Are you a golfer who shoots a 79 one day and an 89 the next?

If you are, you are not alone. Consistency in golf is one of the most difficult things to nail down, and it’s really a battle all golfers fight.

I was recently speaking with a beginner golfer who mentioned that they had chipping all figured out, and then it was gone completely. Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was that feeling where golf can so quickly take away your confidence and leave you feeling like you are back at square one.

Luckily, some ways to develop consistency in your golf game and become a more accomplished player. You can trust me here – it’s much more enjoyable to shoot 78, 79 than 79, 89!

1. Establish a Strong Pre Shot Routine

If you want to hit consistent golf shots, you will need a pre shot routine.

The pre shot routine is in place so that you can easily repeat your golf swing every time. For a consistent golf game and a repeatable golf swing, try to keep the pre shot routine the same each time.

Depending on what type of golfer you are and how long you have been playing the game, the pre shot routine typically consists of some type of alignment component, a practice swing, and then very often, a mental thought.

More important than what the pre shot routine consists of is the fact that you are doing it!

2. Choose a Grip and Stick To It

The grip is the only connection we have with the golf club.

If your hands are not in a comfortable position, it will have a huge impact on the golf swing. A poor grip can impact the left wrist and then chance the clubface angles through impact.

Problems with the grip will cause inconsistency in the golf game. Grip is something that you must practice and ensure you have full confidence in when you are standing in the address position.

The majority of golfers have the best lock with interlock or overlap grip. Decide if wearing a glove helps you, and be sure to regrip your clubs often to have the most control.

3. Pick a Solid Swing Thought

Think of your golf swing a bit like a science experiment. When you conduct a science experiment, you will only change one variable at a time to see the impact of this variable. Golfers somehow missed this memo!

Golfers love to stand over the ball with 13 swing thoughts, and 11 of those swing thoughts are different from the ones they had with the last swing they took.

How can you be consistent in the swings that you are putting on the ball if you are thinking about something different every single time? The key here is to choose a swing thought that helps you and to stick with it throughout the round.

If you keep changing everything and making adjustment after adjustment, expect some trouble on the golf course that day.

4. Keep The Swing Simple

Do you remember when the stack and tilt golf swing became such a big deal?

I remember well because everyone came out to the range to try and learn how to do this method. The reason so many people wanted the stack and tilt style swing is that it eliminated the slide and extra movement in the golf swing and kept things simple.

To play good golf, you must have a fairly efficient and repeatable swing. It’s hard to be a consistent player if your club comes inside on one swing and heads outside on the next. Take a video of your golf swing and see how your swing could benefit from some simplification.

5. Practice with Alignment Sticks in Place

One of the best drills to work on a more consistent golf swing is to use alignment sticks when you practice.

One of the major issues that players see with consistency is that their hips, knees, and shoulders are not correctly aligned. In addition, the ball position can be a problem at the setup that leads to even more inconsistency.

If you practice with alignment sticks in place, you can pay closer attention to where the ball should be placed between your feet, your overall posture, alignment, and much more. Once you get this down on the driving range, you can take it to the course for increased success.

If you’re looking for a good alignment stick to buy, here’s one I like to recommend:

6. Work on Clubface Angle at Address

When I set up to hit a golf ball, I’m fairly confident as to how the clubface is sitting. I know that it is square. However, through the years, I have realized that this was an acquired skill. It takes time to know exactly what your clubface angle should look like at the address.

One of the best ways to do this is to practice club face angle when you are not out on the course. Use a 90-degree angle like a door jam and set your golf club up against it. This is what the clubface should look like at address.

If you are still standing up there, closing the clubface of your club down at times, and feeling like you need to manipulate those angles, you can’t expect the shots you take to be consistent. Start trusting a square clubface and taking swings that will return you to this square position.

7. Check The Shafts/Weights on Your Equipment

Sometimes inconsistency in the golf swing is caused by problems with equipment. Are your shafts and grips relatively the same for each of your clubs, or do they vary widely? If you have a senior shafted graphite wedge and a stiff shafted driver, that may be difficult to work with.

It’s essential to have your golf clubs made to fit your golf game. When you look inside the bag of many professional golfers, you will notice that their equipment has similar shaft weights and always has the same grip throughout the entire set.

It’s hard to ask a golfer to repeat a swing with two clubs that have different shaft weights or even lengths. These changes in equipment will absolutely impact the ball flight, the speed of the swing, and your ability to produce the same shot over and over again.

8. Get More Physical Strength and Better Balance

Another excellent way to get more consistency in your golf swing is to improve your overall physical strength.

Sometimes golfers start to become inconsistent later in their round and start to hit shots off the heel or toe of the club. Sometimes this is not as much about accuracy and consistency as it is about getting tired.

At the end of your round, if it is hard for you to shift weight from the backswing to the downswing or finish with the club up high, it becomes hard to stay consistent. If you start to implement a bit of a physical health routine, even just adding in more walking, the results will be very beneficial.

9. Practice Your Short Game

You can’t forget the short game when you want to work on consistency in your golf game.

Hitting chip and pitch shots is such a good thing for your full swing as it helps you focus on the impact position and ensures the swing is mechanically sound.

Practicing your short game can also help with rhythm and tempo issues. If you establish a confident tempo in your short game and can then carry that on to the rest of the golf swing, it may be easier to get that impressive timing that the professionals have.

The great thing about increasing the consistency in your short game is that it will also allow you to save those rounds when scoring is not going your way.

10. Develop Proper Weight Balance at Setup

Last but not least is the balance of weight at setup.

Do you know where your weight sits when you set up to hit a golf shot? So many players struggle with whether their weight is too close to their toes or too far back in the heels.

To develop proper weight balance, you want to feel as though the weight is in the balls of your feet, allowing you the ability to turn back and through with ease. If the weight is not balanced, you may end up with swing plane issues and even spine-angle problems in the swing.

Weight balance may seem like a simple thing, but it’s a problem that causes quite a bit of inconsistency in the game. To see what this weight balance can do to your golf swing, we highly recommend experimenting with it at the driving range.

Hit a few shots with the weight on your toes and see what happens, then switch to heels. This little bit of a change brings about big impacts on the golf ball and could be causing some of your inconsistencies on the golf course.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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