The game of golf will challenge you in many ways and it can be a great test of character and mental fortitude. If you want to shoot better golfing scores then it is important to learn the right swing mechanics combined with a solid short game. Mastering the short game is something almost anyone can do and is one of the fastest ways to reduce your scoring.

Short game tips:

The short game of golf is composed of putting, chipping, bunker shots and hitting wedge shots. It is the part of the game most amateurs ignore and as a result they lose a lot of strokes on the course. Putting is a critical part of the game and in order to be a good putter requires knowing how to master a certain fundamental technical approach combined with thinking the right way on the greens. It is important to not jump from one technique to a completely different one just because you had a few bad putts the last time you played.

Remember that even the best players in the world hit bad putts and miss easy short putts but the best putters trust their stroke and believe that the next putt will go in the hole. Learn whatever you can quickly from your misses and get back to trusting your stroke. Keep your mind as quiet as possible right before you hit the putt and try to think only of the target. If you find yourself getting distracted then back away and re-focus before striking the putt. Reading the greens is obviously important so take your time and look the putt from different angles, crouching will help you see the break better. Come up with a good solid first impression about the break and trust it.

Be sure to spend at least 60% of your practice time on the short game as there is no shortcut to getting better other than allocating enough practice to it depending on how good you want to get. If you are not getting better then it probably means you either need to practice more or you need to practice smarter and work on the right things. It is important to work hard on training your putting stroke off the course and then when you are on the course you must trust what you have trained.

When it comes to putting it is important to try and make every putt no matter how long it is. This is the ideal way to think because it reduces your margin of error if you do miss so aiming for the traditional 3 foot circle is not necessarily the best option and just increases your margin of error. This does not mean that you should hit the putt hard but rather think of it going in the hole on the last rotation or two so this way your misses will be close to hole. The key to avoid the putting yips is to believe in your putting stroke and keep your mind quiet on the greens. Try some of the above tips to help you reduce your golf handicap more quickly.

Author Bio: Kenneth is an author and webmaster. Improve your game by using our golf handicap tracker to help you monitor your scores and practice habits so you can get better faster. We also have effective golf tips to help you shoot lower scores quickly.

Category: Sports
Keywords: reduce golf handicap, shoot lower golf scores, improve at golf