5 Tips:
- Improve your ball striking
- Keep your driver in play
- Hit your driver further
- Have the proper aim points and distances
- Develop a stock shot
The game of golf becomes much easier when you can hit more greens in regulation.
While there are still ways to shoot quality scores if you are missing a lot of greens in regulation, the round of golf when you are hitting greens is fun, enjoyable and not as much of a grind.
The best ball strikers often hit the most greens in regulation due to keeping the ball in play and hitting shots consistent distances.
Below, we will dive into 5 tips to help you hit more greens in regulation.
Hit More Greens in Regulation (5 Tips)
Update: At the end of the day, the more solid you can hit the ball, the better your chances are of keeping the ball in play, maximizing your swing speed and hitting the ball the intended distance. Working on low point control is important if you are struggling with consistent contact. Master that first!
Tip #1: Improve your ball striking
If you are hitting poorly struck shots you are going to struggle with distance control and overall directional control. The best golfers, that hit the most greens in regulation, hit a high percentage of their shots crisp and on the right target line (see tip 5) with a predictable curve (tip 5). For right now, we are going to provide a drill to help you improve your ball striking, which comes from being able to control the low point of your swing.
The goal is to strike your shots crisp 99% of the time. The highest handicap golfers might struggle to do this 50% of the time.
The Low Point Control Dril
- Take some yard paint and patin a 1-2 yard long line.
- Setup with 55% of your weight on your front side.
- Try to hit the target side of the line and see how many times out of 10 you can do this successfully!
- Repeat this drill every day for a month, tracking your progress and your ability to to this successfully in trials of ten.
- You may need to start with half swing and progress to full swings.
If you are struggling, put more weight forward and work on keep your head still to help control the low point in the swing.
How to hit your irons pure! (5 Keys and Tips)
Tip #2: Keep your driver in play
On most golf courses there are 14 holes that are par 4s and par 5s. The goal with your driver is to have 14 full swing shots into the par 4s and par 5s. For clarity, you want to stay out of the trees and out of hazards. If you are able to do this on par 4s and par 5s, in addition to the par 3s, which are a given, you will have 18 good looks at hitting the green in regulation.
If you are able to practice the drill above and develop a stock shot (see tip 5 below) you will hit more greens in regulation. Golf becomes difficult from the trees as you are often punching out and adding shots to your score before you even get a clean shot at the green.
As far as fairway vs rough, the bottom line is to keep the ball in bounds, out of a hazard and between the trees or desert. If you can do this, the impact of the fairway vs rough doesn’t have as much significance as the total distance you hit the ball off the tee.
How to hit your driver straighter (5 Tips)
Tip #3: Hit your driver further
The analytics world as taken over the game of golf. The analytics are clear and the driver distance is vital to your overall success. Greens in regulation would be connected with driving distance.
It is pretty simple logic: if a golfer is hitting a shot from 125 yards instead of 150 yards, they are going to hit the green more often out of 100 shots from 125 yards compared to 150 yards. If you can do this over 14-18 holes, you are going to increase your chances of hitting more greens in regulation.
If you are hitting a 4 iron instead of an 8 iron, your chances of hitting the green decrease. The good news is that there are now ways to improve your swing speed
Recommended: Golf Overspeed Training System
Did you know that you aren’t stuck at your swing speed? Is it possible to increase your swing speed?
I spent many years wondering how I can increase my swing speed. Regardless of your current speed levels, there are always new barriers to break!
When I was playing junior golf, we weren’t fortunate enough to have some of the training aids and knowledge that is now available. Smart people have studied the golf swing and have created training aids and protocols to help all golfers increase their distance!
At around the same time, the statistics from the PGA Tour have become more clear and the importance of speed is acknowledged by many to be a key to being the best on the PGA Tour.
Within the past several years, there have been several products hit the market to make speed gains possible. While many people for many years waited for the latest driver to come out to gain an additional 5-10 yards, you can now do this even with your current clubs.
Did you know that with the SuperSpeed Training System you can gain 5-8% increase in swing speed as early as the first training session? This would allow you to gain somewhere between 10 and 30 yards depending on your current swing speed.
SuperSpeed Golf – Use Discount Code Golfjourney365 for some savings!
The SuperSpeed Training System is based on three different swing speed sticks all weighing at different weights. There is a green club that is 10% lighter than the average driver, the blue club which is 5% lighter and the red club which is actually 5% heavier!
Following their prescribed protocols the golfer completes the training every other day. The total time to complete most of their protocols is between 10-15 minutes. Most people can find the time to make this happen. The golfer will also need a swing radar to measure their progress.
The science behind the SuperSpeed Training System is based on overspeed training. Overspeed training has been around for several decades now and has been used by olympic athletics in the sport of Track and Field.
The science behind this overspeed training is based on the premise that your brain will only allow your body to move as fast as it feels it can stop safely! So, you get to work and swing the clubs as fast as possible, retraining your brain to allow you to swing your driver faster.
For more permanent results, the golfer should continue these training protocols for several months. The initial 5-8% is great and can become more permanent with the right length of training. The golfer can expect to continue to break down barriers every several months at a 1-2% increase.
My own experience has been an increase of 7-10 miles per hour on average from between 98-101 all the way up to 106-109. My goal is to hit the PGA Tour average of 113 mph in the coming months. I will continue to train every other day and watch in amazement as I am hitting drivers longer now than ever before!
Phil Mickelson (a senior golfer now) has been known to increase his swing speed in the past year or so and is close to 120 miles per hour in his swing speed. There are potential results for golfers of all ability levels and age!
Check the current price on SuperSpeed Golf System, here!
| Original Swing Speed | After 4-6 Weeks | New Carry Distance | Total Distance |
| 95 | 102 | 245 | 265 |
| 100 | 108 | 259 | 279 |
| 105 | 113 | 271 | 291 |
| 110 | 118 | 283 | 303 |
Tip #4: Have the proper aim points and distances
I think this is rather logical for most people. If you are standing in the fairway from 175 yards and there is a tucked pin, the chances of you hitting the green if you aim right at the pin are lower than if you aim for a wider part of the green.
Or if you have 130 yards left to a front pin with a bunker protecting the front of the green. Trying to hit the shot exactly 130 yards and only hitting it 125 yards will destroy your greens in regulation and your score.
Taking the right club, by understanding how far you actually hit your clubs, is essential to your score and the number of greens hit in regulation. Part 2 is picking the right line to start your shot on. If you aim for centers of greens you will hit more greens in regulation, make more 2 putts and the occasional birdie and make more putts.
Did you know that the proximity to the pin on the PGA Tour from 100 yards is 18 feet? This should be the reality check for many amateurs to aim for the middle of the green, get good at lag putting and take your birdie when you get the chance.
How to improve distance control in golf
I would also highly recommend creating a distance chart like the one below:
Understanding your distances that you actually carry each club is vital! Too many golfers believe they carry their shots further than they actually do!
| Club | Carry Distance (100%) | 90% | 80% |
| Driver | 250 | ||
| 3 Wood | 230 | ||
| 3 Hybrid | 215 | ||
| 2 Utility Iron | 210 | ||
| 4 iron | 190 | ||
| 5 iron | 181 | ||
| 6 iron | 171 | ||
| 7 iron | 163 | ||
| 8 iron | 153 | ||
| 9 iron | 143 | ||
| P Club | 130 | 123 | 115 |
| Pitching Wedge | 118 | 110 | 102 |
| SW Club | 105 | 97 | 91 |
| LW Club | 90 | 82 | 74 |
How can you create your own chart?
Best Option: I would highly recommend a launch monitor!
These portable devices can be used at the driving range, golf course or set up in your home net or golf simulator. These devices are game changers not only on being able to map your bag and know your distances, but they also provide quality feedback after on every shot and provide the following information:
- Carry Distance
- Spin Rate
- Launch Angle
- Spin Axis
- Total Distance
- Ball Speed
This information will help you map your bag, decide on which clubs are best for your game, develop a stock shot and much more. I love using my SkyTrak 365 days a year in my golf simulator setup.
The process for mapping your bag can looking something like this:
- Hit 5 shots with each club in your bag.
- Log the carry distance and total distance for each shot.
- Eliminate any outlier numbers (poor hits or low spin rates).
- Take the average and create a map of your bag.
If you visit any PGA Tour event you will see plenty of golfers utilizing their launch monitors. While most can’t afford a Trackman, there are some very affordable options in the 500-2000 dollar range. I own the SkyTrak and think the world of it.
Here are the top 3 options to check out:
Tip #5: Develop a stock shot
Golf becomes a lot of fun when you can pick a target line, start it on the target line and have a predictable curve to your shot. Have you ever golfed with the person that hits stock draw after stock draw? They step up to the tee and you know that 3-5 yard draw is coming. They step up to a shot from 150 yards out and you know they are going to hit a slight push draw that curves right towards the pin!
You can do this in your game with the right drill. Below is my all time favorite drill to dial your swing in to work on clubface control and swing path control.
Stock Shot Drill
- At the driving range, set up an alignment stick about 6-8 yards in front of you, straight down your target line.
- If you have a second alignment stick, set the stick 3-4 feet right of the first stick (for a draw) or left of the first stick (for a fade).
- Complete your initial assessment see how many times out of 10 you can start the ball to the right or left of your target. Pick one side and measure your game at this point.
- The goal is to eventually get 7 out of 10 shots to start to the correct side and draw back towards the target.
Here is the drill being explained by Kyle Morris:
Final Thoughts and Next Steps: Hit More Greens in Regulation
Here is the bottom line:
- When you are standing over an approach shot and can control your low point control (tip #1) and the start line and curve of the ball (tip #5), you are headed in the right direction.
- Combine that with some extra distance off the tee (tip #3) and the right distances/aim points (tip #4); you are on your way to hitting more greens in regulation and taking your game to the next level!
- Of course keeping the ball in play (tip #2) and giving yourself 18 legitimate approach shots will add to the increase in percentage of greens hit
Next Steps:
- Track some data on greens hit in regulation.
- Track how many legitimate approach shots you have (how often you keep your driver in play)
- Assess your low point control ability and the your ability to hit a stock shot.
- Finall, what is your current swing speed? Set a goal to increase it by 5-8% in the next 1-2 months and get to work with SuperSpeed!
My Secret To Golf Improvement
Let’s face it, in order to get really good at golf, we must practice frequently. About four years ago, I made the leap and invested in a golf simulator build for my garage. I went with a SkyTrak Launch Monitor and the TGC software and can now play over 100,000 courses including Augusta, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Whistling Straits. St. Andrews and many other of the top 100 courses in the world.
This golf simulator setup, which is more affordable that you might imagine, has been a game changer. I can now play golf everyday of the year regardless of rain, snow, cold weather or time of day. I can practice or play rounds of golf. I can stand in the 11th fairway at Augusta and with the auto-rewind feature I am able to practice my approach shots from various differences.
It is worth checking out through Rain or Shine Golf as they offer some incredible packages along with financing offers that are difficult to beat.
Some direct links to Rain or Shine Golf for pricing and financing:
Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better
What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:
1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor. Here are some options:
Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:
2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed. Here are some options:
Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:
3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier. Here is a series on breaking through:
We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.
4 – Practice Frequently
Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system? It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:
- Is a Golf Simulator Worth It?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator?
- What is the Best Golf Simulator?
- Golf Simulator Accessories?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for under $7000
- Top 11 Reasons to Buy a SkyTrak
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for Under $1000
- Why Build A Golf Simulator?
- What Space is Needed?
- Can A Golf Simulator Improve My Game?
- How Much Does A Golf Simulator Cost?
- Don’t Forget to Check out our 15 best golf swings of all time.