I don’t know about you, but there are times when I step out onto a golf course and I feel like I have never played golf before in my life! Beginners can be excused, but it’s really not a nice feeling when you have been playing golf for as long as you can remember.

I’m sure this feeling will resonate, we never know what golfer is going to turn up on the day, and at this time of year when golf has generally been off the agenda for one reason or another, when we do play, there’s a good chance that we’ll end up wondering where our golf game has gone.

Unfortunately, habits creep in from nowhere and because the margins between a good and bad shot are relatively small, that’s why this game that we all love is so frustrating. For example, unbeknown to you, your grip might have become too weak or too strong, or you might have started standing too close or too far away from the ball. Someone pointed out to me that my stance had widened considerably when hitting fairway woods, that explained a lot and probably contributed to the reason why I decided to abandon my usually favourite 3-wood!
You might have made a New Year’s resolution relating to golf, perhaps you’ve set a goal to reduce your handicap, gain more distance with irons, or master a specific shot like the dreaded chip shot over a greenside bunker.

As we all know, it’s really easy to make resolutions but even easier to break them, but as far as golf is concerned, if you really want to improve and make bad golf days few and far between, it’s a good idea to start the season as you mean to go on by giving yourself a golf MOT and get back to basics. Perhaps book a lesson, or read this article and learn from the female professionals on how best to approach the game.

Of course, I don’t always practice what I preach, and I’ve often made the error of making the same mistakes over and over again, hoping that a particular area of my game will miraculously come good overnight without making any real effort to correct it by taking a golf lesson or dedicating time to practice. Like anything in life, what you put in is what you get out.

However, enough was enough a few years ago, as I’d completely lost the plot when it came to bunker shots, the saying ‘hit and hope’ took on a whole new meaning for me, so I booked myself into a short game school, which I cannot recommend highly enough. I’m not suggesting for one moment that I’m now a bunker queen, but at least I have a clear understanding of the correct technique from any lie.

Golf is what you make it, and I hope this has given you some food for thought before the golf season kicks in!

Alison

Alison Root
Women's Editor, Golf Monthly and Surprizeshop Chip and Chat