I’m sure you are very eager to accelerate your improvements in golf, but before we find a way to improve your golf, we have to figure out what is stopping you from playing better golf right now! If we know exactly what that is, we can then put in actionable strategies to improve that part of your golf game.

There are 5 areas of golf . I want you to rate yourself on a scale of 0 to 10, 0 being absolutely pathetic, to 10 being absolutely perfect.  Before you do this, I want you to be completely honest with yourself.  No one is going to see or know what you rate yourself, so be as honest as possible!

The first area is your physical health and vitality. If you haven’t got a sense of energy on the course, then you won’t be able to do very much. If you haven’t got the flexibility and the strength to make a solid golf swing, then you certainly will not come close to you potential. Having physical fitness and health is the number one factor in producing a better than average golf game. This is the base in which other factors can build upon. This includes proper nutrition, fitness and sleep.

The second area is your emotional and mental state. Now most people underestimate this area, but in my opinion, this is the most important area for improving your golf. Think about it, will you play a good round of golf feeling depressed or angry? I certainly doubt it! Mastering how to control your emotional state is by far the most useful skill you will have on the golf course. This is what separates Tiger Woods and all the other pro golfers. This area also includes mental toughness, sharp focus and presence.

The third area is your planning and strategies. This is all about planning your shots around the course, course management skills and sticking with your preshot routine. All the time, I’m suprised by golfers telling me how many shots they dropped once they made course management a priority. Not having a plan of attack on the golf course is a very silly idea. You wouldn’t get in your car and drive without first knowing where you’re going, and how to get there!

The forth area is your golfing techniques. I’ve put this much lower on this list because I do not believe this is nearly as important as the top 3. Most people spend all their time fixing their swing, where in reality, there’s not too much wrong with their swing! From seeing hundreds of golfers hit the ball, I’ve realised that a wide variation of swing types will all do the job well for most people. But there are certain fundamentals that you must incorporate into your swing to get the most consistency and power.

The fifth area is having the right type of clubs for you. It would be an shame if you’ve mastered your physical health, emotional and mental stability, having the greatest plan and strategies in place, and also perfected your swing but do not have the right tools and equipment to do the job! Don’t get me wrong, you can still play a great round of golf with poorly fitted clubs, but you will never reach your potential.

When you identify which factors are dragging your golf game down, you can put your energy and focus into that particular area. If you score less than 4 out of 10 on any of these areas, you must pay a lot more attention to this area, or else you will find it very difficult to improve. Honestly speaking, if you can rate yourself an 8 out of 10 in any of these 5 factors, then you are doing extremely well, and it’s time to focus on other facets of golf. The idea is to achieve a balance, and not just to max out in one area!

For example, No matter how good your physical build is, how good your techinques are, how well you’ve planned out everything and how well fitted your golf clubs are, if you only score a one out of 10 for managing your emotional and mental state, then you will have trouble! My guess is that you will be strongly affected by pressure and when you feel nervous, your golf game will crumble and fall apart.

So the aim is to achieve a balance in your golf game. Whenever you realise there is an area that you are doing poorly in, make it a “must” to make that area better and stronger. This way, you can be sure that you will never stop improving!

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