practising

[Cernunnos]

If I'm on my own playing one ball & being held up by a group infront I'll take a spare ball or two & practicehitting into the green, or doing a bit of putting practice from various points, as a way of trying to maintain some sort of tempo of movement between holes.

 

[viscount17]

on my own and no-one coming up behind, I'll replay a duff shot more than once if necessary (sometimes essential if the first has gone swimming - on one particular hole I've hit three/four off the tee to get a dry one! (173 yd par 3 over water, prevailing wind left to right, lake on right which has a magnetic attraction)

 

[RGuk]

I don't think playing with a few balls is out of order....not at all, as long as you're not holding anyone up.

I generally play just one ball but sometimes hit another if there is good reason to try something different. On a par 3, I might come up short or long, or miss the green r or l and then have another go.

Once or twice, I've emptied my bag trying to hit the perfect shot off a particular tee. On the 16th at mine, it's a fade off yellow and a draw off white (completely different tee area).....I've often hit a good few experimenting off the white area (not on the actual white tee, just in case!!)

Up the last at mine there is a lake at 210, and I want to get as close as possible without going in. I hit 6 20* rescues up there and never got close enough, tried a 5 wood and went straight in!!! At least I now know the 5 wood is simply a no-go.

As for going to the d-range and not making it count on the course, I can't really express any usefull comment BUT I do lots of practice at the range and it never even crosses my mind that I won't be that good on the course. I can hit 90% pure and almost dead straight at the range.....that's the comfort of a square mat/dividing walls/flat lie etc.etc. Obviously, I'm not going to have this consistency in real conditions, but at least I know I can trust my swing.....it's when the range session goes pear shaped that I know I'm in trouble.

 

[GB72]

I am another one who will play more than one ball if on my own and the course is quiet. After all, the purpose of going out on my own is to practice and improve so if I hit a duff shot I try it again to see if I can correct what went wrong. It also helps with my confidence. If I play a duff shot and am faced with it on my next round the temptation is to think negatively whereas if I hit another ball and play the shot well that time I know in my mind that the shot is not beyond the range of my abilities and tend to play it with more confidence next time out.