Everybody who plays golf does so because they enjoy it. It’s fun to be in a natural environment with friends. At the same time, we want to do better. Newbies want to break 100. People who have been around for a while want to break 90.

If you’re close to those scores, but just can’t get over the hump, do one thing—get good at chipping. Get a lesson and practice that shot. It’s the easiest one to get good at.

Pros say the amateurs they play with could lower their score by three or four shots just by getting good at chipping. And it’s true. If you want to break that milestone score, chipping will do it for you.

But there is another way to think about lower scores. And that is learning how to play up to your potential. How to become the best golfer you can be. That’s a different goal which requires a different strategy.

You start by getting a new swing. You’ll never be as good as you can be with the swing you have now. You don’t need a few tweaks, either. You need a complete swing overhaul. You need to learn a new concept of swinging the club.

Why? Because serious scoring is only made possible by getting the ball onto the green in as few strokes as possible, and that means your swing. Lessons will be involved.

Once you have a swing that reliably lets you hit the ball straight, then you work on the other half. That’s the realty of golf–swing first, short game and putting second. That’s how I did it.