'5 New Year Resolutions That Will Improve My Game... And Yours’

As an eager to improve golfer, I love a goal. So I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve learned from my golf over the past year – what’s worked and what needs work – to set myself 5 resolutions that I believe will take my game to the next level…and I hope they’ll do the same for yours too.

Work On Strategy As Much As I Do My Swing

There are a few things that I’m excited to work on in my swing this winter but when it comes to the spring, I’m making a promise to myself…when I’m on the course, my focus will be on my strategy not my swing.

Over my last run of competition rounds, it’s become clear to me that when I have – and stick to – a strategy, I shoot my best scores, even on the days when my swing is off.

It feels like it breaks the round down into bitesize chapters because I’m focused on following my strategy for the shot at hand, rather than replaying the shots that have been or thinking about the shots yet to come.

Whether it’s playing with the mantra of 'when in trouble, don’t make double' or doing my best to follow the 80% rule, my scores show me that when I have a strategy, it saves me shots.

Make My Practice Harder Than My Play

A big challenge in golf is taking the work we put in on the range to the course. And I think that’s because there’s an ingredient that’s present in our play, especially when we have a card in our hand, that isn’t always present in our practice – pressure.

When we’re on the course, we’ve got one shot, one ball to play but when we’re on the range, we’ve got a bucket to hit through. If a shot doesn’t go as we hope, we can reach for another and try again, knowing the consequence of hitting a wonky one is never as high on the range as it is the course.

That’s why I’m going to try to make my practice harder than my play by bringing in exaggerated pressure. Maybe that’s setting myself strict targets, like getting my greenside bunker shots within 3 feet of the pin and I can only move on when I’ve made 5 in a row. Or not leaving the putting green until I’ve sunk 10 putts from the distances I can often miss.

This one is going to be a challenge because I’m not sure it’s possible to fully replicate the pressure we feel on the course but I’m going to do my best to bring a sense of that pressure into my practice, knowing it’s only going to pay off in my play.

Say Yes To Competitions That Scare Me

One of the things that I’ve worked hard on this past season are my competition nerves because there’s no doubt that they were wrecking my scores.

It was a classic case of scoring well when I was playing for fun and then going to pot when I had a qualifying card in my hand. I don’t know whether it was the weight of expectation – the heaviness of hope that today is the day – or a simple case of trying too hard. Either way, I knew it was something I had to break through to start bringing my best golf to life.

And I did this through repetition, playing in as many qualifying competitions as I could until those nerves went from being the loudest voice in the room to a quiet whisper, moving further and further away with every round.

That’s why I want to enter the competitions that scare me this year – the ones that my mind tries to tell me I’m not ready for – because it’s the reps of saying yes that lead to those big leaps forward.

No More 3 Putts

Every set of resolutions needs a shoot-for-the-moon one in there…and this is mine.

I think three putting is one of the most disheartening things to happen on the course because it feels like such a waste after doing all that work to get on the green. And I know that when I let a three putt slip in there, it’s the difference between making par or saving bogey at worst and that’s why I want to strive to two putt tops this year.

I’m hoping to do this in a couple of ways. Firstly, working on those long lag putts that can be my ticket into three putt territory when I don’t get them close enough and leave myself with a nervy knee-knocker.

And then, I’m going to work my approach play – especially that 100 yard and in range – because if I tend to three putt when I’ve got a long first putt, then I need to be getting the ball closer from the get go.

Find The Fun In The Pain

When I look back on my golf journey to date, it’s been quite the clichè of a roller coaster. There have been incredible highs, like cutting my handicap from 34 to 9 in a year and more recently overcoming that card-in-the-hand block to reach my lowest handicap so far of 7.3.

Alongside those highs, there have been deep lows, like mentally melting as soon as I had a card in my hand and wondering why. Or dragging myself through those rounds that I would rather forget.

But the truth is, I know that to reach the goals I hope to with my golf, there is going to be pain – the good kind of pain when you’re working hard at something, even if it feels like it might never click.

So that’s why I want to continue to find the fun in the pain – to enjoy the challenge, the highs and the lows, knowing that I’m playing a puzzle that might never be “solved” but that gets closer with every ounce of effort I put in.

Follow Jess’ golf journey on Instagram and YouTube.