- 14/06/2025
Neil Tappin is joined by PGA Professional Alex Elliott look at the keys to breaking one of golf's biggest milestones - 100. Alex offers some simple guidance on how think while you are out on the course, what to practice and he also offers some practical advice on the shots you'll need to develop. These tips are designed to be simple and achievable for any golfer looking to break 100.
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00:00Hello and welcome to The London Club. Now, in this video, we have 10 top tips that are going
00:06to help you break 100. We look at everything from what clubs you have in your bag, some mental tips
00:12and how to get out of trouble. Yes, let's head out onto the golf course here at The London Club
00:16and look at our first tip on our list. The first tip on our list, number 10,
00:24is about relaxing between shots. Now, golf is, for a lot of people, myself included, quite stressful
00:30at times. I can join that club. Yes, but it's crucial that you don't get kind of caught up
00:35at trying to focus for large periods, isn't it? Yes, I mean, golf is one of them sports. We
00:40perceive there's a lot to think about over the shot and for some time, there is. It's about
00:45concentrating at the right point. Okay, so how do you do it then? How do you switch off? Because
00:49that's the key, isn't it? We've seen a trend of all top players now. They have one of their best
00:53friends on the bag or a companion on the bag, so having someone that you can relate to and talk
00:58to is key. Now, for most of us, we don't have a caddy. I don't have a caddy. But we play with our
01:01friends on the weekend, right? Yes. So having a chat with them whilst walking around from the T
01:06to the green, and then when you get close to your ball, then switch on. You're not having to
01:10concentrate for four and a half hours. You're just doing 30 to 40 second stints. I guess it's important
01:15to remember this, particularly when these signs get nervous. You've got a good score going, maybe with a few
01:19holes to go. I can imagine this shot, one of the last few holes here in your round, you've missed
01:23the Runa Par 3. It's a difficult chip. You want to be fully concentrated on it. Yeah, you could have
01:27been thinking about it for five minutes while you're walking here. It's maybe not a great
01:30preparation. No, definitely not. Yeah, so a really simple tip. Try and
01:34focus when you need to and relax when you don't need to be concentrating.
01:42So the next tip for golfers looking to break 100 is to avoid three-putting. Okay, we all do it. It
01:47doesn't matter what handicap you are. Everyone does it. But Alex, what do you think the mistakes are that
01:52cost people in this scenario? I think when we get to a distance like we've got now, we've just sort
01:57of gone to the green. Oh yeah, it's about this. Hit the putt away. A bit of autopilot comes into play.
02:02Yes, so we've put up some alignment sticks around the flag. And what are you trying to do then from
02:08here? All I want you to focus on is getting it inside that bin lid, that three-foot range where actually we
02:14make our next putt as stress-free as possible. Okay, go on then. So this is a little bit uphill,
02:21right to left. So now I'm aiming a little bit right in the hole. I'm trying to dye it into that space.
02:26I always picture that ball dying near the hole, not accelerating too far past. Yeah, okay.
02:32Perfect. And if you can, I mean, this just shows you that if you can get the pace right,
02:40the odd one will drop in the hole. But the crucial point is scenarios like this,
02:44make them stress-free, get it down in two, you'll keep the score ticking over.
02:53Tip number eight is so important and it's about developing a fairway finder. So every golf course
02:59you'll ever play, there will be holes on that course that you don't fancy the look of off the
03:03tee. You're worried about losing the ball off the tee or you're just worried about hitting a bad shot.
03:07So every golfer needs to find a fairway finder. How do you do it, Alex? I think there's sort of
03:12two scenarios we can look at here. Doing it with a driver, preferably. Now, if you're not
03:16comfortable with driver, finding a club, like maybe a fairway would, that allows you to take that
03:21fairway and you've got more confidence. But I guess the main thing is, is just going the range,
03:26finding a swing with some nice rhythm, with a club that gives you a repeatable shot.
03:31Okay, so what are you going to, how are you? Well, I'm going down that route of, I think most golfers
03:35have a bit of a love-hate relationship with driver, but their fairway would, their five would,
03:39their three would, it's probably something that they get on with more often than not.
03:43Okay. Just because it's a bit shorter, a bit more loft. Okay, so what's the swing thought that
03:47you would have when you're on a fairway, like a hole like this, bunkers everywhere, tricky shot.
03:51What's the fairway finding swing for you? I just put my seven iron rhythm on it.
03:56Okay. So, for me, getting good rhythm gives me a better chance of squaring that face.
04:01With driver, I'm more prone to giving it a bit of a welly. Yes.
04:04So, rhythm is key and don't over-complicate it too much. Most people, if you're balanced through the
04:10shot, you're going to hit a better shot than if you're unbalanced. Okay. Well, show us your seven
04:14iron rhythm then, would you? So, I'll have two practice swings. One, two. Most people are comfortable
04:23with seven iron right, and we're in. Account for the wind a little bit off the left today,
04:30and then put that rhythm on.
04:34Yeah, very good. I think, actually, it doesn't really matter what the club is or what the swing
04:39thought is, but the key thing is you need to practice it. You need to go to the range,
04:43you need to groove it so that when you are stood in a position like this, it's not alien,
04:48it's not new to you. You've done it before, you've repeated it, and then you might just
04:51produce a shot like that one. So, this one is about bag setup and the clubs that you choose
05:00to carry. Alex, what's the advice here for people? I think really nice and simple. I prefer most golfers
05:05to carry a five wood over a three wood, a little bit more loft, a little bit shorter club, and then
05:10hybrids over long irons, just a little bit more forgiving.
05:14Yeah, I mean, it's that simple. If you can do those things, you should find a setup that's
05:18just that bit more forgiving that's going to let you get away with the odd dodgy swing
05:22and not going to cost you too much while you're out on the course.
05:29Okay, so number six on our list is about pressure and how you handle pressure on the golf course.
05:34It's something that we all need to do. It might well be that the first tee shot's incredibly nerve-wracking,
05:39but then there's also going to be holes like this one. This is the ninth hole here at the
05:43Heritage Course at the London Club, really tough par four, and you might want to go for your fairway
05:48finder, Alex, as we've already discussed, but equally, you might want to just hit driver because
05:51it's such a tough hole. In this scenario, when you need to do it most, what can we do to hit a good shot?
05:57That's the golden nugget, isn't it? Well, I mean, if we're looking to break 100, right,
06:02this scenario here, we're probably going to have two shots, so that's going to hopefully calm us down a
06:06little bit, but the key thing here is it's not just to pick your club rush and just get it over
06:11and done with because you don't feel comfortable. Yes, which I have definitely done in my past,
06:15for sure. Yeah, and if we actually look at golf, we want to be in scenarios where we're playing good
06:19golf and we're not feeling comfortable because that means we're doing something different.
06:22We're playing well, right? Right, okay. So I want you to think about aiming really small,
06:26so if you aim really at a small target rather than just a general fairway, if you just miss a small
06:31target by a little bit, you're still going to be okay. So we're going to talk later in this video about how to aim,
06:36but in this particular scenario, what are you aiming at and what's your kind of miss, I guess?
06:41So, for example here, trouble looks to be more left, so I'm going to take something that's a very
06:46small target to the right of the trouble. Okay. So I'm going to hone really in small, so if I take
06:51this tree straight down, I've got the one that sticks up a little bit more, I'm going to use that.
06:56I know if I miss just a little bit left, I'm okay, but equally if I miss just a little bit right,
07:00I'm still okay as well. Okay, so aim small, miss small, still end up on the fairway.
07:05Exactly, exactly. Let's see if it works, Alex. Here we go.
07:15Bingo, slight cut off that mark, middle of the fairway, no trouble. Aiming small,
07:19it really is very important and it could help you in a scenario like this.
07:28This one is all about club selection and I think, Alex, we've chosen this particular hole here at the
07:33London Club for a very good reason, so we've got water short of the green and most golfers would
07:38know in this scenario to do what? Take one club more, avoid going short. Yes, and the problem is
07:43that how often do you take the same approach on holes where there isn't water short, but there
07:47is other trouble like bunkers or other things that might be short of the green? Well, where do most
07:51club golfers finish even on a good strike? Short, right? Yes. They don't take that advice, so like what we're
07:56saying here is think that you're always in a scenario like this, like there's water short or the trouble
08:01short, put the bunker in the same category, take one more club and make sure you're on the green. Yes,
08:05so that you are avoiding failing to carry the front of the green, which is the kind of the big mistake
08:11I think a lot of players make, right? Exactly. So, Alex, you've got 153 and you would
08:16usually hit... Seven iron, usually. So I will look for your six iron. There you go. Thank you.
08:22Now, being a pro, I expect this to finish close to the flag. I feel a bit of pressure. And even this
08:27is a tough one, with the wind into as well, you might have to adjust that even further sometimes.
08:36Lovely contact. Very good shot. But has it made the green? Yes, pin high.
08:47So, number four on our list is developing the punch shot. Being able to hit a shot when you're
08:52in a scenario like this. Yes. How do you play it? So, essentially, if we want the ball to go lower,
08:57we need to lower the loft of our club. So, use less loft. Lower the loft of our club at impact and hit
09:04down on it more. That's going to lower the launch. Okay. So, set up to the ball then. Explain to me
09:08what you do at address. So, how I would do with this is I would put the ball towards the back of my stance.
09:13That allows me to hit down on it more. I'd grip down on it. Now, with that ball going towards the back of my
09:18stance, that's going to encourage a bit more forward shuffling, taking some loft off the club.
09:22Now, all I want you to feel is you're going to keep your weight left throughout and just make
09:26a bit of a slower swing. And I always like to feel it's more of like a tailed follow through
09:31with my chest pointing to target rather than this nice full follow through on a full shot.
09:36Okay. Go on then. Let's have a look at it. So, this is a real toughie, actually,
09:40because we're not too far from the green. So, I've gone eight iron and I'm trying to picture that ball
09:44flying through this window here, down, and running up. Yeah. So, ball back, hands forward, grip down.
09:55Well, it clipped the tree, but it's fine. As Alex said, it's a really tricky shot. And I think the
10:00key thing is, often in a scenario like this, the punch shot is really important, but it's about
10:05getting yourself back into play. So, not trying to do too much with it. Just get yourself back in the game
10:10and then take it from there. The punch shot is a really important shot for golfers, no matter what
10:15their handicap. Okay. So, number three on our list, it's a simple one, but it's so important. It's
10:24knowing exactly how to aim the club. Alex, what's the advice here? I mean, what I think is, is always
10:30coming to the range and pressing the reset button occasionally, where you can get into bad habits
10:35that creep in time after time of aiming a little bit right or a little bit left. And there's nothing
10:40worse, is there, right? Ripping a swing, feeling an amazing swing out the middle, and the ball's just
10:44sailing in the wrong direction. Yeah. And I guess the point here is that if you aim wrong, then suddenly
10:49your swing path is out and you can get other faults that creep into the game. So, it really is important
10:54to get this right. A hundred percent, yeah. So, how do you do it? So, I always have a bit of a process.
10:58I always come to the range and I'll place one alignment stick down first. That's my ball to target line.
11:03So, we've chosen this red flag down here. I would then put my feet line, which runs parallel to that.
11:09Now, this is getting me to have two parallel lines. On the golf course, if we're drawing or fading,
11:13we would slightly aim different to that, but use this as like a coming back to neutral reset button.
11:20So, now I can stand over here. I've also used the line of a ball to extend that line, address the ball,
11:27make sure everything's neutral. And you know what? It might feel like you're aiming a bit left,
11:31or it might feel like you're aiming now a bit right, but it's getting both target line,
11:35then shoulders, feet, hips, and knees running parallel.
11:38Yeah. Take pride in getting this part right. If you do, it will definitely pay off.
11:47Okay. So, number two on our list is to have two different short game shots up your sleeve. Two that
11:53you feel really comfortable with. One, Alex, is a chip and run. You'll be able to find advice on how to
11:57hit the chip and run on the Golf Monthly website. Alex, I'm sure you'll have some content on your
12:01YouTube channel about how to do it, but we're now going to look at how to hit a bunker shot,
12:05because this is so important. You're going to face it. A lot of golfers struggle with it,
12:09so give us a tip, Alex. So, first thing, choose your most lofted club.
12:13I tend to buy wedges that have a lot of bouts. This helps the club sort of glide through the sand.
12:19Also, I think it's all to do with setup, really. If we set up to this club correctly,
12:23we've got a better chance of hitting it good. So, nice, quickly here, and simple. Dig your feet in.
12:28We've got ball positioning a club head inside our left heel. You want to then grip it with the face
12:33open. Sit down and left, and all I want you to do is feel like you're sliding that club
12:38underneath it with some speed. Okay, go on then. Just like that.
12:48Yeah, and you'll notice, I mean, Alex has swung at that really quite hard.
12:51Yeah. It's just popped it straight up into the air. Loads of control, not gone very far.
12:56It's the simple way to do it, but it does take some practice. Put some time into it,
12:59it will really pay off.
13:05Okay, so our number one top tip for breaking 100, Alex, is to break the round up into small
13:12segments. Explain what people should be doing here. I mean, most people who are trying to break 100,
13:17they'll go out there going, right, okay, well, I've got to do this and this on each nine,
13:21and that whole focus is coming to that end score. So, breaking that round into six sets of three,
13:26you can set your little self a target on those sets, reset after one, go on the next.
13:32Right, okay. So, it might well be that you look at the first three holes and think they're three of
13:36the hardest holes on the golf course. Try to get away from there no more than four over par or something.
13:40Exactly like that, but also, equally, if you have a bad set of three, don't let that impact the nine
13:46holes. Because most people go, ah, I'll reset after the ninth, we'll start again on the tenth.
13:49Yeah. Reset after three, start again. But equally, if you have a good set of three,
13:53don't get too far ahead of yourself and start trying to chase it even more.
13:57Yeah, so managing a score across 18 holes is a lot to do. Managing the same score over three hole chunks
14:03is much more achievable. Give it a go. Okay, so that's our look at our top 10 tips to break 100.
14:10Breaking 100 is such an important barrier that so many golfers are looking to get through. If you
14:15can just do a few of those things that Alex said, not many of them very technical, all of them really,
14:20really useful. They should really help. If you think there's anything that we've missed, that you
14:24have used in the past that really helped you, leave some comments below. We'd love to hear your
14:27thoughts. But that's it for now from The London Club. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
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