “Pig” if you’re short on time.
1. You and an opponent take one ball each and go to a practice green
2. One player picks a spot on the green and attempts to sink a putt from there
3. If player one sinks the putt, player two must do the same
4. If player two misses the putt, she gets a letter, “H
5. If player two sinks it, player one tries another shot.
6. If player one misses, player two chooses a putt.
7. The players keep playing until someone gets all five letters.
At first, you may be tempted to try wild, long downhill putts or difficult sidehill putts with big breaks. These putts are great, if you sink them. But making your opponent sink straight five-footers also gets the job done. Plus, it increases your consistency on these shots. As I’ve said in my golf tips and golf lessons, sinking five footers consistently reduces your golf handicap.
Pitching For Dollars and Horse are just two of the dozens of golf games that make practice fun and interesting. Scan the newest golf magazines and read the latest golf books for others. If you want to cut that golf handicap to single digits, turning practice into a game is a great way to do it