Golf Practice Plan To Break 90

Congrats if you’re reading this post, then you’re serious about leveling up and finally breaking 90.

It’s an elite club, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, only the top 26% of golfers regularly break 90.

But to get there, you’ll need to do some practice. 

You may be naturally athletic and shoot in the 90s comfortably every week with little to no practice.

Or, maybe you feel like you’re practicing, but in reality, you’re just blasting through range balls weekly.

Whichever one you are, you’ll be amazed at how adding a little structure to your practice time can help you improve massively.

The great Tiger Woods once said:

“No matter how good you are, you can always get better, and that’s the exciting part.”

Practice should be just as important to you as playing, if you want to keep getting better and smashing milestones, you’ll need it.

In this post, you will learn a whole bunch of training drills/games to add to your practice time. 

But first, you need to know a few hard-hitting truths to get the most out of your practice.

How Much Practice Time Is Needed To Break 90?

The time needed to break 90 is around 2-3 hours worth of practice sessions per week on top of your weekly golf round.

That’s the same amount of time you’d spend watching 3 episodes of Game of Thrones or 1 Star Wars film. 

It’s very doable if you’re working, studying, or looking after the family.

Unfortunately, mere mortals don’t have the luxury of playing and practicing daily like the golfers on tour. (Must be nice!)

Now if you can dedicate more hours to practicing, then absolutely do it. 

The 2-3 hours quoted above would be the minimum needed to have a good chance of breaking 90.

Then, when you split up your practice time into going the driving range, practicing your chipping, or putting it, it becomes even more doable.

You Need To Spend Your Practice Time Wisely

The fastest way to break 90 is by splitting up your practice time and focusing on the areas that will get you there in the shortest time. 

This means if you know one aspect of your game is solid, for example, you’re driving, then you should focus on areas that are lagging behind.

How can you tell what’s your main area of focus?

Well, to break 90 consistently, you should aim to be hitting about 40% of fairways and still giving yourself a shot at the green for the ones you don’t.

If you barely ever do one putt and are more likely to 2 or 3 putts, your putting needs work.

And if you hardly ever leave yourself tapping in putts when chipping onto the green, work on this area a little more.

For the sake of the breakdown below, let’s say your driving is okay, and you can consistently get the ball out there.

If you’re serious about breaking 90, 20% of your practice should focus on getting your tee shots into the fairway. 

The other 80% of your time should be spent working on your approach shots, pitch shots, chipping around the green, and, of course, putting. 

If you practiced the full 3 hours, this would mean spending 36 minutes on your long game and the remaining 2 hours and 24 minutes on your short game.

Tough pill to swallow, isn’t it…

But if you were to shoot a score of 89, only around 15% of the shots needed to achieve that score would come from your long game. 

The remaining 85% comes from your approach shots, fairway work, and putting on the green.

Working on your short game is a cheat code to break 90 in this scenario.

Obviously, if you’re hitting drivers OB more often than you’re 3 putting, shuffle the time dedicated to each around.

Practice Should Be Something You Look Forward To

Practicing your golf game will be much more fun with the right attitude.

If you take a step back and have a good look at the drills, you will find out later on in the article, you’ll see that they are more like mini-games than drills.

Although you want to take the drills seriously, if you become too hard on yourself, you won’t want to practice.

Next thing you know, you’re back to blasting through buckets of balls with your driver again.

Sadly, that approach never seems to work. 

Turning your practice time into play time is how you improve. A positive mind picks up more than a negative one.

Bees and honey sort of thing!

Getting Better At Golf Won’t Happen Overnight

You probably don’t need to be told this at this point in your golf career, but improving in golf takes time. 

You can’t play one whole round of golf a month, hit the range a few times, and expect to drop shots off your score. 

You need to be playing a few rounds. That’s why it’s essential to set realistic goals. 

With consistent practice and a little effort, you should expect significant improvements in your golf game after 2-3 months.

This isn’t to say you won’t notice improvements before then, but that is roughly what you should aim for.

Everyone is different, the golfer who can practice 20 hours a week will see faster results than the one who practices 2 hours a week.

Just give time, time to work.

Don’t Be So Quick To Get New Golf Clubs

9/10 times, if a golfer hits a bad shot, it’s the golf club’s fault… or at least that’s what you’d like to tell yourself. 

A new golf club or clubs might seem the only reasonable solution, but hear me out.

If you’re a lousy driver, buying a new car won’t make you a better driver. Getting lessons and practice is the only way to become a better driver. 

Then, once you’re confident enough in your skills, you can buy a faster new car, knowing you won’t crash it.

The same applies to golfers and some new golf clubs!

Although new club technology can make them more forgiving than really old golf clubs, if you’re hitting slices, hooks, topping the golf ball, and digging divots a foot behind it, they won’t help your golf game.

Instead, invest the money you’d spend on a driver on some 1-on-1 lessons or an extra bucket of golf balls at the range.

Checkout the below post, too, for some help with that monster slice:

How To Fix A Slice With A Driver

Golf Practice Plan That Will Help You Break 90 In Golf

On-Course Practice Games

Practicing at the driving range is fine, but if you want to break 90, you must play some practice rounds on the golf course. 

Getting around and playing the course, hitting out of the different cuts, embracing the conditions, and working on some course management.

Get into your head before you head out on this round that your score doesn’t mean anything. 

Don’t even bring a scorecard; you only need a pen and paper or the notes app on your phone.

The following On-Course games can be played for 9 or 18 holes. 

I suggest doing each game for 9 holes, or you could play a game on the front 9 and then enjoy the back 9.

Practice makes perfect, but the practice is never perfect… Just made that up myself… not too shabby if you ask me!

Regulation Collector

For this game, try to get into character… 

You’re like the Terminator version of a mid to high handicapper sent back in time for one sole purpose…

To hunt and collect fairways and greens in regulation! 

While you’re playing this game, all you have to do is keep track of how many fairways and greens you hit in regulation. 

Give yourself a point for fairways hit and 2 points for greens.

The goal is to get as many points as possible throughout the round. 

Scores do not matter, how far you drive doesn’t matter, all that matters is your total points at the end. 

Once you get your score, you can work on trying to beat it the next time you go out. 

Try to avoid getting too carried away with the accent during your round!

Iron It Out

You cannot use your driver or any wood for the entire round in this game. This is more fun than you think.

This game will make you comfortable with hitting the irons for your tee shots and help you improve your course management and overall iron play. 

Once you play a couple of rounds without your driver/woods, you will notice that there will be a minimal difference, if any, in your round totals.

Once this clicks, you won’t need to pull out the big dog on a tight par 5 or a driveable par 4. 

Sure, if you pull the shots off, you look like the man but hit irons on tricky holes and keep the double/triples of the scorecard.

Don’t Hit In The Deadzone (Long Game)

This is a game for you to play when you’re in the driving range. Your driver, woods, and longest iron are the golf clubs needed.

To play this game, you will need at least 30 balls, then split them up to have 10 shots with each.

 Next, you need to look at the driving range and pick two markers/signs for your safe zone.

The goal is to land your shots in between these markers.

Every time you hit a shot, and it ends in the safe zone, that club will earn a point. 

The golf club that gets the most points wins and becomes your go-to club in sticky situations.

How far you hit your driver means nothing if you keep hitting it in the dead zone. 

Land On The Island (Approach Play)

You probably like the idea of landing on an island, but if you’re like most golfers, you’re not a fan of playing in the sand…

You will work on your shots from the 100-150-yard range for this drill. 

Whatever clubs fit this range are the only ones you will use.

Most golf ranges have greens, flags, or at least some sort of targets. 

Depending on the club you are using, find a target. Let’s say for this range you have a 7,8 & 9 iron. 

You will hit 10 balls with each club, starting from the longest and working your way back to the shortest. 

You get a point for every ball that lands close enough to your target to be considered on the green. 

You will win the game if you get at least 5 points per club. If you lose, then reload and go again.

Through The Gates (Wedges)

You might need a large bucket of balls for this one… 

In this game, you must pick two markers on the driving range. 

They must be close together, around 10 yards apart, and these will be the gates you must go through. 

For this game, all you need is whatever wedges you have in your bag. 

Start with your pitching wedge and hit a full shot towards the gate, then a 3-quarter swing, and finally a half swing once you have done this, move on to the next wedge in your golf bag.

The catch here is the game can’t end until you put all your shots through the gate in a row if you have 3 wedges, that’s 9 consecutive shots. 

Try to avoid cheating yourself and making this drill too easy. 

Ensure the gate you picked is tight, and if it doesn’t go through…don’t act like it did… the golf gods are watching!

Pin Seeker (Chipping)

Ideally, you want to be at a chipping green for this game. 

This straightforward game will have you tapping in more often from your chip and pitch shots around the green.

To set up for this game, take 4 tees from your bag and stick them into the green surrounding the first hole at about a club’s length distance.

 Then, do the same with a second hole on the green at about half a club’s length.

Start chipping your golf balls, and once you land 5 in the area marked by the tees on the first hole, you can move on to the next hole. 

Keep track of how many shots it takes to put 5 golf balls in both areas around the hole.

Your goal is to take fewer shots every time you do it!

Through The Smaller Gates… (Chipping)

This is another chipping game, and for this one, you’ll need a tiny gate… 

Small gates can be hard to come by, so you can use a couple of headcovers or a golf ball or two. 

Set them up around the fringe of the practice green at about a club’s length apart. 

Then, get 10 golf balls and space them out in a line, getting further and further away from the green.

To win the game, you have to put all 10 of the golf balls through the gate in a row. 

If you miss the 7th or even the last one, you must start the game again.

Working Around The Clock (Putting)

This one is pretty straightforward all you need is a bunch of golf balls and a practice green. 

Take a sand wedge, place the club face in the hole, and place your golf balls in a circle of the hole where the end of the club reaches.

Then start putting until you get to the point where you are draining all your puts from that distance. 

Once you complete stage one, go to your bag and take out your driver. 

Then, just rinse and repeat by placing your golf balls in a circle about the length of your driver. 

Start putting… and when you get to a stage where you make most of the putts, go a little further or bring it back closer.

Keep playing this game; your putting skills will take off to the next level.

All Or Nothing (Putting)

This game could take a while… 

You’re going to want a practice green and a few golf balls. 

Level one of this game is about the length of a pitching wedge from the hole. 

Unlike the last drill, you’re going to be putting it from the same spot.

This drill aims to make 10-20 consecutive puts; if you miss one, start again. 

10 putts in a row is a good starting point, and once you’re nailing these putts consistently, go for 15 and so on.

This is a great game to play just before your next round!

Chips For Dinner (Home Drill – Chipping)

This is the first home game you can start playing. 

If you have a back garden with some grass, great, but you can play inside with some carpet too.

Find an object you won’t mind chipping golf balls off, like a pillow or even a basic chipping net you can find online. 

Place the object as far away as possible, depending on the space you have to work with.

This game aims to hit the object without the golf ball bouncing as many times as you can with 20 shots. 

But remember that if you want to have a long golfing career, you must try your hardest not to break anything too valuable in your home… 

Going Straight Home (Home Drill – Putting)

For this game, all you need is a surface you can put on. This can be hardwood floor, carpet, or tiles it doesn’t matter. 

Get a couple of items to make yet another gate just slightly bigger than the head of your putter. Drop a few golf balls down and start putting.

In this game, you aren’t trying to make a putt you’re just focusing on your putting stroke. 

Clipping either side of your homemade swing gate would result in a push or pulled putt on the course.

The goal is to make as many putts as possible without clipping either side of the gate in a row. 

Once you hit either side, start all over again and try to beat your previous score.

Don’t cheat yourself by placing the items too far away, either.

Course Management To Break 90 In Golf – Quick Guide To Selecting The Correct Shot

• If the pin is tucked behind a bunker or something else – Go for the fattest part of the green.

• If you’re in the trees – Find the shot that gives you the biggest gap and shortest chip to safety, even if that means chipping backward.

• When you should get the putter out – If you can use it around the green, even if it’s on the fringe, then use it, you will take away the possibility of chunking a chipshot.

• When you should go for the green on your second shot – If you can comfortably hit the distance needed without ripping into it or if you are close enough to the green, it takes hazards out of play. 

• When you shouldn’t go for the green on your second shot – On the majority of long Par 5s, it really is unnecessary just make sure your second shot gives you a shot to get an up and down. If the only way to hit the green will require your best possible shot with that club. If hazards surround the green and you’re not close enough to cancel them out. 

• What to do if there is something in front of you – Chip around it and don’t try to pull off a low percentage shot it’s not worth the risk. You could end up getting hit with a Double Cross.

• What if you’re not hitting the driver well – Stop hitting your driver and use another club driving.

You will reach the next level easily once you learn more about course management decisions!

Looking for a practice routine you can do from the comfort of your home?

Check out this article on How To Practice Golf At Home.