subject: Lower Your Golf Scores Fast [print this page] Most golf instruction is focused on the full swing, since most golfers desire to hit the ball better and farther. It is estimated that 80 to 85 percent of all golf instruction is focused on the full swing. However, most good instructors know that the fastest way to lower the scores of their students is to focus on the short game.
Most golfers hardly ever practice their short game to begin with. Before each round of golf, they tend to only spend a few minutes hitting putts and chip shots before they tee off. Some days their putting might be better than on other days, but it is never consistent.
On the other hand, professional golfers know that it is putting that can be the difference between winning and losing, or the difference between keeping their tour card and being banished to the mini tours. The average pro on the PGA Tour averages about 29 putts per round. That means, on average, they make at least seven one-putts every single round of golf. On the other hand, the average golfer, which for men is a golfer with a 16 handicap, 29 putts in a round of golf may represent their best putting round of the year, and they will typically average many more putts than that.
Steve Williams, the caddy of Tiger Woods, keeps many statistics on Tiger's game. Prior to the 2010 season, Williams found that if Tiger had one 3-putt or less for a 72 hole golf tournament, he tended to win over 80% of the time. If Tiger had four or more 3-putts in a tournament, he tended to win less than 10% of the time.
Three-putt avoidance is widely viewed as one of the most important statistics on the PGA Tour. This statistic reflects how well the golfer is putting, how close he is hitting the ball to the hole when he hits a green in regulation, and how well his short game is performing. Amazingly, many golfers think they putted well if they "only" have three or four 3-putts in a round of golf. Single digit handicappers, however, know that having that many 3-putts likely means they lost most of their bets that day.
The short game is probably where most golfers can really lower their scores if they simply practice it for an hour each week. Most golfers have no idea what clubs to hit from various positions around the green. Most golfers also do not use the proper techniques to hit these shots, particularly those shots out of the bunkers around the green. During a round of golf, it is likely that the average golfer throws away 4 to 8 shots just due to a poor short game. They will fail to even hit the green on a chip shot, pitch shot or bunker shot from within 20 yards of the green on that many occasions during the course of a round.
Every golfer should at least learn how to hit the basic shots around the green, and spend half of their practice time working on putting and short game. Most golfers, even lower handicap players can probably lower their scores by at least a few shots, and probably by as many as 15 shots by spending more time practicing these areas of the game.
It is also much EASIER to practice the short game and putting! Not only that, but learning how to make consistent contact with shots around the green will also provide the golfer with better timing in their full swing. As such, the benefits of working on the short game and putting are obvious.
