How many times a week do you practice?

[questforscratch]

I was wondering how many times a week people get to practice. Are the handicaps directly correlated to the number of times a week you practice? In other words do the people that practice the most have the lowest handicaps?

I get to hit balls about 3-4 times a month at the range and play maybe twice a month on the course and I'm about a 10.

[PaperHogan]

Not really a fair comparison based on some personal goals I have, but I practice or play 6 times per week as a rule. I always take one day off to keep my sanity. Ideally I spend 45 minutes a day putting as well, however if work committments get in the way the putting CAN be considered the days practice, but only as a last resort. I recently had 2 trips to Seattle for 3 days each so in lieue of being able to practice I spent the nights in the hotel reading Bob Rotella books.

[JaY_B]

Weather is not great so i can only really practise twice a week, when i do i hit about 25 balls working on swing, another 25 working on my wedges, then go to the short game area and work on short game untill i get bored and then practise putting for about half an hour, then go home and have a nice hot bath cos' the weather is SO cold

[golfchief]

Smart practice will get the handicap down,practice what's hurting your game.
I have a couple of wedges and putters in the house and practice the three foot wedge shots all the time. helps the hand eye coordination, around the greens i'm just as likly to chip it in from all the practice at home. Only go to the dome 1-2 times a week,then I only hit 30-40 balls.

[NM Golf]

I practice hard about 3 days a week. That means a session of 2 hours or more. I have a 30 min to hour session the other 4 days. I play 1-2 times a week in the winter, and 3-4 times a week in the summer. Rarely a day goes by that I don't at least go hit some putts or some wedges on the range. With the days getting shorter I might go down to 1-2 long practice sessions though. What can I say I am a nut!

[3Putt]

I only practice when I'm getting ready for a tournament. When I do practice I'll focus on whatever hurt my last few rounds but I always put in extra time on putts from 10 feet and in.

On average I'll play once a week and my pre-round warmup includes more short game work than long game. I'll hit about 20 balls on the range to get loose and the feel for my full swing then spend about 20-30 minutes on the short game.

[WhiteSoxFan]

I think you'll see that the lower handicap's practice more often in general. BUT, I also think you'll see people who don't necessarily have a low handicap (yet), but whose handicap is trending downwards (me) practice fairly often.

This is the first season I've really taken the game seriously. I started going to practice during my lunch hour. I try to get over there at least 3x a week. Sometimes I go all five days. I used to try to do one day putting, one day chipping, one day hitting balls. Now, I've kind of switched to working more on the part of my game that needs the most work. For a few weeks I worked almost exclusively on putting. The last couple weeks I've been spending more time on the full swing. I've only practiced chipping once in the last month.

Bottom line is that it's paying off - My handicap dropped 6 strokes this year, and I've been destroying my buddies who don't practice very often.

[questforscratch]

Yes, it does make a big difference when you practice more than you play. I practice over the winter here in AZ because the rates are so expensive to actually play but then come summertime that practice pays off. That's when I go play for $10-$20 max on good courses and get to see the results of my practice sessions.

[Matsui]

I practice about 1 once a week at the driving range and I usually get to play 2-3 times a month. Honestly, I get bored at the driving range. I like to spend as much time pitching and chipping than hitting full shots.

I am not really weak in any area, I'm just not as exceptional in any one area.

[907golfer12]

2-4 times a week in the winter, and that is hitting balls at the indoor range for 2+ hours hitting all of my clubs working on my swing. In the summer I am either playing or practicing everyday and usually when I play I putt and chip for 20-30 minutes.

[golf_junkie27]

Four times a week. Once a week, I will "play" a practice round. Meaning, I'll take a layout of one of the courses I play and practice a round. The rest of the time my routine is:

Any shot under 125 yards, I'm trying to hole out.

Any shot from 135 yards to 185 yards, I'm trying to get in good position on the green.

Any shot from 200-230 yards, I'm trying to get on the green. I'll pick a spot and hopefully get it there or close enough that I'm not in deep trouble.

The rest of the time is practicing drills and tips.

I'll also hit 35 to 40 balls w/driver.

The one thing I wish I could practice is remaing calm. I tend to internally beat myself up over a bad shot. Generally, my bad shots come from rushing. The really good/great players always move on to the next shot. Me? I tend to ask why I hit such a bad shot and rush. Rushing creates tension.

How do the better golfers get through this? Any mental secrets?