Tips for Choosing the Best Golf Shot & Improving Your Scores

In a game chock full of risk and reward, golf shot selection is arguably one of the most important golf skills to develop. Choosing the right golf clubs and golf shots in any scenario is paramount for producing good scores. Not only that, advanced golf shot strategy helps with course management, risk management, consistency, confidence, and adaptability. Scratch golfers and the best golfers in the world are hyper aware of the shots in their repertoire, and they choose their shots accordingly without over-extending themselves too far outside their comfort zone.

Having a high awareness of the golf shots within your reach and those that are too complex or outside of your skill level can absolutely help you become a better golfer and produce better scores. Of course, we all want to be able to bend our shots to accommodate any scenario, but being unrealistic about what we're capable of can lead to scores that drive up your GHIN. Instead, being realistic about our capabilities can actually help produce better scores because choosing shots without our repertoire allows us to swing more confidently. Let's dive in to our top three tips for choosing the best golf shot for you and specific ways you can improve your golf course management in an approachable and effective way.

3 Tips for Choosing Your Best Golf Shot

We talk a lot about the importance of comfort and confidence with golf because we believe that one of the pillars of advancing your skills is the mantra that "comfort breeds confidence". It is critical to feel comfortable with your choice of golf club, golf shot, and what you are attempting on every stroke. Of course, we all are learning the sport and students of the game so we cannot be perfect in our pursuits. However, your intuition and knowing of comfort out on the golf course is absolutely paramount for producing outcomes that are successful based on your skill level. Operating within your framework and knowing what you are capable of will drastically improve your game, and we want to empower all golfers with the following tips of how to choose the best golf shot, dial in your golf shot selection strategy, and keep enjoying this game that we all love so much.

Know Your Golf Club Distances

John Wooden said, "Practicing with purpose is the key to progress." One of the most important purposes you can have is knowing and understanding the distances of each and every golf club in your bag. I often hear golfers inflate their distances thinking that it makes them somehow a better golfer by creating a perception that they can hit the ball further than they actually can, but all that does is negatively affect your ability to produce good scores and outcomes out on the golf course. For example, if a golfer steps up to an approach shot with 150 yards to the pin and they think their 9 iron can fly that far, when in fact the correct choice is an 8 iron, that golfer will come up short every time. Now they have to scramble for an up and down to save par as opposed to putting for a birdie. Keep a golf club distance chart for yourself in order to develop a mastery of your distances.

For amateurs, this can be very difficult to do in the beginning because your consistency may be a little off. That's totally OK! The important thing is that you start to keep track of how far each club goes by going to a driving range with RFID chips in the golf balls, visiting Top Golf, or simply by playing a round of golf and logging each of your shots. At first, this might seem like a cumbersome task because it does require the extra step of logging your distances, but I can say with a great deal of confidence that this extra step is very worth your time and effort.

My Golf Club Distance Chart

Over the last 30 years of playing golf, my golf club distance chart has fluctuated based on a variety of factors: how much I'm playing, if I'm playing at altitude, and any given day can be different. Here is my distance chart in the present day which is a representation of the average length of each club that can be in my bag (remember, only 14 at a time!). I would encourage anyone interested in developing their game to the next level to create your own golf club distance chart like this:

Know Your Capabilities & Calibrate Realistically Towards Them

We all would love to be playing our best golf in every round that we play, and we all have ambitions and aspirations that keep us coming back for more golf each and every season. The reality is that every round of golf brings with it a new set of opportunities to learn and grow, and we all must make adjustments based on what every round brings to us. There are certainly life lessons that exist within this framework of surrendering to the round and allowing whatever that needs to, to come through. One thing I encourage every golfer to do is calibrate towards your real capabilities on any given day. If you feel more comfortable hitting a bump and run shot near the green as opposed to a flop shot, go with your gut and the shot that makes you feel more confident when addressing the shot.

One of the best ways to know your capabilities is by practicing more often than you do now. I see so many golfers using their weekend rounds to both play and practice. There is some value to that, but that approach lacks preparation. And look, since we're all busy with our everyday lives, this doesn't have to be a huge weekly commitment that you make. Instead, you can practice gripping the golf club in your living room, working on your putting stroke in your office, or visualizing your shots at home. Better yet, I would encourage everyone to visit the driving range at least two times per month to better understand your capabilities. Practice the shots that you feel you are presented with most out on the golf course. That repetition will lead to a newfound confidence that enables you to select the best golf shot for your game. Be realistic and have grace with your capabilities. Choose accordingly and watch while you swing with more confidence than ever before!

Use Math on Every Par 4 & Par 5 to Choose Your Best Route

Whenever I step onto the tee box of a par 4 or 5, I start doing the math to determine what my best route to the green will be. So many golfers default to their driver on each and every hole as their starting point when that might not be their best club selection or most consistent. I always encourage golfers to work backwards from the green to tee, and here's what I mean.

If the par 4 is 380 yards, I start my process by thinking about the approach shot distance I most desire. For me, I love an approach shot that uses my 8 iron, 9 iron, or pitching wedge. Using my golf club distance chart, I know that my 9 iron will travel about 150 yards on an average shot, so if I want 150 yards left to the green on a 380 yard hole, my first shot will need to travel 230 yards (230 + 150 = 380). Because I know my golf club distances so well, I will automatically pull my hybrid club for my first shot on the hole. I am setting myself up for success by doing some quick math on the tee box to ensure that I am most comfortable from tee to green.

On par 5s, the math gets a little more complex, but the principles are all still the same. There aren't many par 5s where I will tee up with something other than my driver, but if the hole warrants it, I am not at all precious about using my driver off the tee. Again, go with what is most comfortable. The time I really start doing math is on my second shot on a par 5. I am asking myself whether or not to go for the green or leave myself an approach shot that is manageable.

One of the biggest mistakes I see amateur golfers making is trying to hit the ball as far as they can on each shot on a par 5. If the hole requires that then that approach makes a lot of sense. However, there is nothing more challenging than having to hit an in-between shot when approaching the green. For me, the 50 - 80 yard shot is most challenging, and so I am doing everything I can to avoid having that distance as my approach shot into the green. This tip is a combination of knowing your distances and leaning in to the shots you're most comfortable with. That will ultimately produce the outcomes you're looking for.