If you’re an amateur golfer with a middle to high handicap, take some advice from Robert Baker, Golf Magazine Master Teaching Professional:

Most amateurs don’t take enough club. They presume they’ll hit every shot perfectly and make their club selection based on the maximum distance, instead of the average distance, they hit each club. As a result, any shot that isn’t flushed comes up short.

He’s right. Sometimes it’s ego that makes us want to pull a 7-iron to hit it 160 yards, but if the contact isn’t pure, you’ll probably end up well short. Stuff your ego, pull out the 6-iron, and let your scorecard do all the talking!

Along those same lines, you might consider taking your longer irons (2, 3) out of your bag and replacing them with a couple of more lofted woods (7,9). Woods are generally easier to hit, and often produce more loft than shots with the longer irons. The bottom line is more consistency and a better ability to judge the distance of a shot hit with the more lofted woods vs. long irons. Before you snicker at a playing partner for having all those ‘trees’ in his bag, you better watch out that he doesn’t go home with your money!