How to Practice

[mitchl17]

This summer, I want to commit 4-5 nights a week to practice and then play maybe once a week.  What kind of schedule do you guys recommend for practice.  I was thinking one day for longer irons, one for shorter irons, one day just within 100 yards or something.  I just recently had 5 1/2 lessons with a pro and basically changed my swing drastically, so I'm struggling with ball striking consistency now, (although i've also hit some of the purest shots of my life), that should just get better by itself as i get used to my new swing.  Any way, I was just hoping for a few tips on how to practice efficiently.  I'll probably be practicing putting everyday since my putting last year probably added 5 strokes a round to my score.  Thanks for any help!

Mitch

[Clambake]

I would recommend against segregating your practice sessions by long irons, short irons, etc.      If you break your sessions apart this way you'll find that you'll get some little compromise one day in your swing that works for what you're hitting that day (let's say short irons) but then when you go to your long iron session it won't work at all.    The key to a repeatable, powerful swing is to have it work with every club in the bag - you don't want to get in love with one club or type of club only.

Since you mentioned you've had a number of lessons and have changed your swing dramatically, I personally would just spend all my time trying to ingrain those changes now, even sacrificing short game time in the process.    You've invested quite a bit of money in those lessons and it takes thousands and thousands of balls to ingrain those swing changes - I'd use all my time to get those changes to feel natural first.

Once those new swing changes are ingrained, then I'd focus my practice on: (a) quick warm up;  (b) fine tuning the swing, and (b) using the practice sessions to "play" golf and not just hit balls.     By fine tuning, I mean pick one or two relatively little things to work on and only concentrate on those for part of a practice session, but do that with all the different clubs.   For example, let's say you now want to focus on making a fuller shoulder turn.   Don't worry about anything else in the swing (hopefully all those other swing thoughts from your lessons are now natural), but just go through the bag hitting shots from everything from SW through driver trying to feel that shoulder turn.    I'd work up from SW to the woods, then back down to SW and back up again just to make sure that I'm feeling it through all the clubs.

After an hour or so of doing this, I'd then focus practice on playing shots as if you're on a course.   You don't get to sit and hit forty 8-irons in a row on the course, so doing so on the range actually can hurt your ability to focus when it counts.    "Play" the holes on your home course or some other place you love so you get used to concentrating on the shot, building a repeatable pre-shot routine, and getting used to hitting the shot when you absolutely have to (i.e. you only get one shot at it).      This type of practice will really help you take your range game to the course and not become one of those people who stripes it at the range but can't put together two decent shots on the course.

The above is a routine I've found over the years and I find it is really helpful to me and keeps practice sessions fun.   Of course, your mileage may vary.....

[ControlJunkie]

Clambake said it perfectly. Practice how you play. Think of the course you normally play, and what you regularly hit on each hole, and replicate that. So for example, on my first 3, it usually goes like this:

Hole 1 (Par 4, 380 yds): Driver/3W, then either PW or LW

Hole 2 (Par 5, 520 yds): Driver (needs to fade), then 5i. If 5i is off, I need to pull my 56° after

Hole 3 (Par 3, 175+): Depending on wind, needs to be either a strong 7i or a 6i

So at the range, I'll try to simulate the course by hitting everything in that order (Driver/3W, PW/LW, Driver (with fade), 5i, etc.

Now if you have a particular club or part of your game that needs extra attention, yeah, dedicate some extra time to it, no doubt, but I wouldnt separate everything like that just to have some sort of structure.

Also pay attention to when your course is the slowest. When it is, skip the range in favor of hitting the course and playing multiple balls. Your practice there will likely be more valuable. Just be concious of people behind you and make sure not to hold anyone up. Hope this helps, and good luck!

[jamo]

I wrote an article about this a few months ago: http://thesandtrap.com/b/trap_five/how_to_get_the_most_out_of_your_practice

What Clambake is talking about is number 4.

[mitchl17]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback.  The range that's within walking distance of my house (I don't have a car) doesn't allow woods, so I guess i'll have to make special trips to use woods on the weekends.  Also, my swing change seems to be coming along very nicely, i've been swinging a club inside every night paying attention to what my instructor said, so I hope that when i have a real ball down there I'll be able to swing pretty naturally the new way.

Thanks again for the input,

Mitch

[Clambake]

One thing I alluded to but did not elaborate on in my prior post was the pre-shot routine and also practicing this on the range.     I don't recall which Tour player this, but someone said that the swing begins when you reach for a club in the bag.     For the pros and really good amateurs, this simple act sets them off on a routine which is almost like being on autopilot - this ability is big help for blocking out distractions, focusing on the shot, and "staying in the moment".

So when you're at the range going through different clubs and "playing the course" in your mind, use this as an opportunity to ingrain a full routine and not just a swing.    Reach for the driver, go through your routine, visualizing the shot, hit the shot, and put the club back in the bag.    Then reach for the next club you'd use on the whole and do the same.     This helps you get into better habits on the course and will further help you take your "A" game from the range onto the course.