A student of mine who practices 3-4 times a week for a few hours at a time described his practice to me the other day. What he informed me was no better than what I would expect from a most people. Lots of hitting golf balls, unstructured, unplanned and no measurement for success. The description of the practice routine was recovered somewhat by the fact that the pupil in question had realised that it wasn't good enough and had little effect on reducing his scores on the course.
Anyway, we sat down and came up with a revised action plan for practice and here is what we came up with.
Example of a 1/2 day practice plan:
45 mins driving range
Starting with short irons working up to last few with driver & other longer clubs
Work back down to finish with wedges
30 mins putting
20 mins drills & technique
10 mins games & tests
1 hour golf course
Assess ball striking/divot shape, direction/shot shape & trajectory control
Short game awareness
Course management
30 mins driving range
Mid irons (mechanics/drills)
Work through set
Work at any weaknesses from the course
50 mins short game
Chipping/pitching/bunkers
Test/games (par 18)
Guess what the result was? A reduction in handicap is the answer. Over a two month period the result of planned practice was a reduction from an 11.2 exact handicap to 9.6 and on the brink of single figure handicap golf. The main reason for that is down to the practice having a purpose, is measurable and targets the scoring areas of the game. Yes we need to work on the swing but we all know by now that the majority of the game is played from inside 80 yards. A high percentage of the practice time should therefore be focusing on this aspect of the game and be tested with games such as Par 18.
The moral here is practice the right thing, have a purpose and you will be going a long way towards giving yourself the chance to shoot lower scores. Mix it up a bit day by day, sometimes more golf course time others all short game and some with intensive sessions working on driving and the longer clubs, but always have a purpose.
Enjoy
Dan Gale
PGA Professional/TPI Certified
Dan is a fully qualified member of the PGA & certified TPI Instructor
Check out his website at www.dangalegolf.com
I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I definitely savored every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
ReplyDeleteIndoor Golf
hello!,I like your writing so much! proportion we keep in touch extra approximately your post on AOL? I require a specialist on this space to resolve my problem. May be that is you! Having a look forward to look you.
ReplyDeleteHome Golf simulator
Different golf balls have different feels based on their respective designs. But you should find the suitable ball for yourself. Visit for more info - golf-hook.com
ReplyDelete