Golf Drill: Having Fun With Chipping

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016 / The Grateful Golfer / Leave a comment

Chipping is the second most important skill to master in golf; It sets up your putting (the most important skill to master). The closer the ball is to the hole, the easier the putt. I spend almost as much time working on my chipping as I do on my putting. Understanding the influences for each chip, which varies every time, is very important.

To be considered an expert short game player, I believe a 70% up-and-down percentage is required. To achieve this goal, a golfer should understand how the ball responds off their wedges and which wedge to use when. That comes with practice and all practice should not be arduous!

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Advance Golf Drill – Putting

June 8, 2016June 8, 2016 / The Grateful Golfer / 9 Comments

Putting is a very important skill to master for shooting low scores in golf. It is the core skill in my game and I am constantly working to improve my putting. Each round I play, I have a target number of 28 putts. It matches the PGA Tour average, but it is a realistic goal I meet or beat 50% of the time. My score is directly affected by how well I putt during the round, so I have high expectations.

To meet my high expectations, I work on my short game often. I try different drills and techniques to keep my putting sharp. Recently, I offered a simple putting drill for beginners. It involved two alignment sticks and three golf balls.

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Flash in the Pan Golf

May 14, 2016May 14, 2016 / The Grateful Golfer / 4 Comments

Are you a streaky golfer? Will you play 5 or 10 rounds of great golf followed by the same number of mediocre rounds? If so, you might have an ailment I call flash in the pan golf!

I am not sure what causes this aliment, but I experience this frustrating cycle once or twice a golf season. The trick for me is to limit the mediocre rounds and maximize the good rounds. However, noticing the change is the key to my lower golf scores! Continue reading →

Using All Of The Range for Lower Golf Scores

May 4, 2016 / The Grateful Golfer / 13 Comments

Many amateurs use the range with the intent of ‘getting in some practice’. They understand that being a better golfer takes time, dedication and work on the range. After picking up a large bucket of balls, they make their way to their favorite spot on the range and hit them all in less that 15 minutes. It is like watching Speedy Gonzales racing around for cheese.

After hitting all the balls in their bucket, the player saunters off to do something else. Unfortunately, their time on the range was not well spent and they did not take advantage of what the range had to offer. I recently went to a driving range and was thrilled to see its set up and immediately made a plan to use all the range during my focused practice session. Continue reading →

Making Changes to Your Golf Game

April 24, 2016 / The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

I am just throwing this out today! Over the past few weeks, many of the Grateful Golfer Community are talking about plans, practicing and shooting lower scores. As we enjoy this year’s golf journey remember: