65/20/15 Practice Ratios: Where to Devote Your Practice Time

[amished]

On 8/17/2019 at 5:36 AM, boogielicious said:

If you have a net, you can work on your long game hitting into that and filming it. Almost all of my full swing practice is hitting into my net. I do go to the range on occasion to see ball flight.

Unfortunately I don't have a net.  Might be a purchase for next year as my bag is close to where I want it long term.

[boogielicious]

11 minutes ago, amished said:

Unfortunately I don't have a net.  Might be a purchase for next year as my bag is close to where I want it long term.

I know it’s hard for us Northerners, but I hit into my net through the winter when the weather allowed. I hit on days as cold as 25F. You get a bit colder than that. But it is good to keep working on things and it’s cheaper than an indoor range.

[amished]

On 8/18/2019 at 11:21 AM, boogielicious said:

I know it’s hard for us Northerners, but I hit into my net through the winter when the weather allowed. I hit on days as cold as 25F. You get a bit colder than that. But it is good to keep working on things and it’s cheaper than an indoor range.

My problem is space.  I have an indoor garage that I could use if our two cars weren't in there...  If my parent's shed was insulated in the back I'd try to convince them to let me use that area.  Trying to film my "course vlog" for the Newport cup also made me realize that I do not have a good way to video myself, so I'll need to invest in some sort of phone tripod thing or something like that...

[DuckDuckFoose]

Been working over the winter on an eight foot putting mat, not entirely sure how much putting on the mat is going to help. But my stroke has gotten cleaner and the ball rolls on it's intended line better so it has to help. With the golf closure in NY looks like I'll be dedicating more time to chipping in the backyard as well. My full swing needs the most help though, at least I think so.

[NZ Golfer]

Of late daily routine is 30x chip shots over 20-30yards with 56deg wedge on the front lawn(have to hit over concrete driveway). then hitting 20-30 iron shots mostly into net also on front lawn .. inside on the carpet for 20+ putting into rubber ramp cup 

All I can do during this lockdown.... just trying to keep game in check

[WillieT]

Thanks to the recent 30 Day Practice Plan challenge, I have rethought what my routine is to be at the range (and at home).  The old plan was definitely not the 65-20-15 as Erik lined out here, but rather a fixed percentage of shots w/wedges - irons - hybrids - fairways - driver.  It was built around 10% short game swings (less than 100yd swings) and 90% full swings and no putting.  It showed in my game but in reverse as I was trying to too hard to always kill it - only to see thins-slices-fatties-chunks and an occasional good shot.  The Practice Plan got me to slow down and see what I was not doing or worse doing incorrectly.  Now my work in the yard is along the lines of working on the full swing mechanics, feeling the club in all positions.  I am waiting for my copy LSW to arrive to where I can further work on this.  For the interim, I will employ this ratio to my in the yard practice sessions and occasional range work.  I can say this much - if you don't get the mechanics right it won't matter how many times you swing the club....doing the same things wrong and expecting different results is insanity.  

[darthweasel]

I appreciate this thread as it is good to see reinforcement from some people that clearly know what they are doing. When something goes awry...I suddenly am power fading irons for example...I might spend more time on that, or if suddenly my chipping goes away then on that, but otherwise, I mostly spend "maintenance time" on the putting and chipping and work hard on the longer sticks trying to develop the ability to shape them when needed or at worst keep them straight. As long as I can keep them in playable space I feel like I can score.

 

And sometimes, even though I know better...the constant barrage of "drive for show, putt for dough" can get to me and instead of practicing what I should, I practice what other people say I should. So then I can come back to the factual research and remember that just because a bunch of people recite something doesn't make it true and my game improves overall. Nice to have that reinforcement.

[dennyjones]

On 5/2/2020 at 2:25 PM, WillieT said:

I can say this much - if you don't get the mechanics right it won't matter how many times you swing the club....doing the same things wrong and expecting different results is insanity.  

+1

[criley4way]

On 6/19/2012 at 9:54 PM, Taylor Johnson said:

This thread is definitely an eye opener for me. It's good to hear so many low handicappers agree with the original post.

 

I've felt like my game has hit a wall recently and this explains it.  I'd always taken pride in spending the majority of my practice time on and around the greens but I'm starting to realize I need to change that immediately.

Go read the Book. Separation value. You do hit a lot of putts each round but the difference between and average putter and a great putter is just not that big.

[WillieT]

1 hour ago, criley4way said:

Go read the Book. Separation value. You do hit a lot of putts each round but the difference between and average putter and a great putter is just not that big.

+1 on reading the book AND employing the techniques, plans outlined.....Understanding where the biggest bang for your swing occurs will cut strokes, increase consistency and put you in position to sink more putts that start closer, must closer to the pin.....

[criley4way]

15 minutes ago, WillieT said:

+1 on reading the book AND employing the techniques, plans outlined.....Understanding where the biggest bang for your swing occurs will cut strokes, increase consistency and put you in position to sink more putts that start closer, must closer to the pin.....

Thought that using the information was assumed but TRUE. I began to understand the concept of strokes gained and separation value last year and went from 7.5 to 4.3 by refocusing most or all my efforts on better contact and a more predictable shot shape.

And did it with a bad putting year (meaning missing 1-2 putts inside 4' per round)

[WillieT]

1 minute ago, criley4way said:

Thought that using the information was assumed but TRUE. I began to understand the concept of strokes gained and separation value last year and went from 7.5 to 4.3 by refocusing most or all my efforts on better contact and a more predictable shot shape.

And did it with a bad putting year (meaning missing 1-2 putts inside 4' per round)

Gotcha and should have presumed that you were employing the what the books outlines.  The emphasizing was meant to reinforce the thought process that we must employ the info if we truly want change.  By the way, you may want to check out the COVID-19 30 day challenge that @iacas put on here during April.   There are some great putting drills within that plan that helped me tremendously.  

[criley4way]

3 hours ago, WillieT said:

Gotcha and should have presumed that you were employing the what the books outlines.  The emphasizing was meant to reinforce the thought process that we must employ the info if we truly want change.  By the way, you may want to check out the COVID-19 30 day challenge that @iacas put on here during April.   There are some great putting drills within that plan that helped me tremendously.  

Thanks I spent most of the winter working on the stroke. Lots of focus on rock back and let the putter weight do the work. I found out that I was hitting it so on short putts it was getting jumpy. Been doing a lot of work on the swing speed, body stability and staying on the plane. 

Swing feels good but need to get out and play more.

 

The 30 day COVID challenge was really solid

[dmnoland]

 Between 2016 and 2018 I was going through major swing changes and I spent almost all practice time on the full swing. 2018 was largely spent ingraining my new swing and playing , simply enjoying the new stress free swing.

My golf season is usually April through September because I just despise anything colder than 70 degrees so my 2019 season season started out a little rough. Just rebooting my own memory took more time than I thought. As a result I beat more balls on the range then I wanted.

Now on year 3 with the new swing I had my latest start ever, mid May, due to weather and covid 19 but after 7 months off I was able to shake off the rust after 1 bucket of balls.

If your swing is fine you will quickly get bored just beating balls.

I have 1 hour per day in my schedule for practice so I don't try to do it all every session. Really depends on what I feel like or what I think I need to focus on.

Actual range time is broken down into thirds. Warming up, gap wedge to driver, skipping every other club. Working on 1 specific thing . Today for example was working on strike. And the last third is spent playing a few holes from memory of my favorite courses.

Bottom line for me is about 80% range. Includes lots of sand, lob and 64 wedge work being the practice bunkers and related green are on the range itself. 15% chipping green and 5% (if that) putting green. I get bored quickly putting but enjoy many beers putting at home. I even have a duplicate of my gamer cut down an extra inch since I putt barefoot at home.

Sorry for the long winded post but over the last few years my practice routine has definitely changed but that is the backstory as to the reasons why.

[dmnoland]

Forgot to mention my short game and putting practice time have actually doubled this week since I just changed golf balls so as necessary I make adjustments in my time allotments based on my needs.

[uitar9]

Of the many things I have to practice, is to constantly remember not following a bad shot with  a stupid shot.

I played my best 9 holes on a par 36 on Thursday, 41. pars and bogeys. Followed it up with a 50 on the back 9 for a 91.

Three holes in particular cost me 4-5 strokes.

I was 75 yards, in the first cut, to the green, over a bunker to the flag.  hit to the flag and landed in the bunker, both times. Should have played to the centre of the green. If I was short, I'd still be putting.

On another, hit a poor iron tee shot, landed on a severe downslope, still tried to carry water to the green. Should have played a 20 yard bump to the flats, then carried the water from a better lie.

I have never made those shots. 

And have never broken 90 on a par 72.

[Vespidae]

53 minutes ago, uitar9 said:

I have never made those shots. 

I was practicing at the range one day and watched as the local teaching pro grabbed a bucket of balls and walked down the side of the range to a spot on the right near the practice putting green. 

He proceeded to hit a bucket from various lies ... uphill, downhill, sidehill ... all to various greens.  I decided to do the same ... and at least get experience hitting those shots and not just have perfect lies on the range all the time. It really forces you to think about the club face and where is the ball going to go ... 

[uitar9]

1 hour ago, Vespidae said:

... and at least get experience hitting those shots

Totally agree...did this for bunkers-a large bucket, on Friday, for four Fridays, made huge difference...

"I have never made those shots"-just came to that realization this past week.

Thats one of those important things I have to concentrate on-understanding my stupid shots. I will always make a few bad shots during a round. Where I lose 3-5 a round is the stupid choices.