THE 8 SHOTS GOLFERS STRUGGLE WITH MOST

Tidying things up in one or more of these areas could send your scores tumbling this year

- By Top 50 Coach Peter Finch

There are certain shots all golfers struggle with, even low-handicappers. Take bunker shots up to 50 yards - a scratch golfer gets up and down 37% of the time and a 25-handicapper just 10%. In both cases, there's plenty of room for improvement. It's really useful to know your own stats, which is why many people use shot-measuring technology and distance-measuring devices.

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses helps you identify where to focus your practice, plus it's very rewarding to see improvements. Don't worry if you're not sure where you're leaking shots, - we've seen all the stats. We spent a day with Top 50 Coach and Shot Scope ambassador Peter Finch talking through the shots golfers most struggle with. It's time for you to get to work on improving those stats...

1 FINDING THE FAIRWAY

One of the big reasons why club golfers miss fairways is because of poor alignment, so here’s a tip for you. Pick an intermediate target in front of you between the ball and your desired landing spot in the centre of the fairway. I've popped a tee in the ground here to show you.

You're not allowed to do this when you're playing in a competition, but there’s nothing to stop you lining up with an old divot or some kind of blemish in the grass. Simply line up the clubface to this intermediate target, which means you'll then also be lined up to your ‘eventual’ target.