Why You’re Not Getting Better at Golf – And How to Fix It

Happy Monday,

If you are practising but not getting better, don’t worry you are not alone. This week we cover the three big traps golfers fall into who practice but don’t shoot lower scores.

Enjoy.

This Week

The Traps Golfers Fall In To: We cover the three traps I see so many golfers fall into and how to fix each of them.

Weekly Skills Game: A great on-course skills game

Tip of the Week: Quick, actionable advice to apply to your game.

Quick Video: How to take your range game onto the golf course

Enjoy.

Practising, But Not Getting Better..? Yep, You’re Not Alone

I practised every day and got worse…for 3 years!

In this episode, I discuss the 3 biggest traps that prevent golfers from improving and how to avoid them.

📢 Listen to the Full Episode:
🎧 YouTube: Watch here
🎧 Apple Podcasts: Listen here
🎧 Spotify: Listen here

🏌️‍♂️ Rapid-Fire Takeaways:

✅ Most golfers think they’re practicing the right things — but they’re not targeting the areas that actually lower scores.

✅ If you want to drop 3–5 shots, you need to know where you lose shots — and playing stats are the only way to do that.

✅ Working on your backswing or wrist angles means nothing if your ball flight doesn’t improve — start from the outcome (shot distribution) and work backwards to ball flight > impact factors and then work out what to change in your golf swing.

✅ “Nice strike” ≠ better score. Strokes gained data is what separates guesswork from progress.

✅ Course management isn’t just for pros — smart strategy beats flashy shots every time.

✅ Improving your shot dispersion awareness can be a game-changer — especially if you play with a slice or hook.

✅ You don’t need to hit every fairway or green — but you do need to avoid blow-up holes and build a score the smart way.

✅ These lessons apply to 25 handicappers and tour players — the principles are the same, the details just get tighter.

⛳️ A Challenge for Your Next Round:

🔹 High-Handicapper (15+): Track your greens in regulation +1 and how often your tee shots let you advance the ball. Write it down after each hole.

🔹 Mid-Handicapper (7–15): Record your tee shot dispersion — note if you missed left, right, short, or long (use a simple fairway/green sketch if needed).

🔹 Low-Handicapper (<7): Play 9 holes backwards from the green. Pick your landing zones, then choose your tee club and approach based on that route.

Bonus: Test how aiming for zones on the green (not flags) changes your proximity and score outcomes.

🔁 Want to Improve Even Faster?

✅ Use the Golf Insider Free Strokes Gained Tracker
✅ Try the “In Regulation” game below
✅ Plot your shots off the tee and into the green from one round and spot your real miss pattern

Break X Golf – Weekly Skills Game

The key to this skills game is not caring about how many shots it takes you to complete each hole and instead focusing on scoring as many points as possible. It will feel strange, but I promise you will learn something.

If you struggle with distance, or are off a +20 handicap, adjust the rules so you get one point for every fairway and 3 points for every GIR+1 (watch the video above if you want to learn more).

For personalised practice plans and over 140 skills games, check out Break X Golf.

Break X Golf is a sister project to Golf Insider and was co-founded by Will Shaw.

You can check it out here.

Why Do You Stripe It On The Range But…

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Happy golfing – Will @ Golf Insider

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