A new year calls for a fresh start and gives you the opportunity to reassess and improve areas of your life. Your golf game is a great target for a new year’s resolution or two – after all, who doesn’t want to play better golf? Use the start of the year to look ahead and think about what you would like to improve or achieve in your golf game. To get you started, try some of these golfing new year’s resolutions – they might just transform your game.
Don’t lose your temper
Sure, golf can be a frustrating game, and everyone has bad days (and sometimes horrendous days). Even if you’ve just shanked the last three shots, lost two balls and missed five ridiculously easy putts, try and keep your temper in check. The truth is, losing your temper wreaks havoc with your game and can make things extremely uncomfortable with your playing partners. Not to mention the effect it has on your own stress levels and enjoyment of the game. Berating yourself after a bad shot usually only ends up destroying your focus, tempo and most importantly, your score card.
Even the best players in the world hit shots they’d rather forget – but it’s how you respond that counts. Controlling your emotions will help you control your game much more and will help you become more consistent and block out distracting and unhelpful thoughts.
Rather than getting steamed up when things don’t go your way, try and analyse what went wrong. Analysing your mistakes is the key to continued improvement and is much more productive than losing your cool. Whenever you feel rage welling up on the golf course, take a mental step back and focus your energies on determining what went wrong. Was your set-up position incorrect? Did you fail to account for the wind? Did you choose the wrong club? Or did you simply overswing? Whatever it is, process the information and store it away for future use. Don’t get angry, get better.
Above all, keep things in perspective. In the end, it’s just a game, and it’s supposed to be enjoyed. And complaining and angry outbursts are not enjoyable. In the grand scheme of things, nothing terrible is going to happen if you play a bad round. There are probably millions of people in the world who’d love to take your place on the golf course right now, so try and relax and enjoy your game.
Warm up before you play
It’s all too easy to skip over a warm-up and just get out there on the course and play. This is a mistake however, as a proper warm-up is a must to prepare your body for the exertion to come. A golf-specific warm-up will help prevent injuries on the course, get you in the best condition to play your round of golf and reduce post-game aches and pains.
A golf warm-up should include:
- Some type of cardiovascular exercise to get your heart rate up, such as walking or a light jog
- A light stretch of the muscles you are about to use, particularly some of the common problem areas such as shoulders, neck, hips and ankles
- Some practice shots on the driving range or in the practice area, to warm up your movements and get the feel for your swing when there’s no pressure to perform
Aim to warm up for a total of 15 to 20 minutes – longer if you’ve been experiencing injuries, niggles or muscle tightness.
To learn more ways to minimise golf injuries, click here.
Take a lesson or two
The golf swing is a complex movement that is made up of many components – each of which has the potential to break down. And the more you repeat something, the more efficient your body becomes at doing it – whether it’s right or wrong. If you’ve been battling the same problems in your strokes for years, it’s definitely time to see a pro. Taking a lesson or two can be extremely helpful in ensuring your technique is solid and refining your swing. A good pro will also be able to advise you on club selection, equipment considerations, which areas you need to strengthen, and the type of physical conditioning needed to do so. Golf is one of the most complex and technically demanding sports and it’s important to get it right, so swallow your pride if necessary and consult a professional. If you can nail down the fundamentals, you’ll see the results in your swing – and your scores.
For more on how to get a competitive advantage in golf, click here.
Improve your fitness
Fitness-inspired New Year’s resolutions are very popular, and you can certainly apply them to golf. Golf places a lot of physical demands on players, and golfers need a combination of strength, mobility, stability and cardiovascular fitness for optimal performance. Many golfers fail to focus on their physical fitness, but this can lead to poor performance, as well as aches, pains and the potential for injuries. If you want to be playing golf for a long time, you need to make physical fitness specifically for golf a priority.
To produce an efficient swing, golfers need to strengthen:
- Leg muscles
- Arm muscles
- Hand and wrist muscles
- Chest muscles
- Abdominal muscles
- Hip muscles
Find or develop a strengthening and conditioning program that targets core strength in the areas you need to improve, such as back, trunk or shoulders. Add in some weight training to develop overall strength and endurance as well. Consult a golf professional or fitness trainer to help if you’re not confident in this area.
To learn how to become a lifelong golfer, click here.
Practice your short game
Everyone loves to practice their drives and putts – but how often do you practice your short game? If you’re like many golfers, it’s not that often. For a lot of amateur golfers, the short game is the most difficult part of the game to master. This is because pitch, chip and bunker shots require the hard-to-develop ability to hit the golf ball with the right amount of spin and at the right distance and height – in other words, “touch”.
Randomly chipping around the practice green isn’t going to improve your short game much – you need a focused program of practice to improve this area. See a professional to help, or google some drills and programs, but make sure you’re stepping up your short game practice this year. Here’s a control drill to get you started.
Lower your handicap
“What’s your handicap?” is a question often asked among golfers. Everyone wants a lower handicap, as it tells the story of your golfing life. If you don’t currently have a handicap, get one. And if you do, set yourself a goal for what you’d like it to be and use the year to work towards it. Aim to achieve your goal handicap by the end of the year and practice until you do. Having a goal will make a real difference in the way you approach your practice sessions and how you prepare for your games.
Go on a golf trip
Even if it’s only for a weekend, going on a golfing trip with your golf buddies is the perfect reprieve from everyday life. And if you can manage a longer trip, great. There are countless fantastic golf courses around Australia (and the world) just waiting to be sampled. Not only will you enjoy a holiday participating in your favourite hobby, playing at different courses will both refresh and challenge you, as it’s all too easy to become familiar and comfortable with your local course.
Play more golf
This one’s easy – because who doesn’t want to play more golf? Regularly engaging in a round offers some amazing health benefits, including weight loss, heart health, stronger bones, improved posture, improved vision and coordination, better sleep, stress reduction, improvement in mental capacity and the opportunity to develop and maintain friendships. Resolve to play more often this year – this is one resolution that you’ll be sure to keep!
Don’t feel guilty about all the time you’re spending on the golf course – it’s good for you!
Start using a golf buggy
Gone are the days when golf buggies were seen as the province of the elderly or disabled golfer – nowadays the use of golf buggies has become the norm on Australian courses. Increasing numbers of people prefer to access the benefits of using a golf buggy, rather than the drawbacks of lugging their bag around the course. If you’re not using a golf buggy yet, take the opportunity this year to start. Some of the advantages of using a golf buggy include:
- It’s better for your spine, shoulders, knees and ankles than lugging your clubs around
- It keeps you fresher and allows you to conserve energy that would be better spent on your game
- It speeds up the pace of play
- It increases the longevity of players
- It helps you to focus and stay sharp between shots
- It increases enjoyment
- It allows you to carry as many extra supplies as you need
Once you discover how many advantages there are to using a golf buggy, you’ll never want to go back to carrying your own bag! You can access Parmaker’s range of quality golf buggies here.
For more about the benefits of using a golf buggy, click here.
