Effective practice

[drawboy]

I really want to get better this year and want to make a consious effort to improve my game, I know I have the potential to be far better than my handicap suggests but I do not know how to practice effectively. I know bashing balls does nothing but ingrain bad habits, but how do you practice to get better? Good players have a goal they want to achieve and practice to achieve this. but I don't know how to do this, so how do you do it?

 

[ScienceBoy]

General advice for range time, pretty common to see similar values

50% of time on putting and chipping, focus about 80% of that on holing out with the putter.

10% Driving

30% short iron, wedge approach play

5% Tee shots with other clubs

5% Different shots, punches, fades etc

Fit specific drills in with each releatd area.

also play 3/5/9 holes as often as you can.

Additional practice at home in front of the mirror on posture and grip is also important.

BUT the most imporant thing is to have regular lessons, every 4-6 weeks for a year or so. Get a lesson package and get on the video and out on the course in playing lessons.

That is what I have tried to base my practice time on, usually I spend too much time on the iron/driver area but I have adjusted it due to my short game being pretty good and other areas needing urgent work.

I found the most helpful thing was 5 mins infront of the mirror at home looking at posture and grip as well as 30 mins putting on the carpet to a 5p coin. Record is 5 coin hits in a row from 10 feet!

All this along with getting the right shaft in my driver and getting new irons has taken me from a mid 90s player to a mid 80s player within one year of taking up the game as my main hobby.

 

[timgolfy]

I know bashing balls does nothing but ingrain bad habits

Bashing balls also ingrains good habits, if the technique is correct.

For leaning, I think of it like this: I don't control my golf swing, my brain does. My brain is stupid; it doesn't know what to do. It's like a calculator. What goes is in processed then churned out. If I want good result out, I have to program it to behave. But the programming does not happen by conscious thought. It happens by repetition. Many thousands of correctly performed actions are required.

The brain is like a little puppy. It needs to be trained.

The golf swing is not a conscious set of movements, but a response controlled by the brain.

IMHNPO.

 

[JT77]

Get yourself a plan mate of where you want to be.
Start at the finish, so say you want to drop 3 shots, then work on what you need to do to get there.
for me, off 11 now ( ) I want to get to 8, So I have worked out the areas where I cost myself several shots per round, and I will allocate extra time to that area.
I know that my pitching is struggling, so I had a lesson, and i set myself 20 mins extra to that part of my game, So if I have an hour, I will warm up, then hit mid irons for 15 mins, getting my swing and tempo, then half hour on the short game area, I hit 5/6 balls from 3 or 4 positions, getting the feel of the distances and the shot, then I move closer to the green, and practice bump and run, and short chips, to make sure that if I miss the green, I am giving myself chances to get up and down. Then I will hit some more pitches, it is a work in progress.

I also know that I cost myself 1 or 2 shots from short range putts, so diff putter and 10 mins at the green when I go practice, and carpet putt for 10-15 mins on a night to get my stroke going.

So maybe look at areas you know cost, and give them extra time, and maybe get a couple pointers if you feel you need them.

Good luck, sorry if it didnt help lol!!

 

[G_Mulligan]

I know bashing balls does nothing but ingrain bad habits

Bashing balls also ingrains good habits, if the technique is correct.

For leaning, I think of it like this: I don't control my golf swing, my brain does. My brain is stupid; it doesn't know what to do. It's like a calculator. What goes is in processed then churned out. If I want good result out, I have to program it to behave. But the programming does not happen by conscious thought. It happens by repetition. Many thousands of correctly performed actions are required.

The brain is like a little puppy. It needs to be trained.

The golf swing is not a conscious set of movements, but a response controlled by the brain.

IMHNPO.

As a student of sports science, psychology, sport psychology and golf in general I have one word for that...Bollocks.

The brain is not like a calculator, nor is it like a puppy.

For practice to be affective you need to play each practice shot like you are on the course and every shot on the course like you are in practice. Pick your targets and make them as small as possible. Go through your full pre-shot routine on each shot. Hole out your chips and putts. Change clubs regularly and play a variety of shots. Short game is by far the most important to scoring well so devote most of your practice time to that with an emphasis on getting the ball up and down in 1-2 shots.

Most importantly I think you need to have perseverance and determination to improve. set yourself long term goals with short term challenges. Come up with a weekly practice plan and stick to it. Make sure it is fun and leaves plenty of relaxation time too.

I would recommend Bob Rotella The golf of your dreams for the psychology of practice and long term improvement.

Hope that helps

 

[timgolfy]

You spelt "effective" incorrectly.
Aside form that, I disagree with everything else too.

Isn't life great?

 

[Swinger]

It's great when your straight!

 

[bobmac]

You spelt "effective" incorrectly.
Aside form that, I disagree with everything else too.

Isn't life great?

It is when you can spell

 

[timgolfy]

"That's not a spelling mistake, it's a contradiction."

 

[Robobum]

"That's not a spelling mistake, it's a contradiction."

Is bell end one word or two?

 

[drawboy]

O.K back to the O.P

 

[ScienceBoy]

The golf swing is not a conscious set of movements, but a response controlled by the brain.

By that thinking my golf swing is an allergic reaction

 

[Swinger]

The golf swing is not a conscious set of movements, but a response controlled by the brain.

By that thinking my golf swing is a knee jerk reaction

Fixed!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The thing with bashing 000's of balls is how do you know you know if the technique is correct. You can make a number of swings and get a decent contact especially off a range mat that could be technically incorrect.

For me I'd look at working on getting it close from <100 and in. That is where the scoring is done. If you can stick approaches close you cam give yourself birdie chances or an opportunity to still save par if you've not been able to go for the green (bad drive for example). Chipping and putting will also save you shots. I try and focus on my 3-6 foot putts as they tend to be the ones I leave for par or I need for a half in a match sometimes.

Why not speak to your pro and see if he can give you some ideas and drills to try

 

[CrapHacker]

I'm having exactly the same problem atm.

I'm getting down the range a bit more frequently than I have been, and use, say, the first ten balls of a 50 ball bag to warm up.

Then out of the next 40 I'll probably hit 4 or 5 really bad shots, 15 poor, and 15 half decent.

Which leaves me with 5 or 6 real good screamers.

How is that ingraining a good swing? Surely it's just teaching my muscle memory to be a half decent, to poor golfer.

And I can be one of them without the extra practice.

 

[bobmac]

Range practice is a waste of time, effort and money, unless you know what to practice.
If you know what your fault is and what drills to practice to fix the fault, then bash away.
If you are self taught and just guessing and trying anything in the hope that something will click, you might as well wallpaper the spare bedroom for all the good it will do you.

Make your practice constructive. Be patient with any changes you are making and most of all enjoy the learning experience.

If you dont enjoy standing on the range, dont do it. Go and play golf instead.

 

[chrisd]

Our local range gas a grass area that we can hit off during the summer months and you would be suprised how few people bother to use it. It's only from the grass at the range that I'm happy to accept that a good shot really is good



Chris

 

[viscount17]

how much more effective would your practice be if you applied the pleasure/pain principle?

so indulge yourselves, what is going to stimulate you to recreate that perfect swing, and what is going to discourage you from repeating that slice?

 

[timgolfy]

It's impossible to do everything 100% correct all the time (or probably any of the time).

For me, after a good swing which results in a good shot I'll play another one without stopping to think. If that goes well I'll do the same. If something goes wrong or feels wrong, I'll then stop, retrace the movements and attempt to identify the problem. Then I'll work on the correct movement, and finally hit another ball. And repeat.

To my thinking this will "groove" the good swings, and stop the bad ingraining.

The obvious question is: how do you know what a "good swing" is? For me: Constant study of the mechanics, listening to the body, analysing and practicing movements, feel and sound of contact, ball flight, video analysis, a convex mirror, and occasional inspections by a third party (pro).

 

[G_Mulligan]

how much more effective would your practice be if you applied the pleasure/pain principle?

so indulge yourselves, what is going to stimulate you to recreate that perfect swing, and what is going to discourage you from repeating that slice?

Brilliant so for a good swing you get a piece of chocolate, flash of boobs etc. for a bad swing you get a smack in the face or an electric shock!!