Which is where the "5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge" thread comes in. Knowing that you have to blog each day is a great motivator to find the time needed to do something (hopefully) intelligent toward improving your swing.

I agree 100%. I am a firm believer in putting in the time with hard core practice... And I rarely miss a day of putting at least an hour of practice. However, I only started in doing it this past summer when I decided to get serious. The key to putting the time consistently for practice (for me) is "enjoying" it. I enjoy a good practice session just as much as playing a round on the course. However, I know my issue is probably practicing smarter. I usually question myself whether I am doing the right things... Overthink stuff...etc. How do I know that I am getting the most out of each session?

17 hours ago, Dave325 said:

putting

Freudian slip?

Agree too. Cotton ball is a great idea!

21 hours ago, chris3putt said:

Which is where the "5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge" thread comes in. Knowing that you have to blog each day is a great motivator to find the time needed to do something (hopefully) intelligent toward improving your swing.

19 hours ago, Dave325 said:

I agree 100%. I am a firm believer in putting in the time with hard core practice... And I rarely miss a day of putting at least an hour of practice. However, I only started in doing it this past summer when I decided to get serious. The key to putting the time consistently for practice (for me) is "enjoying" it. I enjoy a good practice session just as much as playing a round on the course. However, I know my issue is probably practicing smarter. I usually question myself whether I am doing the right things... Overthink stuff...etc. How do I know that I am getting the most out of each session?

Also, I think the "commitment" part can also be allowing your scores to take a back seat to making the changes. I suppose what I mean is if the changes are good, but they didn't help or even detracted from a decent score on any particular day that it is important to commit to them. Otherwise, it seems like it could be really easy to fall back into bad habits.

17 minutes ago, Lihu said:

 

Also, I think the "commitment" part can also be allowing your scores to take a back seat to making the changes. I suppose what I mean is if the changes are good, but they didn't help or even detracted from a decent score on any particular day that it is important to commit to them. Otherwise, it seems like it could be really easy to fall back into bad habits.

For sure, Lihu! I agree on the focusing on making the changes and hold the score very loosely. I usually end up playing practice rounds with myself (no one wants to play in the questionable weather except me, it seems). So, I don't keep score. Just usually count the pars and birdie (if any). Thus... my HDCP is only a conservative, rough estimate. But whatever... the focus is now on getting these changes down pat.

Oh yes... putting and putting... interesting wording, eh?

So... back to the topic (I have been know to get the OT flag).... What are some of the ways that we can increase the QUALITY of our practice?  Or, is it only done in throwing more time at it?

34 minutes ago, iacas said:

Why?

Joke. putting / putting.

37 minutes ago, Dave325 said:

For sure, Lihu! I agree on the focusing on making the changes and hold the score very loosely. I usually end up playing practice rounds with myself (no one wants to play in the questionable weather except me, it seems). So, I don't keep score. Just usually count the pars and birdie (if any). Thus... my HDCP is only a conservative, rough estimate. But whatever... the focus is now on getting these changes down pat.

Oh yes... putting and putting... interesting wording, eh?

So... back to the topic (I have been know to get the OT flag).... What are some of the ways that we can increase the QUALITY of our practice?  Or, is it only done in throwing more time at it?

 

I was told by the handicap person and one of the coaches In my club and at my course respectively to just play and post no matter what. This is a change from what I was doing and makes sense.

For instance, even if you take really risky shots and miss you will improve over time. It's not sandbagging if you are actually trying your hardest to score well.

We discussed many other scenarios, and the only things that should prevent a post are if you declare a practice round or fail to play enough holes.

8 hours ago, Lihu said:

 

Also, I think the "commitment" part can also be allowing your scores to take a back seat to making the changes. I suppose what I mean is if the changes are good, but they didn't help or even detracted from a decent score on any particular day that it is important to commit to them. Otherwise, it seems like it could be really easy to fall back into bad habits.

Agree with this 100%. Scores are usually the last place that change makes itself evident

8 hours ago, Dave325 said:

So... back to the topic (I have been know to get the OT flag).... What are some of the ways that we can increase the QUALITY of our practice?  Or, is it only done in throwing more time at it?

 

You probably know this already, but find your priority piece (I.e. the biggest change that you have to make for your swing) and work on that in a Simple, Slow and Specific way until it is no longer the biggest thing. There really aren't any shortcuts to this.

You decide you want to take up the game of golf so you either get a used set of clubs at a yard sale or you buy an economy priced beginners set. Next you go out and play a round of golf only to learn that you scored 115, but you had that one really great shot that brings you back again. You play about 6 rounds of golf your first year and have seen a few great shots which makes you decide to play again next year. Next year comes and you want to watch and learn what other golfers do that make them better at golf than you and you try a few things that work for them and have scored a round of 108 and you are happy that you showed signs of improvement. Then it happens, you play a round and things seem to working out and you have put together two or three really decent shots and manage to get a 104 which is your best score to date. Now you have the desire to break 100 but just can't seem to do it. Nevertheless you continue to play and are scoring 104 - 110. So you tell yourself, next year is going to be the year that I break 100 because you have watched and learned a bit more from other golfers which you plan on applying to your game. Next year comes and you're still scoring in the 100's, then that magical moment comes and you manage to put together a score of 98. It may have taken you three seasons to finally break 100 but you did it but can't seem to get a repeat performance. Then you meet a 3 HC golfer who notices some flaws in your methods and wants to help you out. He gives you instructions and watches you practice the principles he laid out for you until you seem to be able to grasp the concepts he's teaching you and you can't wait to get out and apply the techniques he showed you. During the winter months you buy a few quality clubs for your golf set. So next year comes and you notice that you are experiencing more and more decent shots than ever before. You're now able to consistently score under 100 and even manage to score 94 on one of your rounds of golf. You think to yourself, wow, look at how far I have come in four years of playing golf. Just three years ago I was scoring 112-115 and now I'm scoring in the mid to high 90's regularly, that's 20 stokes less than when I first began playing 4 years ago. Then you say, now next year if I can only make a few more improvements and play smarter, just maybe I can put together a game or two under 90 and in the fifth year you accomplish that goal. And so an avid golfer is born. That pretty much describes the story of my game of golf these last 4 -5 years.