7 Biggest Score Savers

These simple tips are guaranteed to lower your scores

7 Biggest Score Savers

1. Fade off the tee

The left-to-right shape off the tee is largely regarded as the safer option when it comes to finding fairways, with plenty of the world's best opting for the fade including the likes of Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods and Jon Rahm.

To play the fade, you need less hand rotation and more body rotation through impact to ensure that the club doesn't turn over.

If this is done successfully, you can pretty much take out the left side of the golf course and begin to swing at the ball very hard knowing you aren't going to turn it over.

A fade is also more controllable upon landing too, as it will pitch with less spin as oppose to a draw which could sometimes run forward and left into trouble.

• Related: Dustin Johnson Driver Swing Analysis

2. Ball striking

The simple way to score better is to hit the ball better.

A good drill to ensure you strike it well is to lift your heels up at address and then move them down on the downswing.

This pushes your tailbone back to ensure that your body doesn't early-extend, which is a problem that 90% of golfers have.

Early extension leads to poor striking and even shanks.

This drill keeps you in a good posture and also keeps plenty of room for your arms to powerfully rotate through the swing.

Watch: Ewen Ferguson What's in the bag?

3. Basic bunker shot

Even the best players in the world find greenside bunkers, but the difference for them is that they're usually disappointed not to get it up-and-down, whilst amateurs on the whole are fairly happy just to get the ball out.

Want to start getting it up-and-down from the sand? Here's a nice and simple drill to practise.

Place your ball on a bank note in a bunker and aim to hit the club underneath both the ball and note.

This ensures that you're taking a good amount of sand and not catching the ball too clean or hitting too far behind.

4. Putting alignment

Alignment is an area of the game which is so crucial yet so easy to get wrong if you don't practise it.

Putting alignment is even more important, as it can be the difference between holing those crucial putts and turning an average round into a good one.

A good way to practice your putting alignment is to use a mirror on the ground and putt through a gate of tees set up near the ball.

The mirror ensures that you're aiming correctly, and the gate ensures that you're starting the ball on your correct line.

Putting mirrors can be picked up very cheaply and every golfer owns tees so there's no excuse for poor alignment on the greens!

• Related: Rory McIlroy What's in the bag?

5. Hybrid chip for safety

Plenty of shots are lost around the green from duffed and thinned chips, so why not use a safer method?

The hybrid chip burst on the scene during Todd Hamilton's 2004 Open Championship win and has been around ever since.

To play the hybrid chip effectively, get your weight slightly ahead of the ball, narrow your stance, have the club more in your palms and then try to hit it with a slightly descending blow.

Once you've got these checkpoints sorted, begin adding the shot to your pre-round practice and you'll quickly stop wasting shots around the greens.

6. Pitching

With all of your wedges, whether that's two, three or four, have a few yardages for each.

For example, with your gap wedge you should have a full swing yardage, a gripped-down full swing yardage and a gripped-down 3/4 swing yardage.

If you have this for every wedge, you'll have all of the numbers covered for when you're inside the scoring zone.

Practice these different shots and write down your average distances with each swing to gain confidence with your striking and how far each one is going.

This will lower your scores quicker and easier than you'd think.

7. Use the same golf ball every time

It's amazing how many golfers don't use the same golf ball every time they play.

Golf balls have so much technology packed into them, meaning that each and every model suits a different type of golfer and swing.

Once you've found the model that is right for your game, buy them in bulk and make sure that you use the same one throughout the entire year.

Feel is so important in golf, and using the same ball every time will help with that.

Another thing it will help with is your distances, as you'll consistently know how far your shots go and the characteristics of your preferred ball both through and down the wind.