Five Pro Tips That Will Reduce Golf Handicaps

“Improve your short game.” That’s may answer to those readers who ask me how to chop strokes off their golf handicaps. It’s always the same—whether I’m addressing someone in a golf lesson or a group in a golf instruction session. Improving your pitching, chipping, and putting as well as your bunker play does more for cutting strokes from your golf handicap than learning to hit monstrous 300-yard drives.

But improving your short game is easier said than done. That’s why it’s always good to talk with professional players about their games. They can often give you golf tips that you won’t find anywhere else. Below are five golf tips from tour players we’ve recently unearthed. They’ll improve your short game and reduce your golf handicap by a stroke or two.

Let The Lie Tell You What To Do (Nick Price)
Pay more attention to your lie on short-game shots. Weekend golfers see those of us on tour hitting beautiful shots around the greens and think they can do it, too. But nine times out of ten, it’s because we’ve got a good lie. If you have a poor lie, focus on hitting the ball hard enough to carry whatever’s in front of you and get it on the green.

Pitch With Your Body (David Toms)
The best pitchers in the game use a lot of body; the worst use almost none. If you freeze your body and throw your hands at the ball, you’ll make a sweeping swing and tend to hit it fat. Good touch around the green isn’t about having good hands. It’s about turning your body through, which keeps the club shallow and lets it get under the ball.

Also, if you’re having trouble making contact on greenside shots, try setting up with your feet or belly button pointed more toward the target. This pre-sets the body in a through-swing position. From there the club will stay shallow and slide through impact. Always turn your body to the target, with the club staying in front of your chest. With the focus off your hands your touch will improve.

Put Aggressively—But Not To The Hole (Jack Nicklaus)
To avoid three putting, pick a spot on long putts three feet short of the hole, and putt aggressively to that spot. You’ll rarely be short by more than three feet because you “charged” to that short target. If you hit the putt too hard, it can roll five feet further than your target, and you’ll only have two feet coming back.

Change Club, Not Swing (Chuck Cook)
On long greenside sand shots, instead of trying to punch or chip the ball out with a sand wedge, make your same bunker swing but use a club with less loft. With a little practice you can hit a perfectly acceptable explosion shot from the sand with an 8-iron—which will come out on a lower trajectory and roll more. That’s a nice shot to have in your bag when you’re 40 yards from the green.

Speed Up Your Pitches (Phil Mickelson)
A common mistake is taking the club back too low, with straight, stiff wrists. If you swing the club back that way, your tendency will be to try to scoop at the ball to help it in the air, because you’re subconsciously aware that you haven’t generated enough speed. The stiffness in your hands and arms also hurt your sense of feel, so your distance control won’t be as sharp.

Shorten The Club To Dial In Your Wedges (Judy Rankin)
Spend some time on the range with your wedges, moving your hands down the grip in one-inch increments. By gripping down an inch you can subtract five to eight yards without changing your swing. See how it affects your yardages. You’ll have to get closer to the ball but you’ll be taking a full swing.

Improving your short game will quickly reduce your golf handicap. So if you’re serious about becoming a better golfer take golf lessons, read golf tips, attend golf instructions sessions with friends, and practice, practice, practice. Do whatever you can to improve your short game. The work will pay off.