Instruction
8 game-improvement hacks for the time-poor golfer
Between work, family, and life in general, you barely have time to squeeze in an episode of Westworld or Black Mirror. And when you do have time, your significant other is probably nagging you to do some random chore that’s apparently been sitting there for three months. The last thing on your to-do list is golf practice. We get it, but what if we could give you a 20-minute practice tip that would give you more than the same tired 2-hour practice session?
Sounds too good to be true, right? Hear me out before making any assumptions (or jumping off any cliffs, if we’re sticking with the Westworld theme.)
Game Hack 1 — 20:20 Range Practice
Let us introduce you to 20:20. No, we aren’t talking about vision, although we can see how you’d make that mistake. 20:20 is an easy drill I learned from Motor Learning Expert, Dr. Tim Lee. So, why is it called 20:20? Thought you’d never ask.
Take 20 golf balls, then allocate 20 minutes. There’s your 20:20. Make each golf ball last 1 minute, which gives you time to have practice swings, pick a target, shot type or even a different club. The actual change you select doesn’t matter too much, but the thinking involved does.
Physical Hack 1 — Train Your Swing at Home
As analysis tools become more mobile, it’s now obvious that we unconsciously adapt our movement mechanics to suit the lie, slope, wind, desired trajectory, and outcome. This is good for scoring but bad for training a new pattern.
If you are trying to make a swing change, it’s best to do most of it away from the course without that distracting white object tempting you back into old habits. Training your new move with feedback allows for quality control and no incentive to make your old move. Here’s an example of some useful drills that will help most people to move better using the GravityFit TPro:
Game Hack 2 — Interleaved Practice
You’ve heard of random practice, right? If not, it’s simple. Rather than doing the same thing over and over, do a bunch of things in no order. Interleave practice is an adaptation of that.
Rather than doing the same thing over and over, or a bunch of things in no order (I know, we’re probably starting to sound like your significant other again,) take two or more practice tasks and complete however many repetitions you want, but never in succession. This allows you to focus on particular aspects of your game but encourages the same thinking as random practice. It’s sort of like an organized chaos, but interleaved practice fosters better learning.
Physical Hack 2 — Fuel, Hydrate, Rest
When you don’t have much time to practice, you might as well nail the parts you can control. Cognitive and physical performance is heavily influenced by the intake of food, water, and sleep.
- Fuel: Unrefined carbs, healthy fats, lean protein. Eggs and oatmeal, nuts and bananas, jerky.
- Hydrate: Water. Drink lots and lots of water.
- Rest: Good bed and pillow. Dark, quiet, temperature-controlled room for 7-9 hours.
Game Hack 3 — The Power of One-Putting
How often do you walk on the putting green with more than one golf ball? All the time, right? It’s as habitual as leaving the toilet seat up… we get it. We used to do the same. As it turns out, this isn’t helpful in most cases (taking multiple balls to the green, that is. Leaving the toilet seat is never helpful. NEVER!)
From now on, do everyone a favor and just take one ball to the green. Doing so forces you to do all the things you would do on the golf course. Things like reading the green, picking a target, feeling the speed, taking practice strokes, all are vital when playing for real, and shouldn’t be glazed over during practice.
Physical Hack 3 — Warm Up
If you take 10 minutes to warm up before you play, your body and swing will thank you. Working with PGA Tour professionals, we’ve seen all manner of weird and wonderful things being performed in the name of pre-round preparation. Here are the 3 most common themes across that myriad of approaches:
- Self Massage/Release: Using a foam roller or massage ball, roll out your feet, hip flexors, glutes, low back, mid back, and pecs. It’s a bonus if you have time for the other bits.
- Dynamic Movement: Take the 3 key areas for rotation through some range – hips, shoulders, and T-Spine.
- Posture and Rotation: Set your posture right and practice good quality rotations.
European Tour player David Lipsky working some hip mobility
Game Hack 4 — What is the best miss?
So, you deal with the nagging about chores, the rotating-head mini-possession spawned by leaving the toilet seat up, etc., yet you have no desire to even think about leaving the relationship, right? Why? Because it’s just a part of a relationship. It’s a partnership, and the negatives don’t come close to having the same impact as the positives.
So, what brings us back to this stressful, heart wrenching, God-forsaken game we call golf? Likely, it’s hitting that one shot that reminds us of our favorite PGA Tour player. For the team at GLT, it’s Tiger Woods chip shot at the 16th green of the Masters, the shot that made the Nike Platinum Golf Ball’s ad one of the best ever made.
Anyway, we all like to think we can pull our own particular favorite shot off more often than not, but the reality is we can’t. Rather, using Scott Fawcett’s Decade System approach, we should identify three areas for missing the fairway or green. We should then label them “1” for an easy up and down, “2” for a moderate chance of getting up and down, and “3” for a no go (no chance of getting up and down.)
Arick Zeigel, a quality junior golf coach, uses this system, as do countless other top golf coaches, and they all say that even an average player should have a general idea of their bad shots or tendencies. Use that knowledge to identify where you wouldn’t mind missing it — because you will (we all will) miss it often. If we’re honest, we’d miss the nagging, too.
Physical Hack 4 — Add Golf Stuff to Your Workouts
Hopefully, you do some physical exercise… or are at least considering it. Rather than dedicating precious work out time specifically to golf, kick your aesthetic goals and include some golf relevant exercises while you’re at it. Here are the what’s and why’s of my favorites, which give plenty of golf specific bang for your buck:
- Standing Cable Row: Balance, stability, rotation, back strength, scapula control
- Goblet Squat: Leg and glute strength, posture, core, grip
- Single Arm Over-Head Press: Shoulder strength, postural awareness, core
- Split Stance Turns (with TPro): Balance, posture, quality rotation, feedback on movement
There you have it, our 8 hacks to get the most out of the precious few moments you’re able to grab your clubs and practice. As for Westworld or Black Mirror, sorry, we can’t help you there. And… relationship advice? Have you tried Oprah? Maybe Cosmo? Listening — as in actual listening — usually does wonders for us. If you find any hacks for that, be sure to send them our way.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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