MY SYSTEM TO DEVELOP GOLFERS

How I coach

Start with how you score.
Find what's costing you shots.
Fix it with the smallest change that works.

PGA Fellow Coach  ·  Today's Golfer Top 50 UK Coach  ·  15,000+ golfers coached

What I believe

There's more than one way to play great golf. My job isn't to sell you a method. It's to help you understand your own game well enough to own it.

We test it, not just trust it

It's a collaboration

Measure, don't guess

The system

Eight steps. The same loop every time.

New to the game or off scratch, in person or online — this is how we work.

Find it

Steps 01–04

01

Discover

How you actually score.

You get where your shots go.

02

Benchmark

Your numbers against your level.

You get what’s ahead, what’s behind.

03

Pinpoint

The area costing you most.

You get one priority, not ten.

04

Diagnose

What’s weak there, and why.

You get the cause, on camera and in numbers.

Fix it

Steps 05–06

05

Predict

Test the options before changing anything.

You get one change, and the reason.

06

Prescribe

The lightest fix that works.

You get drills, Skills Games, a plan for the week.

Prove it

Steps 07–08

07

Prove

Retest when the work is nearly done.

You get before and after, side by side.

08

Review

What worked. What’s next.

You get the next priority, set together.

Step 02 · Benchmark, in practice

What does a golfer at your level actually do?

Pick your handicap. Real-round averages — the first thing we look at together.

Handicap

A scratch golfer averages +2.0, with 0.3 doubles or worse a round.

Tee shots

285yds

driver, better strikes

Penalties off the tee 0.14 a round

Approach

59%

greens in regulation

Green hit from 100–150 yards 62%

Short game

54%

up and down inside 50 yards

From 25–50 yards 32%

Putting

76%

holed from 3–6 feet

Three-putts 3% of greens

A 5 handicap averages +8.0, with 1.4 doubles or worse a round.

Tee shots

261yds

driver, better strikes

Penalties off the tee 0.14 a round

Approach

41%

greens in regulation

Green hit from 100–150 yards 47%

Short game

47%

up and down inside 50 yards

From 25–50 yards 25%

Putting

67%

holed from 3–6 feet

Three-putts 6% of greens

A 10 handicap averages +13.0, with 2.9 doubles or worse a round.

Tee shots

259yds

driver, better strikes

Penalties off the tee 0.14 a round

Approach

32%

greens in regulation

Green hit from 100–150 yards 41%

Short game

39%

up and down inside 50 yards

From 25–50 yards 20%

Putting

65%

holed from 3–6 feet

Three-putts 7% of greens

A 15 handicap averages +18.4, with 4.7 doubles or worse a round.

Tee shots

236yds

driver, better strikes

Penalties off the tee 0.28 a round

Approach

21%

greens in regulation

Green hit from 100–150 yards 32%

Short game

34%

up and down inside 50 yards

From 25–50 yards 16%

Putting

59%

holed from 3–6 feet

Three-putts 11% of greens

A 20 handicap averages +23.2, with 6.7 doubles or worse a round.

Tee shots

225yds

driver, better strikes

Penalties off the tee 0.28 a round

Approach

14%

greens in regulation

Green hit from 100–150 yards 25%

Short game

31%

up and down inside 50 yards

From 25–50 yards 14%

Putting

55%

holed from 3–6 feet

Three-putts 13% of greens

A 25 handicap averages +29.9, with 9.2 doubles or worse a round.

Tee shots

204yds

driver, better strikes

Penalties off the tee 0.56 a round

Approach

9%

greens in regulation

Green hit from 100–150 yards 19%

Short game

25%

up and down inside 50 yards

From 25–50 yards 9%

Putting

48%

holed from 3–6 feet

Three-putts 13% of greens

Your numbers go next to these. Behind your level is where we start. Distances are measured against your own driver, not the average — and fairways hit isn’t shown because it barely moves from scratch (50%) to 25 (47%).

Source: Shot Scope 2025, averages from real rounds at each handicap.

Steps 05–06 · The fix, in practice

It isn't always a swing change.

Four kinds of work, all equal. The diagnosis decides.

Technique

How you move the club.

e.g. low point control for thin strikes

Skill

What you can repeat.

e.g. landing wedges in a 10-yard band

Practice

How you spend the hour.

e.g. random practice with a score

Strategy

The shot you choose.

e.g. aiming at the fat side of the green

Find it yourself→External based task→Internal based task / drills→Technical detail

Start at the lightest end. Go further only when needed.

Step 07 · Prove, in practice

Each area has a test. Each test has a number to beat.

Skills Games: twenty shots, scored out of 100, against your level. First session sets the start; we retest when the work is nearly done.

Driver Corridor Ladder Skills Game card

Driver Corridor Ladder

Tee shots · twenty drives, three corridors

Approach Dispersion Skills Game card

Approach Dispersion

Approach · twenty shots from 150 yards

3-Foot Putting Skills Game card

3-Foot Putting

Putting · twenty putts, four sides of the hole

What you can expect

You'll know it's working.

1

Ball flight and contact improve

2

Skills Games scores climb

3

Your on-course numbers move

4

Your scores follow

In that order, every time. How fast depends on the work you put in.

Your members area

Every student has one — in person, online or on the training week.

01

Your development plan

By area: on benchmark or not, what we’re working on, what to practise.

02

Skills Games

The full library, with your history for each one.

03

The Benchmark Book

Every number here and hundreds more, for every level.

04

Your stats

Record your rounds. See the patterns.

05

Your profile

Goals, history, how you play and practise.

The Benchmark Book inside the Steve Thomas Golf members area

The Benchmark Book, in the members area.

Common doubts

Will this work for me?

I've had lessons before and got worse.

That shouldn’t happen. Ball flight and contact improve early. If they don’t, we change the approach — the numbers tell us.

Yes. Five tallies over three rounds is all we need to start.

No. The numbers are for me. You get one priority and the work to do.

Same system, same members area. Videos and numbers come to me through OnForm; every review comes back as two videos — what I see, how to fix it.

Your first step

Want to know what's costing you shots?

Most of my students stay with me 18 months or more. See their results →