How do you divide you practice time between woods, irons, and wedges?

[SoundandFury]

My best days in golf were when I spend most time practising putting. I hated it. The practise green near my home were bumpy and wet but I would just persevere and try to get the stroke right. Interestingly, if I get my putting right, the rest of my game just fall in places. I cannot explain it but maybe it has to do with getting my rhythm right. I cannot be sure. I also watched how the tour players spend their time before their designated tee off time and noticed that they spend most times putting or chipping. In the range, most times were spent on wedge. Strangely, they spend the least time on drivers and woods, perhaps only 2 or 3 shots at the end to cap the practise.

Different strokes I guess. I'm the exact opposite. My game lives or dies with my driver. If I'm hitting it well and finding fairways, I'm generally par or birdie. Today for example I hit five straight fairways to start the round and played those holes in one under. Started missing to the right after that and finished the day 11 over. My guess re pros practice routines is that they spend a disproportional time on putting and chipping because its based so much on feel and touch. For the longer clubs, those guys swing are so dialed and consistent it's not like they're going to get out on the course one day and completely lose it.

[David in FL]

I also watched how the tour players spend their time before their designated tee off time and noticed that they spend most times putting or chipping. In the range, most times were spent on wedge. Strangely, they spend the least time on drivers and woods, perhaps only 2 or 3 shots at the end to cap the practise.

It might be worth pointing out, that there's a significant difference between practicing and warming up ........

[noSnowman]

How many times have you seen someone hit the T shot , put it close to the hole then the nightmare begins :'( Flub chin smack another...on the green then 3 putt? Tiger was struggling even in some of his recent wins. Short game trouble shots putting has kept him in the hunt when playing badd. I played with dodger great Morey Wills at 80 years of age he can't hit it far but everything else was better than my game. I had not played a par 72 in some time bit I did hit some range balls and got warmed up. Short game and even long par 3,'s he was on.

[rowlf]

Originally Posted by David in FL

It might be worth pointing out, that there's a significant difference between practicing and warming up........

Completely agree with you and SoundandFury.

As I pointed out, that was before designated tee-time. I reckon Tour players would spend a huge amount of time for Drivers and woods during practice. In the end, they won't be where they are without practising hard. Vijay Singh for example was notoriously known for wrecking a few gloves every practice.

But by and large, their overall practice time for each club would probably be proportionate to the chances of the clubs being used on a course. For eg, 26 strokes for putting, so putting time = 26/72 = roughly 35%.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by noSnowman

How many times have you seen someone hit the T shot , put it close to the hole then the nightmare begins :'(

Flub chin smack another...on the green then 3 putt?

Tiger was struggling even in some of his recent wins.

Short game trouble shots putting has kept him in the hunt when playing badd.

I played with dodger great Morey Wills at 80 years of age he can't hit it far but everything else was better than my game. I had not played a par 72 in some time bit I did hit some range balls and got warmed up. Short game and even long par 3,'s he was on.

You're very close to being restricted from your own thread because you seemingly cannot process or even seem to recognize the many posts that say otherwise, or even go so far as to prove otherwise.

The short game is important, and nobody's saying otherwise, but it's not nearly as important as you keep saying, and that's been demonstrated with far more than personal experiences.

Originally Posted by rowlf

But by and large, their overall practice time for each club would probably be proportionate to the chances of the clubs being used on a course. For eg, 26 strokes for putting, so putting time = 26/72 = roughly 35%.

PGA Tour pros do not spend 35% of their practice time putting (and 26 putts is an insanely low number - 28/72 is 39% and more reasonable, and they definitely don't spend 39% of their time practicing their putting).

Again, the putting stroke (and most short game shots) are relatively simple, AND they have the ceiling that you can practice putting all you want but you're still going to miss the majority of your 15 footers, so… the laws of limiting returns kicks in.

[rowlf]

Originally Posted by iacas

Again, the putting stroke (and most short game shots) are relatively simple, AND they have the ceiling that you can practice putting all you want but you're still going to miss the majority of your 15 footers, so… the laws of limiting returns kicks in.

Thanks for correcting me there.

If using your recommended ration of 65/25/10. For the 65%, how would you divide it between driver, 3 wood, long and short irons?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by rowlf

If using your recommended ration of 65/25/10. For the 65%, how would you divide it between driver, 3 wood, long and short irons?

I don't have a specific recommendation. I do most of my work with a mid-iron because it's in the middle of the set, and a little time with the driver because it's a bit of a different swing (very similar but different enough to warrant a little separate work).

[gosly]

Just to share personal experience, I spent the last thee trips to the range working hard on getting my irons dialed in, and I think I made great progress.  First time on the course afterwards and my driver was horrifying, anything but center off the tee.  I realize that I've changed my whole swinging motion to bring the irons on target and it means I have to change the way I swing my driver a little bit too.  So back to the range I guess, seems like such a delicate balance to not let the subtleties of one swing leak into the next.  For me anyway.  I definitely practice more with my long game though, for better or worse.