If you’re into New Year’s resolutions, you’ve probably already made them — but did you make your 2015 golf resolutions yet?

As an instructor, here’s 10 few things I think you should consider. These drills, assessments and practice plans will have to on your way to playing the best golf of your life in 2015.

No. 1: Create More Speed

Everyone needs more speed in this game — even the longest players in your group could stand to swing a little faster. After all, golfers can always scale back when things are going wrong, but trying to hit your three wood 20 yards farther than you’ve ever hit it? That’s probably not going to happen. And if you’re trying to raise your game to the next level, it’s hard to have success if you don’t hit the ball at least the average distance.

For every 1 mph you add to your club head speed (assuming centered impact), you can gain up to 3 yards more distance. Very few of us will be able to create 10 more mph and still find the center of the face, but if you could find 3, 4 or 5 mph it would be nice, don’t you think?

Use my swish drill to produce more speed. Take an alignment stick and set up as you would normally. Then make a swing trying to make the swish out in front of the ball and as loud as possible. You will hear “more speed.”

Next, take this feeling to the range and try hitting 10 drives as hard as you can. Then hit five drives as you normally would. Using these two drills will help you get faster over time. Try it and you’ll see.

No. 2: Improve Your Wedge Game from 30-to-80 Yards

This is usually the worst part of most amateurs’ game. Regardless of your level of play, you should seek to make your wedge game an asset, not a liability. No one likes to turn a chance to make a birdie into a bogey or worse, and a fat or thin shot from 30-to-80 yards is often the culprit.

Remember that the first key to wedges is to get the ball on the green. Once you can do that consistently, you can then hone in on the hole. If you want to become a better wedge player, you will need to practice and chart your distances and dispersion. You can do this on Trackman or at home on your own. You want to understand how far you carry each shot and what your “miss pattern” tends to be from each yardage so you can plan accordingly.

No. 3: Increase Your Flexibility

I am NOT advocating that golfers spend two hours in the gym each day doing cardio, weights and stretching. If you can, that’s great, but it’s not realistic for most people. There are many things you can do at home to aid your flexibility, however, and one of my favorite things to do is to take a heavy club and use it to STRETCH myself into different positions. What I did not tell you to do is swing the heavy club back and forth.

The stretching I advocate is a way to move your body into positions that it’s not used to so you can find your “normal” swinging position easier. If you’d like more exercises regarding flexibility, strength, injury provention, etc., visit www.mytpi.com, the leader in golf-specific training.

Example: I did not swing into this position at my normal speed. I swung at one-eighth speed and took the club back as far as I could. Then I pushed it a little farther and held it for a few seconds. Then I repeated it a few times SLOWLY so I could feel the stretch.

No. 4: Take More Lessons

If you want to get better at golf and improve your own personal well being on the golf course, you are going to need some help. If possible, I advocate taking a lesson a week. If you cannot, then shoot for one lesson each month. It will help you to make sure you stay on the right track.

You can find a listing of Golf Digest’s Top Teachers by state at this link: http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2013-11/best-teachers-state-ranking

It’s always best to find a teacher uses video and some type of launch monitor within their lessons, since most of us need all the help we can get. This listing will help you to find the most active teachers in your area.

No. 5: Audit Your Set Make Up and Get Fit

If I had a dollar for every person who comes into my facility with slick grips, a missing club, and/or a poor set makeup that leaves distance gaps in their game I’d be a member at Bighorn!

There are tools now that help us see if the clubs you have in your bag actually work for your game and answer questions such as:

• Are your lofts and lies correct for you?
• Do you have the right shafts?
• Do you have enough fairway woods, hybrids or wedges in your bag?
• Do you have the right kind of irons for your game?
• Are you playing the right ball?

I would suggest seeking out one of Golf Digest Top 100 Club-Fitters shown at this link and make sure you are on the right track: http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/2013-05/100-best-clubfitters.

Secondly, take the time to get on a launch monitor and get a “gap” fitting that will show you if you have yardage gaps within your current set.

No. 6: Get a Short Game Lesson

When I ask golfers how their short game is, I almost always hear the same answer. “It’s fine,” they say. But when I watch them play it’s usually a total disaster. Why? Most golfers ONLY care about hitting the ball and they forget that the key to scoring is to have a short game that is not a total hindrance. I have seen plenty of players get around the green in two shots on a par 4 and then take four more shots to get the ball into the hole. Nice double!

Please take a short game lesson so you can better learn to hit a stock chips, pitches and flops around the green and I promise that you will thank me in the end. This is where I see a ton of shots wasted on the course and it tends to get worse over time if not corrected.

No. 7: Work on your Lag Putting

How many times have you REALLY worked on your lag putting? No, I’m not talking about hitting a few 30 footers and calling it a day, but actually hitting super long putts, working on huge breaking putts and putting from different shelves. These are the things that will help you stop three-putting! Everyone can hit the normal putts we have from 30 feet or so on the flattest portion of the green, but it’s not those that give people the problems.

You should spend at least 50 percent of your putting practice on super-fast putts, huge breaking putts, etc., so that you have a feel of how to control your ball on different lines and with different speeds. A great drill to work on is to find a huge breaking putt and work on lag putting it to the hole using as many different “lines” as possible. This will help your visualization, as well as your feel on the greens.

To be a great lag putter, it’s absolutely necessary to understand how different lines necessitate different speeds. Take the time to understand how to do this and you will not three whip it too often in 2015!

No. 8: Learn to Hit the Horizontal and Vertical Center of the Club

Everyone knows that you need to find the center of the club as often as you can, but few know that there are two different places you should be mindful of when hitting shots.  You need to control your vertical impact point and your horizontal impact point on the club.

The vertical portion of impact controls your launch and your spin rate. Hitting it low on the face creates a lower launch and gives your ball more spin. Hitting the ball on the high part of the face gives you a higher launch and less spin.

The horizontal portion of impact controls the “Gear Effect” on the ball. If you hit the ball on the toe, you will tend to see the ball curve more left (for righties). Hitting the ball on the heel will cause the ball to curve more to the right. Gear effect can also negate curvature or exaggerate a shot that is curving right-to-left or left-to-right.

Spray your club face with Dr. Scholl’s Foot Spray and you will see what I mean.

Once you establish your usual pattern, take small swings and try to move the impact location back into the center of the face. Doing this will add ball speed and help you to hit the ball straighter and more consistently.

No. 9: Leave Your Ego in the Car

Know your limitations and don’t be a bonehead on the course. If you really were that good, you’d have a lower handicap, so relax and accept your limitations!

Note: This includes myself!

No. 10: Find a “Go-To” Shot Under Pressure

On the range, it’s so easy. We are relaxed and things tend to work, but what happens when it goes bad on the course? Do you have an exit strategy?

A go-to shot is one that gets you back into the clubhouse with the lowest score possible. If you don’t have one, go to the practice facility and find yours. It could be a low cut, a punch shot, or even a big slice. When the chips are down and you are hitting it sideways, trust your go-to shot so you can salvage your round.