Advanced PGA Professional Katie Dawkins is here to give you five tips to help you play better golf.
Why do you play golf? Remembering the reasons you took up and fell in love with this game will help you gain perspective if you are going through a grey patch, and here are some tips to encourage you in the right direction.
Set realistic goals and go for it
Work out what you want to achieve and be realistic. Getting this right will lead to you loving golf all over again. Why are you playing? This will affect the judgement of your performance and how much you are gaining from it.
Do you imagine the best golf you can play, or do you dampen down that dreamy goal because other people say you can’t do it? Don’t be controlled by other people’s limitations. Chances are you are capable of playing better than those dream dashers. Don’t let them hold you back
Always remember the good shots
Think of your BEST SHOT and your BEST ROUND. How did it make you feel? Write it down in a journal. Let’s get that good feeling running like a river through your whole game. Make a pact with yourself to regularly revisit this notebook, adding to it all the time, as brilliant performances are relevant in forming your golf library.
Within your golf library should be your best drive, fairway wood, rescue club, best shot with each of your irons, and continue this ‘best of’ theme all the way through to the best tap-in putt.
Play your own game
Don’t play a game you deem you should be playing. Just because the ladies you play with lay up on a short par-4 doesn’t mean that’s how the hole has to be played. Be true to who you are. If you want to smash a driver, then do it. If you want to throw caution to the wind and play your game like it’s the last round you will ever play, do it. Play the game that makes you smile. You don’t have to fit into a mould.
Find your style
If you are a bold and bright person when it comes to clothes, but you wear safe colours on the golf course to fit in, then you are not being true to yourself. Have fun with your golf wardrobe. But if black gives you confidence, wear black. If you’ve ever had an image consultancy day or had your colours analysed, you’ll know the importance of how wearing the right colour can boost your confidence.
Handicap home truths
Plan your way round the course depending on your handicap and set a realistic bar. Don’t be too harsh on yourself. Setting achievable goals may well be setting challenging goals, but some people need these and many are capable.
If you have just taken up the game, aim to be on the green for the par of the hole. You then have two putts and you’ll be down in two-over-par each time. For a 28 handicapper, the same is true for the nine hardest holes on the course, but for the nine higher stroke indexes, aim to be on the green for one less than the par, then two putts. This will help you keep a steady ship and stop you from feeling you have to force shots.
This is the essence of a happy golfer… try a few of these things out and see if it improves your game. For hints and tips visit my website www.katiedawkinsgolf.co.uk or follow me on Instagram @katiedawkinsgolf
The above Instruction article was taken from the Sept/Oct 2018 issue of Women & Golf magazine.
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