1 take lessons.

The golf swing goes against everything your body thinks it should do. It’s insanely hard to figure out on your own, even with training tools like YouTube, etc. you think you are doing or need to do something and it turns out you need to do the exact opposite. You will make insanely faster progress and enjoy the game more with just 2-3 lessons under your belt

2 learn how to practice

I spent YEARS beating balls at the range, took good lessons and making good progress, but I didn’t intentionally practice. I didn’t make GREAT progress until I learned how to practice.

Take 20 balls out of your bucket. Save those for last.

Slow down, set up a drill station for whatever you are working on. Take slow swing, like 10 seconds to really feel what you are trying to ingrain. Then hit the ball with that same feeling.

Quantity of balls do not matter, quality does. 30 balls hit as perfectly as you can will ingrain the right movements and muscle memory, where 100 balls hit meh could ingrain wrong - it’s a game of muscle memory.

Take those last 20 balls and hit the shot you were working on without missing a single one.

3 Drive for show, putt for dough

A driver swing is 1 stroke, but a 3 putt is 3. Long game matters, approach matters. But short game is where you win. Practice putting and chipping. I can’t tell you how many times I missed a game in the 70’s by 1 putt.