What percentage of time do you spend playing golf vs. practicing to play golf

[clearwaterms]

I am curious to see what percentage of time do you play golf compared to how much time do you spend practicing to play golf?  How do you define practice?  Do you consider playing a practice round; practice or playing?

How are you comparing them (by outings, hours, etc.)

I will go first.  I typically spend around 30% of my time that I play golf on the practice range.  A typical visit to the driving range for me is 1-2 hours in length compared to a round of golf that is 2-5 hours (9-18 holes)

I try to alternate my golf outings so that every other visit is golfing and range, but because my range time is approx. 1/2 as long as a round of golf, I think it's around 30% on average.

[nevets88]

I'm in a grey area, I like 9 hole outings where I am playing multiple balls and working on swing mechanics and short game, not keeping score.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by nevets88

I'm in a grey area, I like 9 hole outings where I am playing multiple balls and working on swing mechanics and short game, not keeping score.

This. The range is great when I'm trying to correct one thing, but I feel my practice is better served on the course.

Doesn't help that the ranges around here suck.

[Fourputt]

1% practice to 99% play.  Mostly get bored practicing.

[Hacker James]

I do not spend a lot of time on the range but I do have a hitting net and a good mat in the backyard. I use the "almost Golf" practice balls which are pretty darn good and react very much like the real thing. Nice thing about it is that I can step outside anytime I want even if for only a few minutes. As I mentioned on a previous post, the mat is one I got at Home Depot for around $22 and glued it to a piece of plywood. It is plush and durable, allows you to hit down and through, provides some feedback if you "chunk" and even will hold a wooden tee loosely.

I sometimes use the range at the course but usually "after" a round to work out things that came up during the round. Or, if I feel the need for warmup prior to a round I might hit a small bucket.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Hacker James

I do not spend a lot of time on the range but I do have a hitting net and a good mat in the backyard. I use the "almost Golf" practice balls which are pretty darn good and react very much like the real thing. Nice thing about it is that I can step outside anytime I want even if for only a few minutes. As I mentioned on a previous post, the mat is one I got at Home Depot for around $22 and glued it to a piece of plywood. It is plush and durable, allows you to hit down and through, provides some feedback if you "chunk" and even will hold a wooden tee loosely.

I sometimes use the range at the course but usually "after" a round to work out things that came up during the round. Or, if I feel the need for warmup prior to a round I might hit a small bucket.

I move on Friday, and plan on setting up something similar in my garage!

[Bogeysaurus]

I've been keeping a spreadsheet since I started about a month ago:

Range/Practice     15.5 hours     55%

Backyard              3.5  hours     12.5%

Playing                 9.0  hours     32%

Range/practice includes putting and chipping time as well as full swing practice.  Backyard is mostly chipping but some full swing with whiffle balls.  And playing thus far is all 9 hole rounds by myself.

I thought I was going to be migrating toward more time spent playing vs range until discovering a couple major flaws in my swing recently that I'll have to fix first before spending much time playing.

I spend about 7-8 hours a week doing some type of golf.  I'm hoping at this clip 2-3 months from now I'll be a bogey golfer:)

[Jameshooper]

I practice in the early morning before work at 5:00 to 7:30 once or twice a week.  I chip and putt for an hour and a half, and then hit balls on the range for another half hour or so.  I play on Saturday and Sunday mornings in a league with friends, and i get there early and hit balls on Saturday for an hour before we tee off at 7:30, and on Sunday we play at 8:30 or so, and I get to practice for about 2 hours.  If I have the time after I play, I will work on my swing for an hour or so.  My club doesn't open the course for play until 7:00 during the week, so I don't get the chance to play before work, so I probably end up practicing a little less than the time it takes me to play twice a week  I wish my club opened the course earlier so i could play 9 holes before work.

[bluecollar01]

I've only been doing this for about a month but I'm already seeing improvement.  Before I was only playing once or twice a month and would only visit the range the week I knew I'd be playing.

Playing

- 9 hole Friday night league

- 1 18 hole round every other week

Practice

- (2) 1 - 1.5 hour chipping/putting sessions a week

- 1 hour range practice a week

So, for percentages I guess I average about 50 / 50 over a two week period.  I'd like to play more often but don't seem to have the time.

I think last year I only played a total of 8 rounds so I joined the golf league this year to increase my golfing time.  I'm shooting mid to low 90's but think I'll be in the 80's relatively soon as I routinely have several stubbed chips and too many three putts every round.  Hoping the short game practice eliminates those mis-steps (already seeing improvement) and creates a few birdie opportunities.

[Hacker James]

for me, the backyard chipping practice appears to be helping a lot. I can chip/pitch accurately enough to put me into the two putt range with quite a few one putts. I average about 14-16 putts per side now. I do not hit a lot of GIR's though. Drives are okay, but second shot needs work. Its probably more mental than anything, especially after hitting a long straight drive I think I am a little anxious to "see" where the next shot goes when I should just take a breath or two, smooth it out, let the ball flight take care of itself.  "long and straight" for me means about 230 yards including roll out.

as for full swings into the net....the jury is still out on that as you can not see the ball flight.  I still think I can tell however, by where it hits the back of the cage and how it bounces back. In any event, I use it mostly for swing mechanics (I can see my reflection in the house window). I may have my lady shoot a video with a point and shoot as I can not afford a true high speed video camera. The little "Canon" takes reasonably good photos.

[gosly]

I'm almost a 50/50 split, depending on the week.  It depends on if my buddies are available for a round.  I usually pick up the sticks ~3 days a week.  Depending on the week that may be a mix of range practice/short game practice/playing a (usually 9-hole) round.

Recently I've been doing 2 rounds of 9 in a week and one day at the range or putting green.

[Dave2512]

I don't track it but I play more than practice in the summer. I work on drills pretty much every day. But a lot of it is slow-mo swings and working on specific things, may not even have a club in hands. I just got done with wall drills and practice swings on a mat in my office. A lot of it is stuff like that. Later I'll hit 1/3 of a small bucket before playing 9. After my morning workout I'll roll 20-30 5-6' putts and work on 2 ball drills using dry-erase marker on the head.

[Meltdwhiskey]

I play a lot more than practice.  Since playing and practicing overlap, the playing seems to kill both birds.  More interesting too. But I always hit a bunch of balls before playing - and sometimes a bucket after.

[dpgator33]

barring travel, illness, etc., I'm playing 2-3 rounds an average week.  Some weeks I don't hit the range at all though.  I  need to start hitting up the range instead of playing 9 after work during the week.

[Lihu]

7 days a week hitting lots of balls for exercise (and now with a new coach to put me back on track when I fall off), and once or twice a week playing. So, something like 14%(play) to 86%(practice).

[meenman]

My only practice (and it is more loosening up than practice) is hitting the range and putting green before my round.

Other than that it is the orange whip every week night and that is about it.

[Spyder]

Last year I was playing some of my best golf and I managed to hit the range 4 times a week for 2 hours at a time and then play 1 or 2 rounds per week as well. Now that my life's responsibilities have changed and I no longer have the time, I hit the range once a week and play 1-2 rounds per week. I am no where near the same caliber golfer that I was last year, even though my scores have not dropped off that much yet .

[David in FL]

I practice VERY seldom. I hit 20 balls or so to warm up before a round, but 99% of the time I have a golf club in my hand, it's on the course.