Take your game to the next level this golf season

If you’re a big time golf fan or a regular player, it’s likely you’re always interested in improving your own game. Not everyone wants to be a professional or engage in regular competition, but even if you’re a more casual player, there’s a certain appeal to getting the best of your friends, family, or co-workers next time you’re out on the course. In the interest of doing just that, take a look at some of our best tips for how to improve your game this year.

Play, Play, And Play Some More

Here’s something you may not know unless you’re a regular player. According to Golf News Net an 18-hole round of golf is estimated to take about four hours. That means playing just nine holes should take you only a couple of hours. This should be easy enough to fit in a few times a week! One of the most important keys to improving your golf game is finding time to play. Because of the need to set a few hours aside and get to a course, golf is a little more involved than some other sports or types of exercise. That said, it's also not too tough to play regularly if you really want to find the time.

Find An Instructor You Can Work With

Finding a good coach used to mean hoping you liked the guy at your local course or worse, having to join an incredibly expensive country club. These days, the internet has made the process much easier for beginners to find a coach that works for them. Play Your Course points out that golf lessons today are more affordable, accessible, and offer many of the same benefits of other sports. Thanks to online scheduling, you can find an instructor that can work with your time and location to make the process more convenient than ever. That means within a matter of days you can have a brand new, well-recommended instructor. And working one-on-one with a knowledgeable coach is really the best way to get better.

Get A Golf Buddy

This is a simple tip that goes hand-in-hand with the idea of finding time to play. If you can find a friend or colleague who’s equally determined to improve his or her game and play more golf, you’ll be all the more likely to make a regular habit of it. This isn’t the sort of game or exercise you need to practice alone!

Travel For Golf

If you’re not a competitive player or you don’t regularly seek out amateur tournaments and competitions, one great way to give yourself goals is to set up travel dates for golf. Golf Digest notes that the country is full of amazing golf courses that are more affordable than you might think. If you can schedule trips to a few of them each year, you have the incentive to get your game in good shape. Think about it: if you’re looking to travel several states away to play an iconic course you’ve always dreamed of seeing, you don’t want to wind up spraying the ball all over the place! Traveling for golf is a lot of fun, and it also keeps you honest in your training.

Watch The Pro Tournaments

Finally, try to take the time to tune in during professional tournaments and watch how the professionals do it. You might want to steer clear of Tiger Woods for a bit—Pro Golf Now reports that he's still having some issues as we kick off 2017. But in general, watching the pros—not just how they swing, but how they conduct themselves and how they make decisions—can make for excellent education.