Zephyr Melton
Getty Images
The new year is almost here and it’s time to settle on your resolutions. If you’re reading this website, it’s fair to assume that your resolutions will be about golf.
Yesterday, we covered four keys to improving your practice sessions. Today, we’re turning to the experts – the professionals! — for some shaky thoughts you can use to up your game. Check them out below.
4 rhythm pro-approving thoughts
When it comes to thinking about your swing, simpler is usually better. But that doesn’t mean you have to think nothing when standing on the ball. Having a thought to emphasize during your swing is a great way to ensure your swing is repeatable and consistent.
Below, we’ve put together some thought you can use in four key areas – driving, approach, short game, putting – that will help you in your quest to break 90 in 2025.
1. Drive: Expand
One of the biggest indicators of success on the course is distance off the tee. If you can hit the ball far, it makes the game easier. If you’re looking to take strokes off your handicap, adding a little speed is a great place to start. And if you’re looking to add some speed, you can start using a key swing thought by Tony Finau.
“The bigger you can make your arc, the farther the golf ball will go,” Finau said. “If amateurs can just imagine a wide range and really just try to get the club moving as far away from the golf ball as possible and then from there, you’re going to be able to generate the maximum speed that your body can. generate.”
2. Approach: Small ball, then big ball
Once you’re teed off, you need to be able to hit the green to take advantage of your swing. This usually means hitting a hard shot with your irons. One of the easiest ways to improve your iron game is by remembering some tips from Bryson DeChambeau.
“It’s going to be ball and then there’s going to be a split,” DeChambeau said. “It’s kind of a kick move against him.”
DeChambeau said he likes to think about hitting the small ball (the golf ball) then the big ball (the ground).
“I’m not trying to destroy it IN the ground, I’m trying to hit it in front of the ball,” DeChambeau said. “I’m trying to push it to the (goal) line. You’re always pushing it down the line.”
3. Short game: Speed in the right place
No matter how good your golf swing is, you’re going to miss some greens. And when you do, you’ll need a regular short game to level up.
Being able to spin the ball is a huge advantage when you’re hitting fairways around the green. To do this, you need to create a clean contact AND generate speed at the end of your arc.
Doing this is easier than you might think. Just take a little tips from the short game boss. When you’re putting the ball around the green, focus on using your torso to drive the shot—not your arms. This will help you generate speed in the right place and make the ball spin much easier.
4. Placement: Hold above the hole
Keeping the ball over the hole may seem like counterintuitive advice, but when you putt — especially from distance — it can help improve your stroke tremendously.
When you have a putt, try to make it err on the high side of the hole. When you do this, the ball will always work in its own way closer the holes.
“If (I launch the putt) higher, the ball will tend to sit closer to the hole,” says Padraig Harrington in the video above. “If I made a mistake (under-reading the layup), it’s going to go away.”
When the ball goes down the hole, it will always work FAR from the cup. So always try to keep the ball above the hole for a better chance of putting the ball closer.
Zephyr Melton
Editor of Golf.com
Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the GOLF team, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists with all lessons and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.