There is no single path to lower scores.
Padraig Harrington says if you spend “20 minutes” on shredding“you’ll be a better scorer.” Rory McIlroy suggests amateurs don’t try to make shots they don’t have the ability to execute properly. The reigning Masters champion believes that for young players, improvement begins fueled by a passionate love of sports that will keep them coming back to practice day after day. Lee Trevino warns against making changes to your movement. Change hands or ball placement, but “Lord your swing.”
All pros have their own idea of ​​what can help the average hacker improve.
For Nelly Korda, the idea is simple. Golf, at its heart, is an artist’s sport. If you keep your brain engaged, thinking and having fun while you exercise, you will improve.
“I had a great coach growing up and we would hit fun shots, working on the more creative side of the golf game versus the technique side,” Korda said at the CME Group Tour Championship. “I think it would sneak in here and there, but golf is a game of creativity, and from a young age, if you work at it, then it just keeps growing.”
Korda would ask ams to get off the range and go out and play. Look at the shots you want to hit. Learn how to play in different conditions. You don’t play 18 holes on the range.
“I see a lot of people standing on the range and just hitting golf balls or just practicing a lot instead of going out and visualizing,” Korda said. “At the end of the day, golf is a game of creativity, and you’re never going to have your A game. One day the wind will be from the left and one day from the right. The hole will play completely different. It’s all about creativity.”
But if you want to do more technical work, Korda has one thing she believes most amateurs can benefit from at the range – understanding where they’re aiming.
“Many of the people I see who are ams never have a handicap on the range,” Korda said. “If you don’t know where you’re aiming, chances are you won’t know where you’re aiming on the golf course.”
So you want to shoot lower scores? Understand where you’re aiming and spend more time playing golf the way it was meant to be played, instead of mindlessly blasting balls into the range. And thank Nelly Korda when your scorecard looks better in 2026.
