Sometimes we need to do things differently to improve. If you've done any weight training, you know that body builders often change their routines. Their bodies get used to a routine, and to get the most out of the time spent working out, they try to "fool" their bodies by doing something different. Changing their routine also overcomes boredom, makes working out more interesting, and maximizes each training session.



If you're serious about driving down your golf handicap, try something different every once in a while, something that "freshens" up the game and gets you to look at how you're playing in a new light. One thing you might try is to forget about your score next time you play. Announce your total for each hole to whoever is keeping score, but don't ask to know your final score until the round is over.

Benefits of Forgetting About the Score

Tracking your total score hole by hole can be a recipe for disaster. If you're not playing well, you get more and more discouraged as the day goes by and your score mounts. If you've set a specific score as your target for the round, you may get even more discouraged once you pass that target.

On the other hand, if you're playing well and you're on track to hit your target score, you can really get upset when you have a bad hole, turning a good round into a bad psychologically. In other words, keeping your total score sometimes takes the fun out of playing golf and prevents you from focusing on learning.

Forgetting about the score provides several benefits, including staying in the present. If you've read my golf tips, you know I advocate this as a way of playing your best. When you stay in the present, you forget about past shots and future shots. You also forget about everything but making the shot at hand. And that's the way it should be. Once you've made the shot, you can relax until the next one.

Forgetting about the score also allows you to concentrate on improving your game, rather than trying to achieve a specific score. Instead of trying to do things that take you out of your rhythm or are beyond your present capabilities, you can focus on playing target golf. You can also focus on your swing, on its rhythm and tempo, and on slowing it down, rather than driving the ball out of sight. In other words, forgetting about your total score encourages you to stay within yourself, something I also advocate in my golf tips.

In addition, you can keep track of things that will help you improve your game and lower your golf handicap. You can track how many fairways you hit, for example, or how many times you hit the green in regulation. You can also track of how many total putts you had and how many holes you three-putted. And you can track how many "saves" you had. Tracking information like this is a good way to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of your game and pinpoint things you need to work on.

Take Advantage of Online Help

In addition to forgetting about the score, try searching the Internet for ways to improve your game. Golf Digest's Web site, for example, offers the Golf Digest Challenge. Designed to provide personal golf instruction, the GD Challenge helps you track statistics related to your game as a way of improving your play. It's a free service, so all you have to do is sign up and enter your scores. The Web site does the rest.

The GD Challenge helps you lower your golf handicap by channeling your energies toward specific weaknesses in your game. The Challenge provides tools like a short game and long game handicap that can help you practice smarter. It provides tips and drills that are geared to your game. And it provides a video library of golf lessons that can help you improve your swing. These tools are invaluable when it comes to improving your play

The GD Challenge offers a fresh approach to evaluating your game. By changing what you do, you may be able to improve your play, lower your golf handicap, and get more fun out of the game. No matter how much you enjoy golf, it never hurts to try something different. You never know. It may help you take your game to a whole new level.

Copyright (c) 2007 Jack Moorehouse