Choke down on the grips of your driver and long-irons for more control. The longer the shaft of the club, the more difficult it is to control the ball flight.
By choking down on longer clubs, you effectively shorthen their shafts, which will give added control and accuracy.
I choke right down on the grip of my driver, for example, when faced with a very narrow fairway on my tee-shot.
Getting down in two shots when pitching, will really improve your scores.
To really improve the control on your pitch shots, you have to be able to control the distance of your shots. Try the following steps to produce a list of yardages, that will be your ideal pitching distances:
1. Grip your pitching wedge normally, hit 10 shots and measure the average distance of your shots.
2. Now, grip down a touch on your pitching wedge and narrow your stance slightly. Hit a further 10 shots with a half swing and measure the average distance of your shots.
3. Finally, grip right down on your pitching wedge and hit a further 10 balls, with a waist-high swing. Once again, take note of the average distance that the balls travel.
4. If you repeat the above process for all of your pitching clubs, you will have a clear set of distances that you know you can hit.
Once you have your list of distances, practice your pitching from different distances, by using the best pitching club for the job.
Saving par from a greenside bunker more often, will help lower your scores - especially on a course with lots of bunkers.
The only way to become a good sand player, is to really practice your bunker shots. I focus on the following, when practicing to hit my bunker shots close:
1. Digging my feet into the sand for a solid stance - this also gives me an idea of how firm the sand is.
2. Playing my ball off my left heel and opening the face of my sandwedge.
3. Before making my swing, I focus on the exact spot I want my ball to land, so it can end up as close to the hole as possible.
3. Hinging my wrists early on my backswing.
4. Making a smooth downswing into the sand behind the ball, and accelerating my clubhead into my follow-through.
One of the best tips I can give you for chipping well, is to have a really clear idea of exactly how you want to execute your chip shots.
Chipping is one of the strongest parts of my game. The reason for this, is because I visualize each shot before addressing my ball. I focus on the exact spot I want my ball to land, before making my practice strokes.
Try this drill out on the range to practice visualizing your chip shots:
1. Place a tee-peg on a spot on the green, around 15-20 yards away.
2. From this position, visualize exactly how you want to execute your shot (including the exact spot you want the ball to land), to get it as close to the tee-peg as possible.
3. Do this drill a few times from different distances and positions around the green, then take this technique out on the course.
One of the biggest reasons amateurs struggle to hit solid, accurate putts, is because they peek too soon after they made their stroke.
If you are too eager to see the result of your putt, by lifting your head, it will cause (amongst others) two things to happen:
1. You will not make a solid connection with the ball.
2. You will struggle to hit the ball on-line.
Try this putting drill, to improve your ball-striking and accuracy:
1. Take a few balls and stand around 5 feet away from a hole on the practice green.
2. Now, practice by putting without lifting your head - count to two (after hitting the ball), before lifting your head (or wait until you hear your ball dropping into the hole).
3. Do this drill at different distances from the hole, to build confidence, before trying this on the course.
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