Making the most out of practise time

just wondering if anyone has any tips about making the most out of your range time, practise rounds etc., which help in making you improve as quickly as possible


cheers,

Mike

My dad is a PGA Pro and he has always said find your biggest weakness/es and spend 1/3 of your time on these, 1/3 time on everything else and 1/3 on short game (putting/chipping). If you're weak in several areas (driving, approach shots, wedge game), then choose one and concentrate on that for a while with practice (but still not more than 1/3 of your practice time). If you spend too much of your time in one area it often becomes counterproductive or starts to affect other areas.

My biggest weaknesses are approaches of more than 155 yards and 50-75 yard wedges. Every other time I go to practice range I spend about 1/3 of my time on one of those, 1/3 of my time going through bag and hitting everything and 1/3 on chipping and putting. As for practice rounds, I often pick up good shots and throw them into 'less good' lies so that I can practice shots that do not exist on the range. Most important is to always spend time on short game, including bad lies and ackward positions.

One fun thing to do is incorporate a friend/playing partner into your practice either at range or on course with games such as trying to hit targets or playing 'worst ball' or playing shots like you might see on "The Big Break" (as long as you aren't holding anyone up on the course). Have fun!

My range is 75 balls per bucket so for me its

40ish on 9i->3H
10-15 drives
the rest is PW/SW aiming at targets on the field.

Once it warms up here I'll end up paying for the cheap membership there and start using their putting/chipping area too.

I like PiKapp's advice and will try to apply it to my practice sessions.

Because my short game is my weakest link, I spend significant practice time trying to get "up and down" by chipping 5-6 balls a few yards off the green to a hole on the practice green. Once I meet my goal of 1 putting at least 50% of the time I move to a new location and repeat.

At the driving range I always have a target instead of mindlessly pounding balls.

The drill that seems to have had the most impact on my game is chipping one ball onto a practice green and trying to get up and down. I only use one ball at a time because that's all my partners will let me use when we play.

These are a few guidelines i try to abide by when practicing:
-Stay away from "beating balls"- You will hardly ever develop good habits if you machine gun balls without thinking about what you are doing. Take your time before hitting each shot.
-Mix it up- Youre not going to get any as good as you can be by doing the same drills over and over. Try doing new drills that may be challenging to you.
-Dont allow yourself to be frustrated- If you are having trouble on the range, slow down and take a deep breath. You might also try switching clubs for a little bit in order to regain confidence.
-Check the basics- I am a big advocate of laying down some type of alignment stick while on the range. It allows you to be consistent in your setup and therefore you have one less variable to deal with while making any changes.

When at the range you need to have a specific purpose to what you are doing. It is really easy to just start hitting balls until something starts to work - the worst thing that you can do. I refer to this particular practice pattern as "grooving your swing faults" (and I admit to having done my share).

If you are truly lost (e.g., consistently thinning your irons and don't have a clue as to what the problem is) then it might well be time for a lesson. If that isn't practical for you then here are two/similar all-purpose drills that seem to be helpful in solving many different problems.

1) Hit whatever club you are working on with well-controlled half swings, focusing on something useful (like holding your spine angle, weight shift, etc).

2) Make full swings (as in full backswing/full follow-through) but at 'half velocity'. This is not just easy/relaxed but really 'half speed' where your driver goes maybe 125 where it might typically go 250. Again focus on something useful as in #1.

dave