Better Practice for Better Golf

• Begin by establishing a goal for the practice session. Be specific.
• Be sure you have the right frame of mind.
• Stretch & Warm-up.
• Begin with short clubs. They are the heaviest clubs in the bag, therefore the easiest to feel swing.
• Vary the clubs you hit. Beyond the wedges, never hit more than 2 or 3 shots in a row with the same club.
• Simulate playing a golf course. Pick specific targets and landing areas.
• Evaluate your practice session. Did you achieve your goal?
  
  Points to think about:
• There will be some days where nothing you do works. Just forget it. Golf is meant to be enjoyed, so if you’re not having any fun, do something else. The worst thing you can do is to practice bad swings. Go home and watch good golf on TV, then come back tomorrow. Just watching the game played well does a lot to boost your confidence.
• Spend a lot of time practicing things you do well. The more you can do to encourage a good mental image the better. Golf is truly a game between the ears, so practice doing it well.
• Find someone who you can practice with regularly. He or she not only is good company, but can help you stick to your goals. Have little contests with each other to help spice up the practice session.
• Make each shot count. This doesn’t always mean you need to go through your full routine on every swing, but let there be a purpose with every one.

Warm-Up

Make relaxation your priority in your warm-up.

If you have unlimited warm-up time:
1. Begin by stretching your muscles and warming up your body. Walk to the practice tee and slowly swing a club back and forth in a nice rhythm.
2. Hit a few pitch shots just to connect your hands to the clubhead.
3. Work your way up from the short clubs to the long clubs, hitting only 3 or 4 shots with each.
4. Simulate a few opening tee shots. Back away after each one and go through your entire routine.
5. Drop back to the wedge and hit a few more fluid shots. Feel the clubhead.
6. Hit a few chips and pitches. As with full shots, don’t hit more than 2 or 3 of the same shots. Vary them to re-gain your feel.
7. Putt a few 10 to 15 footers to feel the speed of the greens.
8. Putt a few long putts, being sure to putt-out.
9. Make about 5 or 10 one-foot putts to get used to hearing the ball drop.
10. Take 5 minutes to relax and chat with your playing partners. Visualize good shots and look forward to your round.

If you only have 15 minutes:
1. Walk to the range to loosen up and swing a club in your fingers as you walk.
2. Hit a few short iron shots just to let the golf muscles wake-up.
3. Hit a few chips and pitches. As with full shots, don’t hit more than 2 or 3 of the same shots. Vary them to re-gain your feel.
4. Hit a few putts, varying the length of each. Be sure to putt-out.
5. Make about 5 or 10 one-foot putts to get used to hearing the ball drop.
6. Take a minute to relax and visualize a good round.

If you have less than 5 minutes:

1. Hit a few chips to get a feel for the club.
2. Hit a few putts, varying the length of each. Be sure to putt-out.
3. Make about 5 or 10 one-foot putts to get used to hearing the ball drop.
4. Take a minute to relax, loosen up, and visualize a good round.

Effort vs. Results

If I could say one thing in general that sums up what hurts most of our golf games is that most of us put forth way more effort than the result we get from the shot. Most of us swing the club as if it had wronged us in some way and we need to take our frustration out on it. However, we all have felt at some time or another a perfect shot – effortless, fluid, and powerful. When we allow the club to work for us instead of against us, it delivers great results. Take some practice swings while trying to feel the weight of the clubhead through your hands. Feel how it swings by itself and how it wants to rotate around the shaft. Allowing the club to do this will improve your power and consistency in all parts of your game.

Importance of Putting

I’m sure many of you were able to watch this year’s Ryder Cup Matches. I always love to watch and see why the results end up as they do. Once again, the European team defeated the Americans thanks in a large part to their ability to make the big putts. Even when the American’s had a mini-rally going early on during Sunday’s Singles play, the Euros were able to make a putt here and there to quiet the rally and ultimately win the cup. I can only emphasize again the importance of a sound putting game. Even a poor day striking the ball can be minimized with good putting. Even in bad weather, we all can still practice our putting in our homes or wherever we are and continue to improve.

Experimenting

There are many, many approaches to improving your game. Swing “gurus,” teaching aids, gadgets & devices to name a few. If you take your car to a mechanic because something isn’t working correctly, he will look at it to see what is wrong. This is a typical approach to fixing our golf game, but I think we all can put ourselves more in the mechanic’s place as we understand more about our particular games. What I mean by this is that the mechanic probably learned how to fix cars by playing around & taking them apart. Experimenting. For instance, let’s experiment with your golf swing. Say you’ve got a wicked slice and want to get rid of it. Instead of trying to fix the slice, let’s first learn how it is you slice and learn to recognize it. Experiment by trying to slice it more, or less, and then turn around and try to hook one. Let yourself recognize the differences – first be aware of the causes before making any change.

Practice the Short Game

Next time you play, keep track of the number of shots you hit from outside of 100 yards, and the number from inside 100 yards. Look at those numbers and see which is greater, and then ask yourself if that relates to how you practice. Now I think most of us realize that the results will show us that inside 100 yards is where we spend most of our shots on the course, yet most of us spend our practice devoted to outside 100 yards. The beauty of a good short game is that it takes the pressure off of your long game knowing that you can hit the occasional wayward shot and be able to recover, which also usually leads to a better long game. Plus, practicing the short game gives you a great feel and rhythm which you can take to your long game. When you are able, try an experiment. For an entire month when you are playing a lot of golf, only practice shots from inside 100 yards. Never hit more than a wedge or 9 iron, and warm up to play by chipping and putting. Watch your scores and see how it goes.

Pace of Putts

I’m sure many of you are noticing the importance of good pace on your putts. Outside of three to four footers, pace is the most important element of good putting. As you practice and/or warm-up, let the pace of the putts be your focus. One good way to practice this is a variation of what we call the “ladder drill.” Begin with a few balls and putt the first one about 5 feet (pick a flat area and don’t worry about the line). Putt the next one about 2 feet past that first ball, and continue to putt each successive ball 2 feet past the last. Do this with 5 or 6 balls, and then with the next few balls, try to pace them so the end up between balls one and two, balls two and three, and so on until the end. This will force you do focus on your pace, and, as you improve, you can tighten the gaps from two feet to one foot for a real challenge.

Putting Stats

As you continue to work on your game, start to use 30 putts for 18-holes as your benchmark. This works well in two ways: first, it gives you a goal to have a one-putt every three holes. Second it helps your judge how your long-game was that day. If you shot a poor score but had 37 putts, subtract 7 from your score and determine if you would have been happy with that number. If so, you know it is your putting you have to work on and should be pleased with your game from tee-to-green. If, on the other hand, you shot a nice score but had 24 putts, be glad you have been working on your putting and know the long-game may need a bit of work. By using this number as a benchmark, it can help you to know on what areas you need to improve.

"Gimmees"

Many of us do well in casual games, but struggle when it comes to more formal tournament play. I believe a lot of this has to do with “gimmees.” I love the fact that we can play and give each other putts, and also know that it helps to speed-up play. But, I think “gimmees” should be just that, putts that you wouldn’t miss with your eyes closed. 3 to 4 foot putts that are given only hurt you in the long run and give you less of a chance in competitions as they don’t let you accurately reflect your ability with your handicap. Next time you play, gladly accept a putt that is 6 inches away. But when your partner wants to give you that 2 ½ foot downhill, sidehill tester, mark it, read it, go through your routine, and make the putt. It will make you better in the long run.

Half-empty, or half-full?

How do you look at a given situation in golf? For example, take a plugged lie in a bunker. There are two ways to look at it: one is to bemoan the fact that this has happened to you and take the negative attitude. The other, however, is to look at it as an opportunity to pull off a great shot and save your par. Always believe no matter what the situation you have the opportunity to do something great!

Alignment

Probably the most basic yet most important aspect to the golf swing is your alignment, and this month I’d like to speak with you about how it makes a difference in your golf game. Let’s imagine you have the swing of Tiger Woods or Annika Sorenstam, two of the best swings in golf today. Now, let’s imagine the green is 150 yards down the fairway but your alignment is pointing you off into the woods. That beautiful swing won’t do you any good, will it? Another benefit of good alignment is consistency with the rest of your game. Alignment is the number one problem with most golfers, and, fortunately, a fairly easy one to fix. Some days we fight the lefts, some days we fight the rights, but both of these are usually caused by poor alignment, not necessarily a poor swing. So next time you think your swing is messed up, stop and check your alignment first.

Practice with Variety

As you go through the year and take time to practice, I would encourage you to keep a lot of variety in your practice. Unless you are working on one particular thing, rarely hit the same club more than two or three shots in a row. When you chip and putt, frequently change the length of putts, clubs you chip with, type of chip you hit, etc. Why? How often do you hit the same club three times in a row on the golf course? How often do you face the same shot twice in a row? Practicing as close to reality is what enables you to make the most of your practice time, and makes it easier to take it from the range to the golf course.

Why do we play?

I’d like to talk this time about your purpose in playing the game. I wrote in a previous article about practicing with a purpose, but before you can practice with a purpose, you need to think about why you play. Let this help you set your goals and expectations. For example, if your schedule only allows you to play golf once a week at best, and you look forward to spending 5 hours with the guys or girls to get away and relax, then set your golf goals accordingly. You’re not going to practice for hours, so expect to hit a few wayward shots, and let relaxation and fun be your focus. You may, however, look at golf as a great personal challenge and want to put in the time and dedication to improve. If this is the case, then build a solid practice routine, play more, be sure you have the right equipment, and go after it. No matter your reason for playing the game, never lose sight of the fact that it is, and will always be just that—a game. By keeping all of these things in perspective, your trips to the course will be all the more rewarding.

Balance

Next time you watch golf on TV, notice how balanced each player is at the finish of his or her swing. John Daly is a perfect example. No one on tour swings harder or hits it longer than he, but look at how balanced he is on each and every swing. You can swing as hard as you want as long as you are in balance. Do these couple of drills to check yourself and your personal level of balance. Stand up with your hands relaxed at your sides. Bend either leg behind you and grasp your ankle with your hand. If you can, try to bend forward at the waist as far as you can and hold steady. The other check sounds simple, but try it and notice how your feet work to stay steady. Again, stand up with both hands relaxed at your sides. Put your feet together, making sure both big toes are touching. Close your eyes and try to stand still. Sounds easy, right? If either of these are difficult, keep doing them. The more you practice these, the better you will get. When it comes time to play golf, begin feeling how balanced you feel, and let that be one of your major focuses.

Practice with a Purpose

With this comment I want to stress the importance of practicing with a purpose, and making every shot matter. Even when you hit balls on the range, every shot should mean something. It is just as important to set up to the ball using your on-course routine when you practice, because your routine (which is unique to each person) is a critical part of your game. Each time you go to the range, ask yourself what your goal is, whether it be making a major swing change or just warming up before your round. Be sure you set a specific time frame or purpose that needs to be fulfilled before your session is over. Like I said, it may just be to warm up, but as you do, practice doing on the range what you will be doing on the golf course

Practice Priorities

I’d like to discuss a practicing priority list for you to use when you have time to practice. The first priority in your practice should be your short game—both putting and chipping. Next time you tune-in the pros on TV, watch how often they get up-and-down when they miss a green. This should be the most important area to practice for all of us, no matter what our handicap. The next priority should be full shots with your short irons and your driver. These are the difference makers in any round. If you can consistently place the ball in the fairway and put your short irons on the green, you’ll beat 95% of the people you play with. When you practice these, imagine you’re in a realistic situation by defining a “fairway” or a “green” on the practice range, and switch clubs every two or three swings. Finally, if time allows, hit some irons and fairway woods, and then mix it all up by playing imaginary holes on the range. You’ll really see how good you are.