Like most avid golfers we watched as much of the U.S. Open last week as possible. The Olympic Club’s Lake course is a beautiful but tough course, as the leader board indicated throughout the tournament. The changes the Olympic Club initiated for the Open made this tough course even tougher. The first six holes were unreal. Just ask Tiger Woods, who started the tournament on the final day bogey, bogey, and double bogey. And he’s one of the best golfers in the world.
But there’s one thing we noticed about this year’s field of golfers. The players weren’t as concerned about making highlight-reel swings—the big drive, the miracle iron shot, flop-shot saves—as they were about achieving consistency day in and day out to combat this tough course. There’s a golf lesson here for all of us. If you can add consistency to your game, you’ll quickly whittle down your golf handicap. Below are five golf tips to help boost consistency.
1. Hit Your Targets
Aiming is the key to hitting more targets. Watch Camilo Villegas next time he’s playing in a tournament. His aiming technique works well for players with any golf handicap. He stands behind the ball on every shot, points his club shaft out in front of him, closes one eye, and aims with the other. He’s setting the shaft along the line he wants his ball to fly, and then picks out a spot in front of the ball to help him get aligned at address.
2. Relax On The Tee
When you’re tense, you tend to make hurried, uncoordinated swings. Those types of swings can get you in all sorts of trouble. If you watched the players at the Open, you probably saw a lot of them take deep breaths before addressing the ball. If that doesn’t work for you, try another trick we teach students at our golf instruction sessions: Tense your body as much as possible and then let every muscle go slack. That should relax you. When you relax, your swing speed jumps.
3. Forget About Your Mechanics
The more you think about the mechanics of your swing, the less likely you are to repeat a good swing. That’s especially true in regards to your backswing. Instead concentrate on one thought. Ernie Els focuses on keeping his club low and slow as he goes into his backswing—something we like our students to focus on in golf lessons. Others use a single key, like turning their backs to the target, to create a repeatable swing. If they turn their backs so they’re facing the target, they know they’ve made a nice big turn.
4. Square Yourself At Impact
The key to hitting a ball solidly is to keep your left wrist (right wrist for lefties) flat when you strike the ball. If you’re left wrist is cupped at impact, you let the clubface pass your hands. You’ll hit the ball thin or to the right every time. If you left wrist is bowed forward, you’ll hook. Your forward arm and the clubshaft should form a straight line at impact.
5. Finish In Balance
We encourage students at our golf instruction sessions to try to finish in balance. It’s one of the most critical keys to consistency and repeatability, if not the most critical. That’s because you can only get their one way—with a good swing. Next time you play make practice swings with the intent of finishing in balance, then step up and hit the shot for real.
Two other golf tips that will help boost consistency are (1) aim for the center of the green on approach shots and (2) land your chips closer. Aiming for the center can save two to three strokes every round if you’re a mid-handicap player. Land your chips closer by aiming for a good landing spot. If you’re lie isn’t so good, move your landing spot closer. If you’re lie is good, move it back to your normal landing spot.
The keys described above will make a difference in your game. They’ll not only boost round-to-round consistency and help you break 80, but also cut strokes from your golf handicap.
