Most efficient way to improve?

Hello fellow golfers-

what have you found to be the best way to improve your scores?

About me: I started playing two years ago, although sparingly. I play 18 rounds a few (2-3) times per year but try to hit the range about once per week. I have taken lessons, watched YouTube swing videos and am reading Dave Pelz’s short game book, which has helped. I putt in my basement for practice. I have never broken 100 and usually score 100-110. My goal is to shoot in the 90s, which may not be realistic without practicing more.

I would love to hear from the more experienced golfers whether going to the range once per week, playing 9 holes once per week or playing an executive/par 3 course would be the most efficient way to improve. I can’t really dedicate more than 1.5-2 hrs once per week.

thanks!

Sorry, 18 holes 2-3 times per year, not 18 rounds.

As NotromJRH notes above, we really need more data. That said, I believe that as long as you're making solid contact with the golf ball, moving it steadily forward in the fairway, and learning to take no more than 3 shots to hole out from inside of 50 yards, you can easily score in the 90's.

But (there's always a but, right?), playing golf 2-3 times a year won't allow you to improve. Yes, practice at the range (and short game area) will be very beneficial. But at the end of the day, you've got to get on the golf course. I'd be a huge advocate for finding a way to play 9 holes at least twice a week, and perhaps 18 holes once a month. Unless you can get on the course more, the road to improvement is a VERY long one.

I would play 9 every second (or third) week and practice at the range/short game area other weeks.

When you play start from the forward most tees. You have to play those tees until you break 45 two times in a row. When you do that you get to move back one set of tees, which you need to play until you break 45 twice in a row (and so on).

Develop a favorite stock shot with a club (short iron or wedge) that goes some fixed distance in the range 80-150. When you start off playing from the forward tees, plan you tee shot (and 2nd shot on par 5s) so you will have your favorite stock shot for your approach into the green. When you start off from the forward tees, you should almost never need to tee off with a driver. As you move back tees, you should only use a driver on holes where i) the length of the hole requires you to hit it in order to set up your favorite approach shot and ii) your most common bad shot will not result in OB, a lost ball, or water.

For practice weeks:

1) 30-40 min: Ball striking drills, for example i) Half-swing with towel between arms, ii) 3/4 swings with feet together, iii) 3/4 swing going from feet together to feet apart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCrUo3ASV7k2) 10-20 min: Practice working the ball with 1/2 to 3/4 swings.

3) 10-20 min: Full swing practice something you struggled with last time you played.

4) 20-30 min: Chipping

5) 20-30 min: Putting

For 2)-5) don't just blindly hit shots, make up various games that you keep score for. Try to beat your previous score each time.

Take lessons with a good instructor and practice what is taught. Dont go to the range just to hack balls. Go with intent of working on something (and then hack balls lol)

educate your hands

Lessons from a competent instructor then engrain what you learned into your swing with practice.

My routine is 100 balls a week at the range and a minimum of one hour on the putting green, usually doing 3-5-7 drills.

I feel like 80% of high handicap golfers could knock 5-10 strokes off their game with weekly consistent , focused practice.

I'll keep it real and I mean no offense but unless you have a natural skill for golf (which it sounds like you don't have - no worries that puts you with the majority) it will be difficult to near impossible to consistently break 100 if you are only able to get out and play 18 twice a year and only have 1.5/2 hours a week to play/practice. If that is all the time you have I would just focus on having fun when you play rather than having delusions of steady improvement. Lessons and structured practice like others have mentioned are great but they are great for people who have more time/money to invest in themselves in golf.

Thanks everyone. I started to get down on myself for posting very similar 9 hole scores from week to week (54, 48, 53, 53). However, it sounds like that is to be expected without more regular play and/or more focused practice.

I average about 2.3-2.5 putts per hole. I am working on pace to help with long putts, since I often 3 putt. I also typically aim for the middle of the green for wedge and approach shots but might try to aim a little more towards the flag if there isn’t trouble. I tee off with a 5 wood because I am very inconsistent with my driver but just purchased a 3 wood for tee shots. Hopefully that will help. I will start keeping track of more stats and try to carve out an extra hour during the week to focus on the drills that were included in the above YouTube video and work on any glaring weak spots, although I think I am equally bad across the board:)

I appreciate everyone’s helpful advice and will post again if/when I make progress. This has taken some pressure off of me because I just assumed everyone was naturally better than me at golf, but in reality I haven’t put in the necessary time.

There is a difference between hitting golf balls and playing golf. You need to play the course and learn the strategy which is significantly different that what I assumed was the strategy when I first started. There are considerations of staying clear of hazards and setting up shots to score. Some of this can be learned from books and some of it will be learned through experience of playing with other good players. If you dont have a lot of time, I recommend waking up earlier and practicing. I try to play at first light and if I'm lacking time, I'll squeeze in 9 holes on a full course and be done before 9 am. 9 holes only takes 2 hours or less and you'll find better playing partners to learn from waking up early. I'm back by the time my wife and 2 kids are just woken up and eating breakfast.

Oh heck no. Most of us mere mortals, like myself have found that it takes years. I've been at it for 25 years, and over those 25 years I've averaged probably 80 rounds a season. In regards to practice, here is what I think I've learned:

If you're struggling to begin with, get a lesson first. Then focus your practice on what you learned in the lesson. During practice you need to pick specific spots to hit to. Don't just blindly bash balls and not care where they go. If you do, you could spray them all over the range and leave thinking you did really well, when you really didn't. If you're playing 18 on a particular day, it's my opinion that you shouldn't hit more than 15-20 balls at the range beforehand. I find if I hit too many balls, then try to play 18, I start to tire out by the later holes. I only use it to quickly warm up on playing days.Speaking to the previous point, use off-days for focused practice time when you're gonna go bash a hundred or more golf balls. If you're a member at a private club or a club where you have a season pass, incorporate maybe playing 4-5 holes after you practice on the range. It allows you to take fresh practice and put it into real situations on the course. The way my course is setup, I can walk holes 1-5, and #6 tee is right back up near the pro shop. So I can easily stop after 5 holes if I want to. I can do something similar on the back 9 where I go down 10-12, then jump over to 17 and make my way back up. That's not as convenient as 1-5, but it still works.

Learn to hit the driver. Don't give up distance. Work with whatever shot shape you have. If you naturally hit a slice, learn to play for it, then try to minimize it.

Practice with whatever club you hit 150 and go to the range and hit that club until you are knocking down the 150 pole. Then do the same thing with a 100 yard club. The distances between will take care of themselves.

Go to the practice green and chip and pitch with a PW or 9 iron until you can consistently keep the ball in a 6 foot circle no matter the target.

Screw practicing putting. You will putt better when you are closer to the hole.

Get in some kind of league where you are playing more often. Play with something on the line to put some pressure on you to get better. Even a Friday afternoon scramble with a $5 buy in will work.

To echo some of the statements above the biggest influence on my golf scores was starting to actually practice like I play. Go through the same routine on every range shot, every putting green chip/putt. I realized quikcly that I was just going through the motions while hitting drives far left/far right on the driving range which helped me out 0 on the actual course.

Actually swinging the club in real playing situations is the only way to truly improve. lessons helps but you have to take those lessons with you to the practice facility.

I play or practice daily from spring to fall. Here are my top 4:

1) Go take a lesson with Dan C in person

2) Work on what you learned, don't be results driven, be change driven.

3) play a serious round, take what cost you the most strokes and work on it for the next week. Play a new round and repeat.

4) course management. I could take all my high handicap buddies that can't break 100 and caddy for them and they would probably break 90.

To second Roody's comment, if I warm up, I never hit anything longer than a sw. Otherwise, I find myself trying to make little tweaks. Do practice putting, but do it like you're playing. Putt one ball, and putt everything out.

I would say that you do not need to worry about shooting better scores. With the initiative you have right now shows you are wanting to work at it. That is a big step right there. Just keep with what you are doing & it will eventually happen. Having a good instructor can really help move the process along. Where a bad one can hinder your growth. The group I play with every weekend is a good illustration of what I am trying to get at. One of the players started hitting the balls all over the place & was asking for help. Most of his swing mechanics were not out of the ordinary, so wondered if he was just not getting the face square. About 3-5 balls later.....problem gone.

Now another player has all sorts of issues. When he starts to wonder what he is doing wrong, we all go silent. What comes into play on advice to this player falls into the "teach the pig to sing", scenario. The next weekend I had a sheet printed about ball flight in relation to the club face at impact. The old ball flight rules as opposed to new ball flight rules (think I am just a few years older than the new rules). I made two sets of it so I could give one to the guy that does not listen to instruction.

The player that it was intended for......could see a good change in the Sunday round. The other player, if he kept his head down long enough to make contact, was making decent contact the majority of the time. The player the sheet was intended for will be working with the sheet to remember each thing about it. The other one will likely have tossed the sheet away within a month. More or less.....you tend to get out of it with what you put into it.

Join a men’s league and play with as many different competitive players. Can learn a lots by seeing the strength of some players games.

As far as teaching, I found it helps to video tape and get a different set of eyes to see your swing. Try to get a pro that knows what what he talking about though. My problem was my left arm would collapse at impact and teaching pros would should me a picture of Ernie Els and tell all sorts of a ways to make my swing look at his.

The advise was useless if I could make it look EE then I would. I finally found a Pro who explained what a strong grip means and it was just a simple adjustment at setup to fix it. Golf is a lifelong improvement. Even the best golfers in the world try to get better

You have to play more. When I play golf everyday, I will shoot around par. If I only have time to play once a week or less, I'll shoot 85. Speaking for me, the swing is about repetition, and it's not the same on the course as it is on the range.

My goodness averaging 2.3 putts/hole and looking for the most efficient way to improve? There it is - get this down to 2, then down to 1.75. I’m guessing you are hitting between zero and two greens per round. If you are shooting 110 now and averaging 42 putts, get this down to 31 and you are home. From 100 yards and closer you should be working towards on taking 3 or less to get in the hole. I would bet you are averaging 4.5 or more at the moment.