It’s Thursday night league and you are running late as always. You rush to the course and only have a few minutes to warm up. If your like most guys you grab your driver and practice hitting a few tee shots thinking that’s the best thing to do to set up your first hole. Well here is a golden golf instruction tip for you, spend 10 minutes working on your short game and you will notice a huge difference in your scores in the first couple of holes of the round.

Studies show that your scores are highest in the first and last 4 holes of the round. The main reason for this is on the first few holes you are not prepared to scramble around the green. You show up late and don’t have time to get your mind in the best frame of mind before you hit that first tee shot and more times than not you miss the fairway. Buy practicing your chipping and putting before you tee off you are in a better position to save a shot or two on the green.

Here a couple of drills that can be done in only 10 minutes:

1.Hit 3-5 pitch shots with your highest lofted club or what ever club you feel the most confident pitching with. Pitch over a sand bunker or something else that would give you a feel for pitching over trouble onto the green.
2.Hit a couple of bump and run shots with your 7 or 8 iron (again which ever one you feel more comfortable with) from just off the green but a ways from the hole to get a sense of distance.
3.Practice hitting 4 five foot puts and 4 three foot puts and then hit a couple in from a foot away. This will give you confidence on the green and give you a sense of the ball speed. The sort ones are the one that seem to cost us strokes.

If you watch the pros on TV you will see they use the same practice routine every time. I know most of us don’t have the time to practice before our round like they do, but it’s important to have a pre-round routine. If you follow this golf instruction tip before every round you will start to see a huge improvement in the first couple of holes each round