Many players take lessons to become more consistent and strike the ball better. Before this happens a skill assessment should be done to determine what area(s) need improvement. You can break them down into categories such as a) decision-making, b) technique, c) ball control, d) wedge game, e) putting, f) ball striking, g) mental game and h)sand bunker. This assessment should be done on the golf course so you can get actual feedback. The first skill, decision-making, involves shot selection and club selection. Before you just randomly take out your driver, assess the difficulty of the hole, hazards and the best section of the fairway to aim. Maybe there is a bunker on the side of the fairway you want to be your landing area and you will have to lay up to avoid the bunker, so using the driver may not be the best club selection. Another example is this: let's assume you have a 25 yard shot to the green with a tree if front of you with high branches. You could try and hit a pitch shot with just enough loft to stay under the branches or do you chip and run the ball to the green? Making the correct decision in either case can save you strokes.
The next skill is technique. Once you have made the shot and club selection, you need to set up and execute the shot. Proper ball position, swing length, aim all have an impact on execution. These skills become intertwined and have to come together to execute the shot successfully. Another skill is your ability to control trajectory and yardage, which again is related to the first two skills. Does your ball flight tend to be high or low? How is this going to affect your yardage? These questions relate back to your decision-making process as well. The wedge game is another skill that is important to assess. How many wedges are in your bag? What situations do you use them in and do you use them properly? Distance and your ability to spin the ball are two things to look at. Be careful in this area of assessment as the wedge game can make or break your round. Putting also involves distance control in which technique plays a major role. How many putts do you average in a round? This is important information to know.
Ball striking is dependent on wrist position, release, impact position. Make sure you have an understanding of what produces a solid golf shot and how and when to release the golf club. How is your mental game? Do you get frustrated and angry during your round? Your ability to maintain your composure and keep a positive outlook on your round is something you should assess. Sand bunker play is overlooked much of the time, so a close assessment of this area will help. Consider using different clubs out of the sand for the different lengths of sand shots you will encounter. Understanding the bunker shot will also help your decision-making process. If you assess all of these areas, you can start to see how many strokes can be saved.
When you do skills assessments you learn what you need to work on and how to practice the skill more effectively. Your practice time becomes more quality time which will produce better results on the golf course. You can think of other areas during your round that you lose strokes. After every round, go back over your game and assess what happened to determine the area(s) you need to focus on.