Is breaking 90 your nemesis? Are you finding the 80s elusive? GolfMagic shares some simple tips from players and coaches to help shave shots and get under that magic mark.
We have collated some helpful tips and tricks ranging from practice and chipping drills to practice routines and general swing advice, along with some quick video tips to help you break 90 shots in a round of golf...
Carl Watts, former European Tour player
- Trust the shot, pick a spot. If there's a hole you don't like on the tee, pick a spot one to two feet in front of the ball which is aligned with your target, and don't look up once you address the ball.
- Use clock-face pitching. Making the backswing and follow through the same distance helps build consistency. Most amateurs' backswings are too long and they decelerate through the ball.
- Play boring golf. Many shots are dropped because odds are so heavily stacked against a player, and it's the decision to take the shot on that leads to a poor strike. If you're in trouble, take your medicine and get back in the fairway.
RELATED: HOW TO BREAK 100 SHOTS IN A ROUND OF GOLF
Simon Dyson, six-time European Tour winner
- Leave the big stick at home. Unless driving is the best part of your game, keep the ball in play by using a 3-wood off the tee.
- Practice chipping with your feet together. Start slowly and build your way up. It allows you to feel the flow of your swing, and gets the top and bottom half in sync.
Jonathan Yarwood, Tour coach
- Make the club work. To propel the ball efficiently you need to get speed in the shaft. Often players in this scoring category have a flawed grip, often in the palm, which stops them creating speed and allowing the club to do the work. As a result, the body gets too active. The result is powerless effort rather than effortless power!
To simplify things and make it easy to repeat, position the club in the fingers. This will allow the wrists to work correctly. From this better base, create a "L" shape between the forearms and wrists back and through. You should feel a sense of speed and hear "whoosh" in the shaft. The body will then calm down and blend in. The ball should rocket for miles.
Kristian Baker, golf instructor
- Putt before each round. Commit to spending 10 minutes on the practice putting green before each round, getting the pace of the greens. You don't want a three-jab on the first.
- Build a routine. Be aware of having a repeatable pre-shot routine you do before each shot.
- Relax in the bunker. Don't put pressure on yourself to get bunker shots close to the flag. Just make sure you get it onto the green.
Duncan Woolger, Advanced PGA Member
- Swing longer, not faster. To hit putts of different lengths, many golfers change their tempo rather than the length of the stroke. The length of your stroke should change based on the distance to the hole, but your tempo should stay the same. Accelerate the putter through impact.
- Stay relaxed on pitches. If you get too tense you're never going to have a good short game. To hit good pitch shots, let your arms hang loosely from your shoulders and put your feet close together, making it easier to turn.
- Learn to hit hard shots. The key to breaking 90 is being able to save strokes from more difficult places, like a downhill lie in a bunker, or buried shot in the rough. Make sure you practise these shots.
Ian Clark, Advanced Fellow PGA
- Pivot on your pitches. Players scoring in the 90s, will often end up 20-30 yards from the green after their approaches - to hit these pitch shots well, keep your weight a little forward, and be sure that your chest continues to turn through impact.
- Keep it constant when putting. Be sure that the rhythm is kept at a constant back and through, keep the pace the same, and allow the length of the backstroke to determine the distance the putt goes.
- Hold your finish. On every full shot check you are able to hold the finish of your swing for at least a count of three, this will encourage a nice in-balance motion without any extra effort.
