Tee Off to a Better Game: New Year's Golf Resolutions
The New Year is a time for fresh starts and renewed motivation.
What better way to embrace that spirit than by setting some golf resolutions to elevate your game? Whether you're a seasoned player or a weekend warrior, dedicating yourself to improvement can bring immense satisfaction and lower scores. So, as you bid farewell to the old year, let's tee off to a better game with these achievable and impactful New Year's golf resolutions:
1. Practice with Purpose, Not Just Practice:
Hitting a bucket of balls without a plan is a common trap. This year, resolve to make your practice sessions more purposeful. Focus on specific aspects of your game that need improvement.
- Short Game is King: Dedicate more time to chipping, pitching, and putting. Lower scores often hinge on a solid short game.
- Drill Down: Incorporate drills to address weaknesses. Work on consistent ball striking, distance control, or putting accuracy.
- Track Your Progress: Keep a practice journal to monitor your progress and identify areas that need further attention.
2. Embrace Fitness for Golf:
Golf is a physically demanding sport, even if it doesn't always feel like it. Improving your fitness can significantly enhance your performance on the course.
- Core Strength and Flexibility: Focus on exercises that build core strength, improve flexibility, and increase rotational power. Yoga, Pilates, and strength training are excellent options.
- Cardiovascular Endurance: Walking 18 holes is great exercise, but adding some cardio workouts to your routine will improve your stamina and help you stay fresh throughout the round.
- Warm-up Properly: Before each round or practice session, dedicate time to a dynamic warm-up that prepares your muscles for the demands of the swing.
3. Invest in Lessons from a Pro:
Even the best golfers in the world have coaches. A qualified PGA professional can identify flaws in your swing, provide personalized instruction, and help you develop a more efficient and consistent game.
- Identify Your Weaknesses: A pro can quickly pinpoint areas where you're losing strokes and develop a plan to address them.
- Break Bad Habits: Long-standing swing flaws can be difficult to correct on your own. A pro can help you break bad habits and build a more solid foundation.
- Learn Course Management: Beyond the swing, a pro can teach you valuable course management skills, helping you make smarter decisions on the course.
4. Sharpen Your Mental Game:
Golf is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. This year, resolve to strengthen your mental fortitude.
- Develop a Pre-Shot Routine: A consistent pre-shot routine can help you focus, manage pressure, and execute shots more effectively.
- Practice Visualization: Before each shot, visualize the desired ball flight and outcome. This can enhance your confidence and improve your execution.
- Stay Positive: Golf can be frustrating. Learn to manage your emotions, stay positive, and focus on the next shot, not the last one.
5. Play More, Play Smart:
There's no substitute for playing rounds of golf. The more you play, the better you'll become at reading greens, judging distances, and managing different course conditions.
- Play Different Courses: Challenge yourself by playing a variety of courses with different layouts and challenges.
- Keep Track of Your Stats: Analyze your rounds to identify areas where you can improve. Track fairways hit, greens in regulation, and putts per round.
- Play with Better Golfers: Playing with more skilled golfers can be a great learning experience. Observe their techniques, strategies, and course management.
6. Upgrade Your Equipment (Strategically):
While new clubs won't magically transform your game, having equipment that fits your swing and playing style can make a difference.
- Get Fitted: A professional club fitting can ensure that your clubs are properly matched to your swing speed, launch angle, and other factors.
- Consider a New Putter: The putter is the most used club in the bag. If you're struggling on the greens, a new putter or a putter fitting might be a worthwhile investment.
- Don't Chase the Latest Tech Blindly: Focus on finding equipment that genuinely improves your game, not just the latest and greatest marketing hype.
7. Embrace the Journey:
Lowering your handicap takes time and effort. Don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate results. Celebrate small victories, enjoy the process, and remember that the journey of improvement is just as rewarding as the destination.
Conclusion:
By setting realistic and achievable New Year's golf resolutions, you can set yourself up for a year of improvement and enjoyment on the course. Focus on purposeful practice, physical fitness, professional guidance, mental toughness, and smart play. Embrace the challenge, be patient with yourself, and you'll be surprised at how much your game can evolve in the New Year. Here's to lower scores and more enjoyable rounds in the year ahead!
This is Golf as You've Always Imagined!
Daniel is a Top 100 golf Coach, PXG Staff Pro, World Long Drive Coach and the Head of Golf Instruction at IMAGEN Golf the area's leading golf instruction and advisory firm, host of the IMAGEN Golf podcast and Best-Selling Author of "Unleash The Golfer Within".
For more information visit www.ImagenGolf.com or call 215-595-6299 Reach out to Daniel directly at:Daniel@ImagenGolf.com
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Hey everyone, Daniel Guest here—Top 100 Coach, #1 Instructor in PA, and founder of Imagen Golf. I've given over 39,000 lessons, and if there's one thing I know, it's that the game is always evolving. We're not just practicing anymore; we're training smarter than ever. The days of just grinding on the range are over. The future of golf instruction is personalized, tech-driven, and focused on your unique blueprint. Let's dive into the three biggest game-changers you need to leverage right now to Unleash the Golfer Within!
NEWTOWN, Pa. - Oct. 12, 2025 -- Newtown and surrounding communities are about to experience golf like never before. The Golf Place, a state-of-the-art indoor golf facility designed for enthusiasts of all skill levels, from those honing their game to those simply seeking a fun, engaging golf experience, today announced its grand opening for Tuesday, October 25, 2025. The Golf Place is poised to become the region's premiere destination for indoor golf instruction, practice, and play. The facility will feature eight cutting-edge Trackman golf simulators, offering hyper-realistic gameplay, detailed swing analysis, and access to the world's most famous courses.
Moving decisively away from subjective "feel-based" advice to a scientific, data-driven approach.Fueled by advancements in technology, the latest trends are democratizing the precise analysis once reserved only for tour professionals, making personalized, high-level coaching accessible to every golfer. Here's a look at the key trends shaping modern golf instruction and practice in 2025:
For years, you've been told to do a bunch of confusing things—like opening the clubface wide open and swiping across the ball—that just don’t work for the average golfer. It’s an old-school approach designed for old-school wedges. But at Imagen Golf, we don’t teach that. We teach the new-school bunker technique that the best players in the world are using every week to make bunker shots look easy. Players like Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Collin Morikawa have all ditched the old rules for a simpler, more powerful way to get the ball up and down.
When we hear the word stinger in golf, the first thought that often comes to mind is Tiger Woods and his famous 2 iron stinger he rips down the fairway.This golf shot is super important to have in your skill arsenal. If you don’t carry a 2- or 3-iron, a fairway wood will achieve similar results. The concept behind the shot can also be used for punch approach shots to receptive greens, using any club down to a pitching wedge.On windy days, you can use it to maximize distance by hitting that low flying drive that stays low and runs like crazy upon landing. Meanwhile, your playing partners are watching their drives get hung up in the wind, losing 50 yards off their normal distances. So what's the secret? How do we perfect the stinger like Tiger? To hit the “stinger” you want to produce a low dynamic loft when you strike the golf ball in order to create a low launch and low spin. By default, you're used to hitting with high dynamic loft so it can make the transition a challenge at first but once you master it, you can hit this golf shot on command any time you need. How to Hit with Low Dynamic Loft To produce low dynamic loft, we want to create forward shaft lean at impact which basically means the grip of your club is ahead of the clubface when striking the golf ball. This delofts the face which helps lower the launch angle and back spin rate. In order to create a forward shaft lean at impact you'll need to change a few things during set up. 1. Start by moving the golf ball a little further back in your stance and place a little more weight on your lead side (left side for right handers). This simple adjustment in set up will set your hands forward at address and will help you produce a slight downward hit on the ball. 2. Choke down about an inch on the grip for added control. These adjustments should cause your arms and the shaft to form a “y”. Make a smooth, full backswing, and try to retain this “y” as much as possible throughout the swing. 3. Now the key to creating a low loft and square face at impact is in the lead wrist. The stinger’s low trajectory and extra roll result from the bowed wrist position at impact. To practice getting the bowed wrist feeling, simply make a swing with your lead arm, without a club. Return the hand to impact with your lead wrist “bowed” so that the logo on the glove points to the ground directly in front of the ball. This is a great “feeling” in the golf swing to help lean the shaft forward and square the face up when striking the golf ball 4. Lastly, make sure you maintain this low loft through impact and during the follow through. The mental swing thought is to hit the ball and stop. This prevents the wrists from flipping over or “releasing” after impact. Once you achieve the bowed impact, the finish flows naturally, as the trunk and arms rotate the club around to the left. Instead of causing a slice, this allows for a low, running draw. The faster the body unwinds, the farther you can hit the ball. The finish should feel very different from a normal swing where the hands turn over. To “sting” it, the wrists stay firm, and the left elbow folds down toward the ground.
#1: Choke Down the Club The first step to getting back in control when you feel like you're losing your swing mid-round is to choke down on your clubs more than normal. Shortening the stick will help you control the face more, similar to how you can hit your wedges straighter than the driver because they're a shorter club length. #2: Swing at 60% Normal Power During our golf rounds, we often start changing our tempo and speeding up our swing without realizing it. This mental tip will help you slow down a little bit by getting you to feel like you're swinging 60% of normal, but in reality, you're probably swinging 80-90% still. As we slow down our tempo and get back to a more natural rhythm, you'll see control come back into your golf swing. A good way to do this, it to take 3 swings. The first one swing as hard as you can. The second, swing very soft. Then on your third, try to swing in the middle of the previous two swing speeds.Subscribe #3: Hold the follow-through finish until you see the ball land. In basketball and in golf, the follow-through is important to keeping the shot on line. Try making your swing thought about holding the follow-through prior to swinging and it will take your mind off of what all could go wrong during the swing. It also will tell your subconscious mind to recall what the follow-through feels like. It's often the backswing or the downswing we are focused on feeling in our pre-shot routine and during our golf swing, but let's put our mind onto the follow through and focus on holding it like a statue upon finishing. Learn more about our advanced golf training to speed up your improvement!
Proper footwork, weight distribution, and weight movement are fundamentals that many players can improve if they understand and practice properly while working on their golf game indoors. Good footwork puts you in the best position to deliver the club consistently. That’s where a good friend of mine and Golf Digest Top 50 Instructor Todd Sones is teaching these days: indoors. In the winter months, Todd works out of the Buffalo Grove Dome located 45 minutes northwest of Chicago. Todd is on the Golf Academy of America’s National Advisory Board and says when you’re practicing inside, you should always wear your golf spikes. So often, Todd sees people come in to practice off the mats wearing their tennis shoes. While it’s convenient, the problem is that your tennis shoes are designed for heel-toe motion, a linear motion. Golf is a rotational motion. It’s important that you’re on your feet properly. The best players move in a circular motion. Their weight is more toward the balls of their feet at address, their knees are slightly flexed, and their lower body is engaged. As the body rotates, a good player loads the heel of the trail leg and then on the transition to the downswing, drives into the instep of the lead leg before rotating back into the heel of the lead leg. Although you start on the balls of your feet in the set-up position, you really swing from the heels throughout the backswing and the downswing into impact. When you’re wearing tennis shoes that push your weight more toward your toes, you can’t swing the club nearly as forcefully as you can if you’re swinging with proper weight distribution. When someone wears their tennis shoes, you’ll see their head move forward into their toes, and then they back up away from the golf ball during the swing.
The hard truth is that the average golfer plays for years and never improves. But why? With input from many of my instructor friends, we’ve drawn up a list of the 12 reasons why you may not be getting better. 1. You never practice You know that whole 10 thousand hours thing? How it takes at least that long to master a skill? Do the math. Ten minutes once a month isn’t going to get you there. 2. You practice unproductively Smacking drivers on the range until you’re blue in the face might give you a backache. But it’s not going to get you where you want to go. What you need to do is practice with a purpose. Go to the range to get better at one thing, posture for example. Once you’ve spent 30 minutes working on that and incorporating into your swing, leave the range. 3. Your equipment isn’t optimized That includes your golf ball, we recommends getting your entire arsenal checked at least once a year. 4. You’ve got the wrong mix of clubs News flash. You’ve got no business carrying a two-iron. You’re also probably not good enough to have more wedges than hybrids in your bag. So don’t. 5. You don’t track your stats You think you’re a great putter, and a middling driver. But are you really? Without knowing for sure, you can’t maximize your practice time, much less devise an optimal on-course strategy. 6. You’re not as good as you think you are Two-twenty over water is not in your wheelhouse, but you always try it, because, well, your weakness is your fondness for the hero shot. 7. You’re too hard on yourself On approach shots from 150 yards, the average Tour pro leave is 23 feet from the pin. But you somehow believe you should be knocking down the flagstick, so you berate yourself every time you don’t. 8. You ride a cart You think you’re saving energy. What you’re really doing is losing touch with the natural rhythms of the game. Walk when you can. 9. You think there’s a quick-fix In a world filled with swing tips, you believe there’s a magic one that will solve all your problems. So you search, and search. You might as well be trying to track down Sasquatch. The tough news is it comes down to working on good principles long enough for them to become habits. 10. You’re don’t hit it far enough Sorry, but size matters. A good way to get better is to swing the club the faster to hit the ball longer. Any good coach can correct crooked, but getting the ball to go farther is a tougher task. 11. You focus more on words than feel You’ve gotten a lot of verbal instruction. But, words don’t translate as well to performance. Pay more attention to images and feels. It will free up your mind. And your swing. 12. Play the appropriate tee box I know, all your buddies play from the blues, but you’re a 20+ handicap. Not only do you have NO business playing from the far tee boxes but it hurts your game as the course sets up completely different for you now. Put your ego aside and have fun!
You go into a golf store, pick up a putter that "feels" good, hit a few putts on a small putting green and like the way the putter swings, and decide this putter is the one for you. Is this the best way to create a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with a putter? Your Putter Should Be Good To You From this day forward, start your new putter relationship with a True Putter Fitting. In a True Putter Fitting, your goal is to be fit for a putter that: Has an appropriate Length and Lie Angle so that you can comfortably set up for your putts with your eyes directly over the ball or just inside of the ball at address. You can aim inside the hole from a minimum of 6 feet away. Few people realize that individual golfers "react" differently to various putter styles in terms of Aim. Edel Golf has found that more than 80% of golfers cannot accurately aim their present putter at the hole from 6 feet away. Find a custom putter fitter who can test your putter aim with a Laser. Has a Weight and Weight Distribution that allows you to control Speed with a Smooth Stroke. Be tested for Speed Control by hitting putts of about 12 to 15 feet, and then find the total putter weight and weight feel that gives you consistent Speed Control. Has a Putter Loft that will allow you - with your stroke - to roll the ball with Topspin. In the past it was believed that "standard" putter lofts should be 4 degrees. However, recent testing shows that for most golfers 2 to 3 degrees of Loft is best to create putting topspin. Has a Face Balance design that fits your personal putting stroke. Face-balanced putters tend to be better for golfers with less putter-head rotation in their strokes, putters with toe hang tend to be better for golfers with more rotation. Be tested with putters having both types of balance. Don't Break That Bond Your custom fit putter will be one you can aim well, will allow you to control the speed on all of your putts, and will feel good to putt with. This is a good start - but THAT IS NOT ALL. Zach Johnson, one of the stars on the PGA Tour, has used the same putter for 12 years - and has also used the same practice drills to continually improve his putting during that time. If you stick with a putter that fits you and you are confident with and find some practice drills you can perform to continually improve your putting - who knows how much you can improve! No more putter "one night stands" for you! The Situation: You do not understand the true benefits of custom putter fitting for your golf game. The Solution: Learn and understand the benefits of being custom fit for your next putter. Find a custom putter fitter who will fit you into a putter that has the right length, lie angle, loft, weight distribution, and face-balanced design - to allow you to create perfect aim and speed control in your putting stroke. Stick with that putter, and practice to continually improve your putting results and putting confidence.
Do you have a Pre-Shot Routine? Do you know it? Do you do it each and every time you strike a golf ball, even during practice? So many golfers have a Pre-Shot Routine for “some” or “most” of their golf shots but don't even know what their actual routine is when I ask them in a lesson. A preshot routing is essential if we want to be consistent on the course. We don't want to be the golfer who makes a swing, hits a great shot, it finally feels right and we have no record of what we just did? Unfortunately, without a good Pre-Shot Routine it may never feel right, opening the door for tension and anxiety to creep into our game, and as we all know, tension and anxiety are the killers of both your Golf game and life itself. While a preshot routing can’t keep you from that occasional chunk, duff or thin shot it can reduce the likelihood of hitting another poor shot by almost 50%. For that reason alone the average golfer should employ a solid preshot routine! Now, let's find a Pre-Shot Routine that we like, understand and rely on when it is time to make the swing. Understanding your Pre-Shot Routine will really help to keep the tension and anxiety levels way down and bring a constancy to your game. Watch the professionals on TV and you will see that they ALL have a solid Pre-Shot Routine. At Imagen Golf we have videos of Tiger Woods going through his Pre-Shot Routine in 1997, 2001, 2006 & 2016 and today and in all the swings he made his Pre-Shot Routine never changed. It continues to be simple and consistent. Some will tell you that Pre-Shot Routine involves selection of a club, checking the wind etc....and that is not wrong at all. For me though, it is after those other decisions have been made, and now it is time to execute the shot. Here is My Pre-Shot Routine: It starts about 10 ft. behind the ball behind the ball, looking down the line of play to get a visual for the shot I’m going to make. I’m standing perpendicular to the line of play, facing the shot line, I make 1 good practice swing, if it’s a poor practice swing I’ll take another as I’m looking to feel the swing that I want to make for that shot. I step into the ball from the left, (I’m right handed) now I am behind the ball, with arms hanging low and trying to get as loose and relaxed as possible. I line the clubface up with my line or target with my bottom hand, my feet start together ball right in the middle of them, and I then take my stance from there, feet are about shoulder width apart. I take my grip, a waggle of the club and I’m set. I now look back down the course to bring my line of play in, and pick a spot 3-5 ft. in front of me on that line. I am now staring at the spot. Now that I am in a good set-up position, confident and set all I have to do is make my swing. All of this happens in less than 2 minutes. Balanced Finish: Because my body & mind are set with this routine, tension and anxiety are kept as low a level as possible giving me the opportunity to execute the best possible swing. Study the professionals; watch for their Pre-Shot Routine and re-evaluate yours. Find a style that fits your game and practice it on the range. Remember, it is important to know and execute your Pre-Shot Routine every shot so that you will be prepared to make the best possible swing for the shot at hand.