// Improve Your Game

Game Desk

Edited by Pete

Practice, scoring and course management, built on published statistics and coaching research, which each piece links.

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Latest from Game Desk

Green plastic baskets of white practice balls on a rangeCourse management · Course management

Playing the Percentages, part 2: how to measure your own shot pattern

Game Desk · Frost on the rough in the shade beside a bunker, with a sunlit fairway and autumn trees beyond, at Bewdley Pines Golf ClubCourse management · Course management

Cold-weather golf: what a 5°C morning takes off your carry

Game Desk · A golfer in a blue shirt watches a short putt roll towards the flagstick on a sunny greenInstruction · Putting

Holing six-footers: train your start line with a 70mm gate

Game Desk · A green on a raised bank above a pond at Innisbrook Resort in Florida, with pines and oaks behindCourse management · Course management

Playing the Percentages, part 1: let your shot pattern set the target

Game Desk · A large sheet of standing water across the grass at Beverley Golf Club, with bare winter trees and houses in the backgroundCourse management · Course management

Golf in the rain: play for carry and keep the ball low near the green

Game Desk · A golfer in a navy polo shirt follows through after a short wedge shot from the fairway, with a divot flying and the ball in the airInstruction · Short game

Wedge distance control: build a three-swing chart for 50–100 yards

Game Desk · A blank golf scorecard clipped into the holder on a buggy's steering wheel, with a green fairway beyondCourse management · Course management

Breaking 90 or 100: give every hole a personal par

Game Desk · A golfer splashes a ball out of a greenside bunker with a sand wedge, spraying sand towards the green; a trolley bag stands on the slope behindInstruction · Short game

Bunker shots: aim at the sand, not the ball, and get out first time

Game Desk · Bunkers short of the 18th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links, with the flag on the green and the Pacific Ocean behindCourse management · Course management

Miss on the fat side: the approach rule that protects your score

Game Desk · A golfer in a black shirt chips with a wedge on a practice green, his golf bag standing beside him and other golfers practising on the green behindInstruction · Practice

Short on time? A 30-minute practice plan that follows your strokes

Game Desk · View from the first tee at the Kingsley Club, where the fairway splits around a cluster of bunkers in the landing areaCourse management · Course management

Driver or 3-wood? Let the trouble off the tee decide

Game Desk · A golfer in a white sun hat and white polo holds a full follow-through on a sunny fairway, with a small spray of turf near the feet and palm trees behindInstruction · Iron play

Fat and thin iron shots: one fix, and it starts with a line

Game Desk · A hole 14 par-5 marker sign beside a curving cart path, with a sunlit fairway lined by trees under a clear blue skyCourse management · Course management

Par 5 strategy: forget your favourite yardage and lay up closer

Game Desk · A golfer in a dark shirt and light trousers plays a short chip towards a flag on a green lined with tall pine treesInstruction · Short game

Chipping: keep it low and get up and down more often

Game Desk · A yellow flag blowing sideways on a flagstick in the middle of a green, with golfers walking up in the distance and water to the leftCourse management · Course management

Playing in the wind: why a headwind needs more club than you think

Game Desk · A golfer in a white shirt and navy shorts holds his follow-through after a tee shot, with palm trees and a clear blue sky behind himInstruction · Driving

Fix your slice: read the ball flight before you change your swing

Game Desk · A golfer in a straw hat addresses a ball on bare ground beneath a cluster of palm trees, with the fairway behindCourse management · Course management

Take your medicine: the recovery rule that stops double bogeys

Game Desk · A putter set behind a golf ball on a closely mown green, with a golfer's shoe and shadow beside itInstruction · Putting

Lag putting: the speed drill that cuts out three-putts

Game Desk · A deep, round bunker guarding the front of a links green under a blue skyCourse management · Course management

Take one more club: why most amateur approach shots finish short

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