Are you struggling to get your handicap down, or are just not scoring as low as you would like? Here are three things that should help – three ways you can get better at golf.

1. Practice

This almost goes without saying as it is an obvious one but you do need to be honest and realistic about it. Ask yourself how often you actually practice. You need to commit to practising as often as you can, but you need to practise with real intent and a sense of purpose.
For example, when you are at the driving range, imagine you are playing your home course – imagine aiming for different greens. Similarly, you might not have time after work for a full nine holes after work, but that doesn’t stop you going down to your local club to spend half an hour practising your bunker play or hitting wedge shots.

2. Course management

Some golfers take the approach of always trying to get the ball as far as possible on every occasion. Inevitably, this will lead to the occasional bad swing and shot. They happen to the best golfers.
In many ways, however, it is how well you recover from such disasters that shows how good a player you are. Being aggressive on the course sometimes masks a lack of confidence in playing the percentages. It is those players that play the percentage shots consistently that end up being better in-round managers.
Good course management is one of the best ways of bringing your average score down.

3. Confidence

Obviously, it is difficult to remain confident when things aren’t going well out on the course. It is easier said than done, but remaining positive and having self-belief will always be important. Put simply, if you don’t believe you are about to hit a good shot, you probably won’t.