{"id":675971,"date":"2026-07-06T02:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T02:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/675971\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T02:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T02:30:17","slug":"how-to-practise-golf-more-effectively-and-lower-your-scores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/675971\/","title":{"rendered":"How to practise golf more effectively and lower your scores"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\tIt’s easy to think that spending hours hitting balls on the driving range is the quickest route to better golf. But if your goal is to break 100<\/a>, improve your handicap or simply become a more consistent player, practising smarter is far more important than practising longer.<\/p>\n

\tIn this Golfshake tuition video, PGA Professional Aaron Holtom<\/a> explains why many golfers waste valuable practice time and shares a simple approach that helps your range sessions transfer onto the golf course where it matters most.<\/p>\n

\tRather than mindlessly hitting one club after another, Aaron’s advice focuses on purposeful practice that develops every part of your game.<\/p>\n

\tStop Practising Without a Plan<\/p>\n

\tOne of the biggest mistakes recreational golfers make is practising without understanding where they actually lose shots.<\/p>\n

\tMany players spend an hour hitting seven irons before finishing with a handful of drivers, despite the fact that those clubs represent only a small proportion of the shots they’ll hit during a typical round.<\/p>\n

\tAaron’s first piece of advice is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your game before deciding what to practise.<\/p>\n

\tUsing performance data through a stat-tracking app, such as the Golfshake App or any platform that provides strokes gained statistics, allows you to see whether you’re losing shots with your driving, approach play, short game or putting.<\/p>\n

\tOnce you know where your weaknesses lie, your practice becomes far more targeted and productive.<\/p>\n

\tSpend More Time on the Shots That Matter<\/p>\n

\tMany golfers underestimate just how much of a round is played around the greens.<\/p>\n

\tAs Aaron highlights, approximately:<\/p>\n

\t\t\tAround 40% of all shots are putts\t\t\tRoughly 30% come from the short game, including chipping, pitching, bunker shots and recovery shots<\/p>\n

\tThat means around 70% of your golf is played without making a full swing.<\/p>\n

\tIf your practice consists almost entirely of full irons on the range, you’re neglecting the parts of the game that have the biggest impact on your scorecard.<\/p>\n

\tDeveloping your distance control, touch around the greens and confidence with scoring clubs will often deliver faster improvements than simply chasing extra distance.<\/p>\n

\tThe Golf Course Is Your Best Practice Ground<\/p>\n

\tWhile driving ranges have an important place in your improvement, Aaron believes nothing replaces practising on the golf course itself.<\/p>\n

\tReal golf presents situations you simply can’t recreate from a perfectly flat driving range mat.<\/p>\n

\tOn the course you’ll experience:<\/p>\n

\t\t\tUneven lies\t\t\tDifferent types of rough\t\t\tRecovery shots\t\t\tAwkward stances\t\t\tPitching and chipping from realistic situations\t\t\tDecision making under pressure<\/p>\n

\tEven if you’re not playing a full round, spending time dropping balls in different locations and experimenting with a variety of shots helps build the skills you’ll actually need during competition.<\/p>\n

\tThis type of practice creates far greater transfer from the practice ground to the course.<\/p>\n

\tMake Every Driving Range Session Count<\/p>\n

\tWhen poor weather or limited time means the driving range is your only option, Aaron recommends dividing your practice into three clear sections.<\/p>\n

\t1. Technical Practice<\/p>\n

\tBegin by working on your golf swing.<\/p>\n

\tThis is the time to focus on mechanics such as:<\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlignment\t\t\tGrip\t\t\tSwing positions\t\t\tBackswing changes\t\t\tAny technical work you’ve discussed with your coach<\/p>\n

\tKeep this section purposeful rather than simply hitting ball after ball.<\/p>\n

\t2. Experiment and Be Creative<\/p>\n

\tThe second stage is all about learning how to control the golf ball.<\/p>\n

\tChallenge yourself by trying to:<\/p>\n

\t\t\tHit the ball high and low\t\t\tShape fades and draws\t\t\tPlay knockdown shots\t\t\tExperiment with different trajectories<\/p>\n

\tThe objective isn’t perfect consistency. Instead, you’re developing better club control and expanding the range of shots you’re capable of playing on the course.<\/p>\n

\t3. Test Your Performance<\/p>\n

\tFinally, finish your session by creating pressure.<\/p>\n

\tAaron recommends using facilities such as Toptracer or TrackMan driving ranges to play games, complete skills challenges and keep score.<\/p>\n

\tTreat every shot as if you’re on the golf course by following your full pre-shot routine and aiming at specific targets.<\/p>\n

\tThis type of performance practice helps bridge the gap between the range and real golf while giving you measurable progress to beat on your next visit.<\/p>\n

\tKey Takeaways From Aaron Holtom<\/p>\n

\tIf you want your practice to translate into lower scores, remember these simple principles:<\/p>\n

\t\t\tTrack your performance to identify strengths and weaknesses.\t\t\tSpend more time practising putting and the short game.\t\t\tGet onto the golf course whenever possible to practise real-life situations.\t\t\tDivide range sessions into technical work, creativity and performance testing.\t\t\tPractise with purpose rather than simply hitting as many balls as possible.\t\t\tMeasure your progress using games, challenges and performance statistics.\tWatch the Full Lesson<\/p>\n

\tIn the video above, Aaron Holtom explains how a more structured approach to practice can help golfers improve faster and take their range performance onto the golf course.<\/p>\n

\tWhether you’re aiming to break 100, reduce your handicap or simply make better use of your practice time, these straightforward tips will help you train with greater purpose and see better results where it counts most.<\/p>\n

\t\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s easy to think that spending hours hitting balls on the driving range is the quickest route to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-675971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}