The tee off decisions are too often driven by ego than good sense. 50 percent of the time the average player would do better to leave the driver in the bag and hit the 3-wood.

The choice of club, the alignment, the stance and the swing all depend upon a number of factors, unique for each tee.

Use The Best Club

Shorter clubs with more loft reduce the likelihood of a slice and increase the chance of hitting the center of the clubface.

In many cases, a 3-wood will go as far or further than the driver, and definitely hit the fairway more often.

Mental Strokes Come First

To break 90, mentally remove every pin and instead concentrate on hitting greens. Take dead aim at the center of each green. Do this from every distance outside 50 yards.

Use Your Natural Tendencies

Whatever your natural ball flight, you can use it to your advantage, because you can always eliminate one side of the golf course. You can always start a reliable fade down the left side of the fairway, for example, whether it goes straight, fades slightly or fades a lot, you're still in the fairway. A draw works similarly from the right side.

Forget The Flag

Amateur golfers concentrate too much on aiming for the flag. This severely hurts their scoring ability and enjoyment. Instead, do what Jack Nicklaus did for his entire career. Hit mostly to the center of the green.

The Yips

The yips are thought to be a psychological element of golf, and is more common in more experienced golfers than beginners. This is simply because Golfers who have played for a long time, utlising poor mechanics, have many missed putts before. That fear of missing becomes so great it takes hold in the mind. It takes many years of bad practice before the yips take over.

Next: Playing From The Rough

Golf Tips Series