If you’re serious about breaking 80, you need to find ways to get your game back on track when it starts to go south. Unless you can stop that from happening—and do it quickly—you’ll pack additional strokes on your score, which will keep you from breaking 80. Righting the ship is one things the pros do well.
But you shouldn’t do when your game goes sour is try to revamp your swing while playing a round. That’s not the best time to do it. The best time to make a major swing change is after the round is over at the practice range. What you need when playing is to make some simple adjustments to get you over the hump and your game back on track.
Below are six golf tips to get your game back on track:
• Chip it Close — If you’re looking to shore up your chipping, try standing closer to the ball and setting the club upright. This change positions the clubface’s toe on the ground, which reduces your swing’s arc and keeps in on a straight line. More importantly, it improves contact, especially on dicey lies. Remember, the idea of a bump-and-run is to get the ball on the ground quickly and let it roll out.
• Regain shot control — It’s hard to break 80 if you’re spraying your shots all over the place. It also ups the pressure on your short game. But a simple adjustment can help you regain shot control. Keep your left arm close to your chest as you start back and keep it there longer during the backswing. This change keeps the left arm and club “in the slot” between your head and right shoulder at the top of swing—its proper position.
• Stop slicing — A quick way to correct a slice while playing is to strengthen your grip by rotating both hands slightly to the right, if you’re a right-handed golfer. But be careful! You don’t want to turn your left hand too much, just enough until you can see your middle knuckles. Your left thumb should be just right of the center of the handle. This grip position is more than strong enough to cure a slice.
• Stick it from the sand — You want your sand wedge to glide just below the surface of the sand when hitting from a bunker. That’s not always easy to do. To do it in bunkers with loose sand, widen your stance. That lowers your body and helps you swing on a shallower path, which is ideal for bunker shots. With an open clubface and more weight on your front foot, a shallower swing path throws the ball out of the sand just the way you want it to.
• Taming tall grass — Find yourself deep in tall grass isn’t ideal when you’re within a hundred yards of the pin. To extricate yourself, you must make solid contact. Otherwise, you’ll mishit the shot. To make solid contact, take your club back on a steeper angle and focus on maintaining your wrist hinge well into the downswing. Also, keep your wrist firm through impact, so the clubface won’t twist as it cuts through the grass. If you aim for the center of the green and make solid contact, you’ll knock it close.
• Sink putts that slide right — You might be missing these putts because you’re not letting the putterhead track to the inside after impact, which pushes the ball away from the hole. In other words, you’re not releasing the putterhead. If you find that happening during a round, make a few practices strokes with your right hand only. That reminds you to release your putter, keeping the putt on line.
These seven golf tips are proven and timeless. They can bail you out of trouble when your short game leaves your and/or you start spraying shots all over the place. They’re simple and easy to execute, and they’ll get you back on track quickly. Remember them the next time you’re playing a round of golf and the wheels start coming off. Execute these golf tips well, and they’ll boost your chances of breaking 80.
