How to make your New Year’s golf resolutions stick

It’s time to make New Year’s resolutions and if you’re like us, you have big plans for your golf game in 2026. Instructors such as Golf Digest Best Young Teacher Megan Padua Buzza say it’s common for golfers to set big goals like getting up and down more, or lowering their handicap. But the way to make those big changes happen is by setting little goals that are easy to stick to. Padua Buzza says your golf resolution shouldn’t be to become a better putter, it should be more along the lines of: I want to do 10 intentional minutes of putting per day.

“One of the biggest mistakes golfers make with New Year’s resolutions is overestimating what they can accomplish in a single week, and underestimating what they can achieve in a year,” Padua Buzza says. “A golfer might have a big vision like lowering their handicap, hitting it farther, or becoming more consistent. But then they set weekly expectations that are unrealistic. When they don’t meet those standards right away, discouragement creeps in and momentum stalls.”

Keep your resolution small, and don’t expect to see results immediately. Instead, commit to a smaller, doable task and focus on achieving it consistently.

“Lasting improvement doesn’t come from massive weekly overhauls. It comes from small, repeatable habits that are easy enough to do consistently,” Padua Buzza says. “Like, doing one focused swing drill before a range session. When habits are simple, fast, and obvious, they’re easier to repeat and repetition is where real change happens. Multiply small wins week after week, and those “tiny” efforts compound into massive gains over time. The golfers who improve the most aren’t doing more, they’re just doing the right small things consistently.”

So, if you’re starting with a big goal like ‘I want to hit it farther,’ set a small, repeatable resolution that will help get you there. Like, doing a certain drill before every range session. Or doing two strength workouts a week. If your goal is to lower your handicap, look at your game. What’s the weakest part? Say it’s putting, and distance control is what you struggle with most on the greens. Make a resolution to do a lag putting drill for 15 minutes every time you go to the course. These types of resolutions are small enough to be able to accomplish, while still being impactful enough to make a difference in your game over the course of a year.

Padua Buzza says that one trick you can implement to help you stay on track is to take notes or video of your resolution throughout the year.

“Accountability changes behavior,” Padua Buzza says. “Tracking turns intention into commitment. Most golfers quit too soon because they forget how far they’ve come. Writing it down or taking video of your game creates proof of progress and progress is one of the most powerful motivators there is.”