Play or Practice, which do you do more?

[behing19]

I play more, but used to practice more.  My advice, if you are above a 10.0 handicap, then practice more.  If you are lower than a 10.0 handicap, hit the course.  There are shots we end up needing to hit on the course we simply cannot duplicate on the range and better players need more opportunities to end up in situations on the course.

However, higher handicap and mid handicap golfers need to work on their short game and their swing with less play.

Once you get to a lower handicap, use the range when you have an issue or something you are working on and remember, the course is not for practice, but for play.  We are all scratch golfers when we take mulligans.

Benjamin Ehinger

[bplewis24]

2 years ago I used to play all the time and practice little.  This year I'm practicing all the time and playing maybe 1-2 times a week.  I'm finally starting to see improvement.

Brandon

[BigT]

Used to never practice but my game sucked. Started following one of my rules of youth sports "You can't coach during a game, the coaching is for practice". Basically you shouldnt be teaching a kid how to bat during a game, like wise I found it difficult to work on my game during a round.

I do a lot of chipping in my yard 10, 20 & 30yards. I work on tempo, and some time i get out the wuffle balls and hit the woods. My game the last 2 years has vastly improved

Game I play with my son is I hit high chips and he catches them with a baseball glove, yes my neighbors think were weird!

[Ray1528]

I tend to play more often than I practice. Which in all reality I'm doing both. I don't go with anyone who is super competitive and we take our time through the course when it's not busy, which is very common in this area. I play and practice at the same time usually, correcting my mistakes from one shot to the other.

[meenman]

When you only have time to play once a week, it's more play than practice.

Although ,according to the Golf Digest Play/Practice article this month, I get my practice time in while playing.

One part of the article said, when playing, to miss some greens so you get your chipping practice in - since I average 1.2 GIRs per round - my short game is pretty damn good!

[mdl]

I practice way more than I play.  I only currently have time/budget for playing once a week.  I'm out hitting birdie balls at the park or chipping in the courtyard or putting in the apartment or putting green usually 3x a week.

I think I'd be better served practicing 1-2 times a week and laying 2-3 instead of the other way around.  The time on the course kind of forces intense focus for me and I feel like I make my greatest strides on the course.

[Jmdmbike]

Practice more in winter - once or twice a week if I can. During the golf season, play more than practice about 2:1.

[awmgolfer]

In the winter I practice a lot since I also coach golf over the summer I don't get a lot of my own practice time. In the summer I mainly play but I do hit the range a couple times a week for a bit.

[BugDude]

I play once a week, and I go to the range about once a week.  Some weeks my round of golf is play/practice on the course (which I enjoy more than range practice).  If I go out late in the evening by myself I play a first ball and then try different clubs or shots and then go play the first one in hitting practice shots from there too.  It's like playing several rounds of golf but only having to traverse the course one time.  I practice putting a bit on the green and then go the the next hole.  It breaks up the practice into more enjoyable segments rather than just beating balls to death on the range.  For me this has become the most effective way to work on my game.

[Blades4me]

Play more than you practice and when you do practice spend 2/3rd's of the time on the the short game, well IMO.

[Ben]

Where's the answer for both? Working at a golf course has its benefits. Unlimited practice and course access...

[GJBenn85]

Practice, but I have not been able to much of either so far this year.  Two rounds of golf and I think just two or three range sessions.  Pathetic.

[bwdial]

Definitely more practice.  I've got an eight month old daughter and just started grad school, so I don't see that changing any time soon.  I've created a practice set up at home that should allow me to get even more practice in.

[RonTheSavage]

I definitely practice more these days at the range (grass). I have a 9 month old and I only get to play seems like on my birthday or other special occasions.

[NuclearMike]

Practice.  I work too many hours and so don't have the kind of time that I need for playing full rounds of golf.  4 hours at the range (2 hours each, two days a week) and golf when I can, about once a month.

[Fatphil]

best practice tip I've gotten (and saw it repeated a few months ago in GD) is to change clubs after each hit.  It is really hard to force yourself but the idea is that you are practicing golf not just exercising.  The most difficult thing is taking your range swing to the course..  This forces you to re create the disruptive nature of golf as you frequently can have 5 -10 min inbetween shots & multiple distractions.

[ScT1]

I'm definitely more play than practice, just tend to prefer the feel of walking the course and going from different shot to different shot. But I realize that a lot more practice, especially with short game and putting could make a big difference and would probably help me finally get that first sub 80 round. So today after work I'm heading to a course with a practice green and plan to spend a good bit of time practicing the putts 5 feet and in. I looked at the stats of PGA guys for those distances and there's no way I'm above 80% on the 3-footers. It feels like I lose a stroke every round because of a missed putt 3 feet or closer -- the PGA guys sink those over 99% of the time.

I figure some good diligent practice at putting alone could maybe pick me up 2 or 3 strokes a round. Then some more work also with the short game, and there's at least another 3 strokes there if not more. I would guess there's probably 6 strokes that can be shaved off with short game and putting. That could turn one of those low 80 rounds into a high 70s round.

[anthony]

The past few years I was at the range more than I played. The range near me isn't even open yet, so I've only played (4 rounds and 9 holes 4 or 5 times). I plan on playing more this year and working on wedge distances at the range once a week and chipping at home (just got a real feel mat). My swing has improved a lot over the last two years and I'm pretty happy with it at the moment. Knocking shots closer to the pin from 100 in is where I really want to improve. Obviously, dialing in the distance on every club so I don't have to chip as much would be the best thing to do, but I'm not there yet. Getting up and down more will definitely shave some strokes off the handicap

As mentioned earlier, playing gives you a variety of lies to hit from. Shots are so rarely off perfectly flat lies (my shots that is), so getting used to hitting from different angles and lies is crucial. Plus, hitting to different elevations is generally only something you can get on the course. Perhaps there are ranges with different elevation targets, but mine is a big flat field with yardage markers.