Everything

Question
Ok i am a 15 year old teen who has a 9 handicap and i can usually drive the ball off the tee between oooo I'll say 275 to 290 but thats when i strike it good i have a horrible habit of coming over the top but not on my iron play how come. also i need all the help in the world on my putting ,on average my putting average per 18 holes is about 32 which I do not like so please help and give some tips on solid iron play and if possible my mental game is so so so so bad so thanks alot for your time and please help ,thank you so much.
                      Luke Owings

  PS how come i can shoot horrible on the front nine and awesome on the back. for example yesterday my score went 44 on the front 36 on the back i would like to know why thanks alot.( which was 9 over then 1 over)par 70


Answer
Wow where do i start! Hi Luke thanks for this question, what a humdinger! Right we need to look at these problems in turn:

1) coming over the top of it with your driver usually means your trying to hit it too hard and starting the downswing with your shoulders instead of your knees and hips, try to hit it at 70% effort for a while and see if that helps.

2) Putting figures of 32 on average are not bad my friend, what you need to do is look at where the putts are being played from ie how far from the hole are you putting from to start with, 20ft, 30ft 40ft? If this is the case then you need to tidy up your chipping and pitching beacause you may be two putting a lot because your not getting close enough to the hole in the first place.

3) Sorry but i don't know what you mean by solid iron play, can you be more specific.

4) The mental side is easy; it's all about routine, have you got a solid pre shot routine if not develop one, watch the tour players get them selves ready to play a shot and see what they do, this way you'll have more time to get your head right first, things like visualisation of the shot( see yourself play the shot in your mind beofre you play it for real) remember to focus on the shot in hand and not think ahead or about the past, and in between shots enjoy the scenery, chat with friends, think of anything except golf shots! Stay in the present! The best book to read is "Golf is not a game of perfect" by Doctor Bob Rotella or "The golf of your dreams" or "Golf is a game of confidence" all by Bob Rotella. He has worked with Davis Love 111, Brad Faxon, Hal Sutton and loads more, he rocks!
I think you were trying too hard for the front nine when you shot 44, and in the back nine you relaxed and thought "Hey whatever!" and then played much better. try these tips out and get back to me.