2 months to practice! what would you do?

[AF_SGT]

Good evening all!

I am a new member, and very happy to be here. Here is my situation. After 6 years of not playing golf, I picked my clubs back up this spring. I've managed to consistently shoot in the low to mid 90's since I restarted.

Now I am in Montgomery AL for 2 months attending a military school, and I want to use the time away from my family to improve my game. I can go to the range every day for the next 8 weeks for a couple hours a day, and I need a routine/schedule idea to maximize my practice.

All parts of my game need improvement. Any practice advice, routines, etc would be greatly appreciated.

God Bless America and all the American men and women defending our country.

[wedge player]

Good evening all!

spend 5/8 of your time on short game,putting,chipping,pitchin then 1/8 on driver then 2/8 on iron play

[AmenCorner]

whatever you do, enjoy it. I'd love to have 2 months to tidy up my game.

That being said. I would definately spend a fair amount of time on your short game. It's just so important. Me personally though, I'd focus on driver too, but that's because it can be my best asset, or worst enemy.

[Comeback City]

I think you need to really evaluate yourself and where you're at. Maybe keep a journal and make notes of your weaknesses/strengths and chart your improvement. That should certainly give you some confidence. And then target your weaknesses and build on your strengths. Get better every day...

[Scottydoint]

I say you should focus each day one one or two things.
Monday, just work on putting and then maybe bump and runs.
Tuesday, working pitching and sand shots
Wednesday, work on wedge shots and your scoring irons
Thursday, work on 6-3 iron
Friday, work on your woods

I suggest this so that you don't just move on without actually improving on something. don't just go out and hit 15 wedge shots with 13 of them terrible and then go on and hit 15 drivers all bad and then go putt. You aren't going to get any better that way. Take your time and think about what you are doing.

[opie]

start with your shortgame. Putting, chipping then pitch shots. If you have room work up to 30-40 yard pitch shots. You'll be suprised how much that will help your ball striking when you get to full iron shots.

I've been working on my shortgame about 80% of my practice time lately and my iron play has improved from it also

[uttexas]

Ditto on short game focus. I like the Monday-->Friday schedule Scottydoint listed. Scotty's on fire.

In addition to the schedule, I would do yoga or similar stretching 30 minutes daily. Walk and carry your clubs 18 holes once a week. Work on your conditioning.

On Scotty's Friday schedule, after practicing woods, I would play a mental round on the driving range. For example, if your opening hole is a lay up par 5: Hit driver, then 7 iron, then gap wedge (or whatever you imagine you need to get to the hole).

I actually use this imaginary/mental round practice/drill as the only time I practice my woods/driver. When I see that I have 50 or so balls left in the bucket, I'll play the mental practice round. This keeps practice from being boring/monotonous. Also simulates varying clubs, backswing lengths, ball flight shapes etc. I'll also vary the course that I mentally simulate. I'll often use the course that I'll be playing next as my mental practice course throughout the week leading up to the actual tee time.

[AF_SGT]

Thanks for all the advice, I really like the M-F practice with the mental round attached.

[ks8829]

1) Putting
a) 3 footer
b) lag putting

2) chipping around the green
a) distance control
b) solid contact

3) pitch shots
a) 20, 30, 40, 50 yards

4) 100 yard

5) 150 yards

6) 200 yards

7) driver

The time you spend should be from the hole backwards and the amount of time for items 1 - 7 should be an upside down pyramid in the amount of time you spend, so the most time on putting and the least amount with your driver
to lower your scores and keep it low and become consistent.

When you play a round keep the following stat:

1) putts per round
2) up and downs to save par or make birdies and how many attempts.

A) your putts should be less than 36 and ideally under 30 putts per round.
B) your up and down should be 50% - 70%

[shankapotamus]

If you're shooting mid 90's then your probably at least an alright ball striker, so I would focus a lot on short game as that will knock off more strokes than anything.

[AF_SGT]

I actually kept track of my putts yesterday, and I felt pretty good. I putted 35, unfortunately, my aim was off yesterday and I was rarely on the green in regulation.

Today I went to the course and didn't play, just practiced. I hit 140 balls on the range using only my PW (70%) and 9I (30%). I then went to the chipping green and chipped about 120 balls. After that I went and hit the PW for 35 more balls. Thanks again for the advice.