How much do the pros practice?

[Mop Bucket]

Recently I've started walking my rounds in order to work on my pace of play and to get a little exercise in on the side. I played around 45 holes from Thursday to Sunday this weekend and noticed that each day, it got a little harder to swing the club. By Sunday, I felt pretty drained and was even shanking shots on the course.

This got me thinking, I love golf and play whenever I get an opportunity, but I feel that I practice too often and sometimes it actually hinders my swing instead of helping it. I remember seeing Tiger's practice regimen a while back when he was working with Haney and it seemed almost unbelievable that he was spending 8-10 hours a day on his swing, including playing 18+ holes.

What are your guys' views on practice? Is less really more in some situations or is it all about the right type of practice?

And if anyone has any inside knowledge, what does a weekly practice regimen look like for a pro golfer?

This year has been my first that I have been actively trying to cut my scores and get to scratch. I want to add a weights and exercise component to my training, but as far as on-course practicing goes, I've been struggling to find a weekly routine that fits my style of play.

[mvmac]

What are your guys' views on practice? Is less really more in some situations or is it all about the right type of practice?

Good threads to check out. Pros do spend a lot of time practicing. At tournaments they practice/hit balls before and after their rounds. They also play practice rounds Monday to Wednesday. When they're home it depends on what events are coming up but they're typically practicing for several hours a day and playing a bit.

[Dave2512]

Wear a HRM golf as exercise is pretty lame. Not much exertion relative to the time involved. A treadmill, a device I don't like, is more efficient. Most of the calories burnt golfing are BMR cals not HR fat burn type of exertion. Practice efficiently for gains. Walking rounds does little but wear out shoes.

[iacas]

They practice quite a bit, in general… because it's their job.

[ccotenj]

yup, true dat... golf, while burning a few calories in the course of having a nice walk, does a grand total of zero in terms of "conditioning" (and not much more in terms of "exercise")... op, you need to spend some time getting into better basic physical condition... if it was me, i would concentrate on being able to get my heart rate up to 70% for an hour* (pick your poison, i prefer an exercise bike, it is easier on my knees) every other day... once you get there, i bet you won't be running out of gas at the end of rounds... * someone mentioned a hrm earlier... get one... the ones "built in" to exercise equipment are worthless... an inexpensive polar will do, you don't need a zillion features...

[MrDC]

I would think almost every day, for pretty much their entire lives, that's why they're so good, for the most part.