If you are a middle-aged golfer, and you find yourself nodding at any of the following problems, you will definitely get something out of this article.
- Your score for a round of golf keeps increasing, and you aren’t sure why!
- You have to mentally walk through the last hole you played to calculate your score, and you often hear yourself saying “Put me down for a 7 or 8 - I’m not sure what I really scored!”.
- You are losing a lot of distance off the tee.
- You start to feel tired at about the 13th or 14th hole.
- You keep thinking about the 19th hole from the start of the round.
- It takes you ages to get over a game of golf.
- You are seriously considering giving up golf.
- You often make excuses not to play
- You no longer have fun playing golf.
Tip 1: Arrive early for your round
When you are young, and life is a mad rush, you can slide to a halt in the car park, pull your clubs out of the car boot, slip your golf shoes on as you are rushing to the 1st tee, and still smack a 290 yard drive down the middle of the fairway without any warm up or practice. You simply can’t do that when you are middle-aged, so stop trying to! Give yourself time to prepare for a round of golf, both mentally and physically.
Tip 2: Follow a recognised golf fitness program
I am referring to working on your flexibility, not spending hours at the gym. Enter ‘golf fitness program’ into Google, and you will see lots of choices.
Tip 3: Make your swing less complicated
A golf swing is a lot like a piece of machinery - the more moving parts there are, the more likely it is to go wrong, and it takes time to find out which component went wrong. Try to go back to basics, and remove the complexity you have developed over the years. The Stack and Tilt golf swing is receiving lots of great reviews, so it would probably be worthwhile checking it out.
Tip 4: Spend more time on course management and strategy
This tip applies to young golfers as well - think and plan your way around the golf course, and stop trying to make golf shots that Tiger Woods would struggle to pull off! If you are over the ball, and you doubt your ability to make the shot, don’t hit the ball - stand back, and pick a realistic shot. It might be a bit boring, but that will soon be forgotten when you knock six to ten shots off your score.
Tip 5: Spend time on the mental aspects of your golf game
Just purchase The Inner Game of Golf by W. Timothy Gallwey.
Tip 6: Visualize every shot
Visualization is used in every kind of sport, because it is really effective! The evidence is overwhelming, and well-documented, so make sure it is something you have in your arsenal.
Tip 7: Buy an electric golf trolley, and ignore what your playing partners say!
Using an electric golf trolley will make you much less tired during a round of golf, which will result in better concentration, and better scores. Electric golf trolleys are no longer the reserve of the elderly - take a look around your golf course, and I am sure you will be surprised. Of all the things I tried, getting an electric golf trolley had the most positive impact on my golf game.
I hope you at least give these tips a try (especially the one about electric golf trolleys), because I know they will make a massive difference to your golf game.