Many golfers are seeking to improve their golf swings and their golf scores. We all want to be more consistent and hit better shots every time we play. We feel like we should be making process, when many times golfers struggle to get better.
We struggle to understand how to get better and often wonder why we shoot the same scores as 10 years ago. Here at golfjourney365, we are on the journey with you to get better, shoot better scores and have more fun. Check out our latest update on our journey to scratch.
Golf is one of the most thrilling, yet frustrating sports that many of us seem to love. There is always that one shot each round where you say, “if I could only hit the ball like that every time” or that round of golf that leaves you wondering why you can’t play like that more often.
Below we provide 8 tips to help improve your golf swing and finally answer the question of, how to have a good golf swing. The reality is that we are always going to have a range in our golf scores, but so many of us just want to have the lower ones more often and less blow up rounds where we leave frustrated and not able to figure out what just happened.
The tips below are to help you become a student of the game and of your swing. You have to be able to make simple adjustments between rounds and eventually during rounds.
Tip 1 – Understand Ball Flight Laws
Every shot that we hit provides great feedback on what we just did. The ball flight laws can help us assess if our club face was open or closed and if our path was out to the right or across to the left (right handed golfers).
Once we understand the ball flight laws, we can better understand why shots are flying like they are and have some potential fixes that might even work on the golf course.
Here is a quick overview of the ball flight laws. The ball will start in the direction that the club face is pointing for the most part. For example, if the ball starts to the right, then your club face was open
If the ball starts to the left, then your club face was closed. Now keep in mind, you don’t necessarily want everything to be square, being slightly opened or closed is fine as long as your bring some consistency to your start line.
The best golfers in the world that play a push draw hit the ball with an open club face. Their path is simply a bit more to the right then their club face.
Part 2 of the ball flight laws – the ball will then curve away from the swing path. For example, if your club face is open 2 degrees and your path is to the right 4 degrees, the ball will curve to the left resulting in a draw.
If your club face is 2 degrees closed and your path is 4 degrees to the left, your ball will start left and fade back to the right. If your club face is 3 degrees open and your path is 1 degree right, you will hit a slight push fade – a shot that starts right and curves right.
Next time you play golf or head to the driving range, chart at least twenty shots and assess if most of your shots start right or left of the target line and then which way it curves.
This will help you see your shot patterns and make some adjustments. There are swing issues that may be causing you to swing too far left or right and once we establish the patter, we can start to make improvements.
Tip 2 – Learn More About the Golf Swing
Now that we have the patters in our golf swing, we can head to the range and try different feels and swings that will help us establish a pattern in our golf swing. My preference is to hit a slight push draw. My SkyTrak shows that I hit my best shots with a face about 2 degrees open and a path between 3-5 degrees to the right
This allows me to eliminate the right side of the golf course and have a predictable shot pattern. The majority of my mishits results in an overdraw – a shot that curves too far left.
Study the golf swing and explore some of the best teachers online. They can help you better understand the basics. I highly recommend this video by Mike Malaska – He is one of the best out there at keeping the game simple.
Here he shows the 4 different ways to swing the golf club. Better understand your preferences and look to improve in that area.
Golf Coaches to Check Out (Our Best Recommendations)
Tip 3 – Practice
Now that we have a better understanding of the ball flight laws and what swing we are trying to implement, we must put in the practice time. Keep in mind that you might not ever have the perfect swing, but you can have your swing and know what your strengths and weaknesses are.
The ability to eliminate one side of the course and know where your miss is going to be is a key to shooting better scores and finally having a good golf swing. This doesn’t mean you should stick with a swing that has a 40 yard slice, but if you are hitting a 5-10 yard draw or fade, then go with that and have it be your go to shot.
This will help in pressure situations. Here are a couple of resources on drills and practice routines you can put into play.
One of my favorite practice routines at a driving range is to play a course in your head. Picture the first tee shot and set your parameters using different markers on the golf course. After you hit the tee shot, estimate your total distance left for your approach shot and pick the appropriate club.
Go ahead and set the parameters once again and play the shot. Continue this for your favorite 9 or 18 holes. This puts your in pressure situations to be able to hit shots. Too often at the range, we spend time just hitting ball after ball without specific settings. It is easy to hit in a 200 yard wide driving range.
Tip 4 – Play
You have to get out to play to test your swing changes and your practice. Set once a week where you can assess your improvement. Track stats such as fairways hit, greens in regulation total putts, and how many times you save par by chipping up and one putting.
This set of data will help you measure your progress over time and identify your strengths and weaknesses. If you are someone that gets to play a lot of golf set at least one round a week or month that is your “test” to measure your progress.
Tip 5 – Feedback
Find an instructor in your area or online that can provide some feedback on your swing. While mechanics are not the most important item, we want to ensure the swing is somewhat mechanically sound to help maximize our chances of hitting quality shots. If you have a major flaw in your swing, this technical issue could be the root cause.
Tip 6 – Become a Short Game Wizard
There is no better way to quickly reduce your score and save your rounds then to have a quality short game. The great part about the short game is that regardless of age, strength, or overall ability the opportunity to be a quality chipper and putter comes down to getting decent technique, but most importantly grooving that feel on the practice green.
Another great thing about short game is that you can practice almost anywhere. This includes in your backyard, at any public golf course or even with whiffle balls in your house. These opportunities to build your feel will show quick dividends on the golf course and in your scores. We may not be able to hit the driver great everyday, but we should be able to chip at a high level frequently.
Tip 7 – Watch the Professionals
Watch the professionals and notice the tempo they swing with. You will notice a 3:1 ratio in their swings. Check out the Tour Tempo App or Book and read more about what John Novosel feels is the secret to great golf.
I have utilized this tempo app over the past several months and the jury is still out, but I do hit some rather impressive shots that go a bit further when I am using the tempo tones through my earbuds at my golf simulator.
When I was a junior golfer, I would frequently go watch the pros when they were in town and I always seemed to play better after watching them. They seem to have such fluidity in their swing and it looks effortless.
Tip 8 – Train
It is vital that we are working on improving some of our key numbers in our golf swing. The first and maybe the most important is our swing speed. The reality is that today’s game is dominated by those that can hit the ball the furthest.
Even as amateurs we can look to improve our distance and there are some great options on the market today I would highly recommend the SuperSpeed Golf Training System. This system consists of 3 clubs, all weighted differently. You simply follow the protocols and can see anywhere between 5-8% increase in your swing speed.
This can result in 15-30 more yards depending on your currently swing speed and your rate of growth. I recently started the Training Protocols with SuperSpeed Golf and am experiencing a 5-6% increase in driver speed.
If you are interested in the SuperSpeed System, make sure you save 10% by using discount code Golfjourney365. Check out the current prices here.
Another option is the SwingMan system. Gain 30-40 yards in 30 Days – Swing Man Golf
Follow This Cycle
Any problem solving routine usually starts with identifying a critical need. This may be your in ability to hit a draw or just the desire to hit every ball airborne. Once we have 1) identified the critical need, we need to 2) research and learn more about what can fix our issues. From there we go out and 3) practice and then 4) test our skill development. From our test we seek 5) feedback and then determine if we want to pick a new critical need or if we need additional work. You can follow this problem solving process with your golf game. This 5 steps process can help you make progress over the coming months and years.
Take Action
If you want to get better, follow the system above. Also, check out our recommendations on how to break 100, 90, 80 or even 70. These posts take you through the mindset and managing the 18 holes.
We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.