Golf can be a tricky (and unfair) game, so even when you experience progress and your ball-striking's superb and your scores drop, you may have a month or two of falling back into some bad habits — which can lead to frustration.
This can often lead to tinkering with all sorts of swing mechanics and grip changes in order to fix the problems, but that can lead to even bigger issues.
How to improve at golf (according to a top golf instructor)
So how can you improve at golf once and for all? We tapped top golf instructor Tom Stickney to see what he thinks is the best way to get better, with the Lead Teaching Pro at Jonathan's Landing Golf Club sharing five practice suggestions.
1. Use a Mirror to Review Your Golf Swing
The first thing I tell my students to do after a golf lesson is to spend quality time in front of a mirror — which helps them see and feel any differences we've made to their swing.
Using a mirror provides instant feedback, and allows you to witness where your body positions are during the swing. It's then up to you to correct those in order to transfer those feels to the practice tee and, ultimately, the golf course.
2. Use Small Swings and Hit Balls off of a Tee
After using a mirror to review your golf swing, go ahead and hit some balls on the driving range — but avoid the temptation to go full send.
In order to process new information and correctly make changes, you need to start slowly. So I always suggest using the PureOne short iron and taking stop action swings, simply hitting small pitch shots to feel the correct swing moves.
I also like to see players hitting off a short tee when making changes, since it's easier to make ball-first contact this way.
Once you've mastered this step and see your desired results at half-speed, feel free to move onto the third step.
3. Feel the Same Correct vs. Incorrect Swing Motions
Now that you're using half-speed swings and giving yourself the opportunity to hit ball-first each time (which should increase confidence), it's up to you to feel the differences between the correct and incorrect swing motions.
As a golf instructor, I can't feel what you feel, so this step is about being honest with what feels best to produce your desired outcome.
Continue at half-speed shots off of a tee, but now lengthen your swing to a full swing. This will ensure you get the feels you need to build consistency.
Avoid the temptation to go full speed here — even after you start seeing some success — as this step is simply about improving your clubface awareness and swing mechanics.
4. Hit Long Irons and Woods at Partial Speed (Working up to Full Speed)
This step can, oftentimes, be the most frustrating for amateur golfers who are looking to improve at golf — simply because they don't understand how difficult it is to integrate longer clubs into a their swing changes.
For that reason, I suggest mixing shots with these longer clubs and the slow motion, half-swing shots with the short irons. Not only will this help you feel the immediate differences between these club lengths, but it will help you stay confident in the process.
The long clubs will feel and react differently to your swing changes, but remember that the fundamentals are the same.
It's only after you master this step that you should even consider moving to full speed swings with all of your clubs.
5. Falling into Bad Habits? Go Back to the First Step
It's only natural to fall back into some bad habits as you go through changes — that's part of what makes golf both fun, challenging, and discouraging.
If this happens, simply retreat to the first step and continue to go through each stage. Doing this will help you reset, build back some confidence, and discover those new (and effective) swing feels.
Understanding how to improve at golf is a skill in and of itself, so while these steps aren't necessarily fun, they represent an effective plan towards hitting better shots with more consistency. Stick with the process and you'll see the results you desire.
Tom Stickney is the Lead Teaching Pro at Jonathan's Landing Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., and is recognized as a top golf instructor by GOLF Magazine. You can discover more about Stickney on his Instagram account.