There are plenty of different options for golf game improvement.
Ultimately, most golfers are looking to be more consistent and to shoot lower scores. All golfers want to hit their best shots more often. This is why golfers often talk about being more consistent.
Golfers see consistent golf as hitting their shots more frequently within each round and shooting their best rounds more frequently.
Golfers pursue many different areas to get better. From new clubs to golf lessons and even getting in better shape. But what is the best way to improve your golf game?
After years of working with high school golfers and my own journey, below are the areas where we have seen the biggest return on game improvement.
Golfers often have a limited time to practice. As a result, they want to maximize their time and resources to try to get the biggest and fastest gains when it comes to their time and money spent trying to get better.
Why Is the Best Way To Improve Your Golf Game?
In order of importance, taking into account what gets the fastest return for game improvement, here are our top rated ways to improve:
- Practice Your Short Game
- Train for Speed
- Take A Lesson or Get A Swing Analysis
- Work on Low Point Control
- Develop A Stock Shot
- Use Golf Technology For Feedback
- Play Golf 12 Months out of the Year
#1: Practice Your Short Game
If your main goal is to reduce your score and improve your game as fast as possible, I believe this is the quickest way to quality scores. For many of our high school golfers, especially those that don’t strike the ball as well, we focus a lot on the short game.
What we like to point out is that if a golfer misses all 9 greens in a match, they can still shoot between 39-41 with a quality short game. For an 18 hole round, this results with a score in the range between 78 and 82. Not bad, right?
The goods new for golfers is that a quality short game doesn’t take great physical traits. One does have to be tall or strong or athletic to have a great short game. Instead, the golfer needs to spend plenty of time around the practice green. The practice green is one of the free things in golf and it happens to produce results quickly for many golfers.
The formula is quite simple. If a golfer can hit every 4 out of 18 greens in regulation and two putt those for a par that results in 4 pars right there. Next, if the golfer can save par 6 out of the other 14 times, they have 6 more parts for a total of 10. This puts the golfer right around breaking 80. The full swing key is here to keep the ball in play and around the green in regulation.
#2: Train for Speed
There is a direct correlation between driver distance and handicap in golf. If your swing speed doesn’t reach certain levels resulting in a distance of at least 240 yards, it is difficult to reach the low single digits or the scratch level in golf. The great news for many golfers is that there are now training systems to help the golfer swing faster and more mechanically sound that doesn’t include lifting heavy weights.
Our number one recommended product for this is SuperSpeed Golf. This overspeed system can result in a 5-8% increase for golfers as early as the first training session.
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 |
#3: Take A Lesson or Get A Swing Analysis
Have you ever taken a lesson or received a swing analysis of your golf swing? If you haven’t, you are missing out. If you can’t afford a golf lesson or don’t have time, the next best thing is a swing analysis and you can have some of the best instructors in the world give you feedback and 1-2 drills or areas to work on in your game.
I would recommend Bobby Lopez, who has a free swing analysis and an affordable monthly program if you want continuous guidance.
Every golf swing has at least 1-2 major issues that will always be issues in the golf swing. Having awareness and drills a golfer can use when they are struggling will help reduce the length of the slump!
Best Online Golf Instructors (Top 5)
#4: Work on Low Point Control
The best golfers are able to strike the ball solid over 99% of the time. The weakest golfers might only strike the ball solid 50% of the time. This is a problem for many golfers. If you are someone that stands over a shot with water in front of you and there is fear, you more than likely struggle from low point control issues.
The good news is that we have a quality drill for you to utilize to help you gain control over your low point and improve your ball striking!
Check out who we think are the top 10 golf instructors on YouTube!
The Low Point Control Drill
- Take some yard paint and paint 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.
Take 20 swings and measure how many times out of 20 you are able to hit the line on the target side of the line, just past the line.
How to Hit More Greens in Regulation
#5: Develop A Stock Shot
Once you can control your low point, having a go to stock shot is vital to your overall success and consistency. There used to be the thought that you had to work the ball both ways (draw and fade) to be a great golfer.
The reality, based on analytics, is that a stock shot you can count on in addition to playing at the right targets, will work quite well! A stock shot is a draw or a fade that you can hit 70% of the time or more successfully. The best golfers can control their start line and have a predictable curve on their golf shots!
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.
Complete Post on Stock Shot in Golf!
#6: Use Golf Technology for Feedback
Back in the day, a golfer could only dream about owning a launch monitor that provided feedback after every shot. The dream of a launch monitor can now become reality! You too can have the following data after every shot:
- Ball speed and club speed
- Carry and total distance
- Spin rate
- Spin axis
- Launch angle
- Shot tracer visual
This is key information to developing your swing and owning your swing. You can really practice the stock shot on a launch monitor and watch the shot tracer and check out your club face angle and your path through the spin axis data.
Here are the top 3 options to check out:
Complete Post on Skytrak Launch Monitor
#7: Play Golf 12 Months out of the Year
Yes and the best overall way to improve at golf is to play frequently. But for some golfers, the winter season can be 2-5 months long, reducing your chances of playing. What if you could play golf 365 days a year even in cold weather? I was able to do this and enjoy the development in the game through my golf simulator setup.
I have paired my Skytrak Launch Monitor with The Golf Club (TGC) software and it is an impressive setup that allows me to play and practice every day of the year if I so wish! I have now played over 900 rounds on my simulator over the 4 plus years that I have had the setup in my garage. It is a true game changer and I would recommend it for anyone looking for true game improvement!
Did you know that you can get monthly financing as well as buy complete packages? I would recommend checking out the options at the Rain or Shine links below!
Some direct links to Rain or Shine Golf for pricing and financing:
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.