Practicing Golf - I Get Bored Easily

[Lihu]

3 hours ago, Fairway_CY said:

For some reason, I have absolutely no problem going out on the course alone and enjoying 3 hours of hitting a shot and leisurely walking to hit the next one.  I'm at peace.  I'm happy.  I'm focused.  That said... I don't really 'practice' on the course.  Each time I step on a course, I'm trying to post a score.  Doesn't matter if I'm alone, playing with a friend, playing a match at the club or playing in a tournament.  I want to post the best score I can.  

That pretty much leaves the range and practice areas to work on my game.  Currently, I'm working on having more confidence on and around the green.  That means hitting a ton of chip shots to try and ingrain the feel I need to be able to step over the ball and know I'm going to hit is crisply and with the right amount of spin.  It means tediously putting hundreds of 6 footers so they no longer jump up and get me during competition rounds.  

The problem is... I get bored easily when doing that.  Now, if I've got someone with me and I can make a competition out of it... I can stand there for a few hours.  I did it last year in Hilton Head with 2 of my buddies.  We went to one of the courses we were going to be playing... stood on the putting green and just hit putts for 2 hours while making a game of it.  Then we spent another hour at the short game area playing what was essentially a game of HORSE.  

I've tried to make it a game when I'm by myself, but... it only lasts so long before I'm bored.  I start looking at my phone... looking up at the clubhouse to see who is heading into the 19th hole... or even worse, packing up to head home.  I'd love to just say that I can bring a buddy to the course with me, but... most of my practice is on weekdays when my wife is at work and I'm between meetings or visits.  Most of my golf buddies are at work... and when they aren't, they just want to play.  

How do you guys keep your practice sessions interesting?  Am I alone in my boredom?  

CY

 

You just need to get some range buddies. Then you can complain about how boring this is together, and discuss other things as well.

[NM Golf]

I personally love to practice on the golf course. Since I work at a course I get the opportunity to go out during less busy times and work on various things. Could be just wedge distances, could be hitting a couple different shots from the same lie or area. I also like to go out and hit shots I might have not hit well in my last round. Heck sometimes its just throwing down 4-5 balls and playing the hole with all of them. 

Practicing on the course is not a complete replacement for the range and short game area, by any means. I love to hit balls and work on the short game as well. I have had to slow down on the full swing practice in recent years just do to parts of my body beginning to wear out. But now I appreciate my practice time more and have a plan prior to heading down. I can't just beat balls mindlessly like I could 20 years ago.

I don't know what to tell you about getting bored because I rarely do, but I always challenge myself in whatever I am doing. Maybe thats the key.

[Runnin]

Practice can be boring if you aren't working on anything specific and just beating balls aimlessly.  You may not even be practicing.  But worse than it being boring, you may be further ingraining bad habits. 

There are an endless number of specific, fun things to do on the range:

 -- Get some impact labels and track where you make contact.  Post them in a notebook.  Try to hit it on the toe, on the heel, etc.  Zero in on dead center.  (The ball goes further if you hit it a tad on the toe.)

-- Change clubs after every shot, like on the course.  Pretend you're on your favorite course and go through all 18 holes.  Figure out a way to keep score.  Give yourself a 2 putt unless you really stick it tight.  That's a birdie.   Memorize some famous holes or courses and play those.  Get a buddy and do it together.

-- Pick a wide target and see how many balls it takes to hit 3 draws and 3 fades in your target area, alternating each time you get one in.  Write the results in a notebook and see how you do over time.  After you improve some, shrink your target.

-- Do the same thing with low and high shots.

-- Pick out a pin on the range (or specific target) and try to hit one to the right and then one to the left of it, seeing how close you can get without going on the wrong side of the pin. 

-- Find some drills on youtube that address your swing issues.

-- Practice your wedges and short irons with at least two different distances for each club.  Hit your wedge in front of the 100 yd marker, then well over it.  Hit your 7 iron short of the 140, then over the 150, or whatever your distances are. 

-- Pick out your 4 most important shots and practice those, 2 balls on each shot, then 1 ball on each. 

My most important shots for scoring on the courses I play are:
1)  200-220 yds - 3 iron or Utility,
2) 150-160 - 8,7,6 iron,
3) 80-110 yds - the 'long' wedge, 52' or P,
4) 30 yds in - the 'short' wedge - 52', R-90, P, etc.
And driver - don't really need it on short and narrow Japanese courses, but I hit it as much as I can.

-- Pick out a target 100 yds or under and try to hit a shot to the position of every hour of the clock, with the target being the center of the clock.  Dead in front would be 6 o'clock, straight over the target is 12 o'clock.  I love doing this.

-- Don't aim at the ground, but at places up in the air.  Look at the trees in the distance, nets, poles, or whatever is in the background at your range. I've noticed myself doing this on the course too.  It helps with my alignment to create an imaginary vertical wall for your target line.

-- See how low you can hit your driver, then how high, and still hit it on the face.

-- Make a list of drills and things to do at the range and put it in your practice notebook.  Keep your notebook in your bag and look at it if you forget.

Anyway, the fun is endless.  With the price of green fees in Japan, it's my only option. 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2017 by Runnin
forgot one

[Lotok]

I find it alright for about 20 minutes, then I get bored. I will hit fine and then as my concentration lapses I start making stupid mistakes and shanks. That's when I know it's time to stop. Putting practice is different, I last about 5 minutes. I get so bored.

[Dakota Atkinson]

I love to practice. Like you, when I'm on the course I only want to hit one ball because I find the most happiness/enjoyment out of  posting a score (hopefully a good one). Unfortunately I feel that I don't have much time to practice. I get off work around 5-5:30; I usually get 2-4 days a week that I can go to the range or play 9 holes after work. The other days I go straight home to spend time with my girlfriend. I'd love to play and or practice 7 days a week, but I would probably be single (and broke) if I did that lol. I am brainstorming towards next year; my instructor owns and operates a driving range about 20 minutes from my apartment. I am going to try to strike a deal to work there once a week or so and see if I can get all-access to the range, and be able to get there between 6-7 AM and practice before work every morning.

All that being said, I unfortunately do find putting practice to be pretty boring compared to the rest. It is a weakness, but I'd rather try to solve it by hitting the ball closer than to try to solve it by draining longer putts. I miss quite a few clutch 3-6 footers, and I practice those the most.

[Groucho Valentine]

Try practicing trouble shots if you're getting bored with your usual routine. If you practice on a grass range, find the worst lie you can find and try hitting shots. Same for short game too. Deliberately put your self in horrible lies. In a bunker, throw the ball down in there so you get some fried eggs. Its a good way to learn how to hit shots without being too mechanical. Because believe me, if you're looking down at a fried egg, you're not thinking about swing planes or set ups or whatever. You're just trying to get that ball out. It could be nice relief. 

If you practice at a mat range, you could try putting a piece 2x4 or something underneath the mat in different places to simulate uneven lies. See how it changes your swing and ball flight. 

[p1n9183]

As i read online, a good way of practice and keep focus it´s that you have to earn leaving home early from the practice area.

You have to play 2 or 3 games during the practice session and you are only allowed to go home if you won all of them or your limit time expires (and you loose).

Example. (Create your own games and rules) 
After long game session working on mechanics.. let´s say 50 balls, That´s 30 to 60 minutes. go to the short game area and play this games.  
Game 1 Putting: Clock drill. You have to sink 10 putts in a row from 3-4 feet to win.
Game 2 Chipping: You have to chip 5-10 balls in a row inside 3 feet from 15 yards to win.
Game 3 Sand:  You have to blast 5-10 balls in a row inside 6 feet from 15 yards to win.

You have 30/60 minutes to win them all, if you do you can go home early and victorious. If not you will leave the practice area defeated. Next time you will try harder to win.
 

 

[gill]

On 9/27/2017 at 8:56 AM, Runnin said:

-- Change clubs after every shot, like on the course.  Pretend you're on your favorite course and go through all 18 holes.  Figure out a way to keep score.  Give yourself a 2 putt unless you really stick it tight.  That's a birdie.   Memorize some famous holes or courses and play those.  Get a buddy and do it together.

I really like this idea.  Will try it next time I'm at the range.

[Runnin]

On 9/29/2017 at 2:30 AM, p1n9183 said:

As i read online, a good way of practice and keep focus it´s that you have to earn leaving home early from the practice area.

You have to play 2 or 3 games during the practice session and you are only allowed to go home if you won all of them or your limit time expires (and you loose).

Example. (Create your own games and rules) 
After long game session working on mechanics.. let´s say 50 balls, That´s 30 to 60 minutes. go to the short game area and play this games.  
Game 1 Putting: Clock drill. You have to sink 10 putts in a row from 3-4 feet to win.
Game 2 Chipping: You have to chip 5-10 balls in a row inside 3 feet from 15 yards to win.
Game 3 Sand:  You have to blast 5-10 balls in a row inside 6 feet from 15 yards to win.

You have 30/60 minutes to win them all, if you do you can go home early and victorious. If not you will leave the practice area defeated. Next time you will try harder to win.
 

 

Yes.  Make your practice like play and your play like practice. 

I always save the last ball at the driving range for a do or die test, usually a 7 iron for me.  I imagine I'm at the Pearly Gates and the angel asks me what I did in my life.  I say I played a lot of golf.  He waves his hand and a green appears about 155 yds away on a cloud.  He gives me a 7 iron and says if I can hit the green or the fringe I can enter Heaven.  If not, down below.  Anyway, whatever scenario you want to make some pressure and have some fun with it. 

[Avalanche]

The club where I play is four blocks from my house.  So I swing by quite often on my way to/from work for 15 or 20 minutes of practice.  We have two practice greens, and more often than not there's no one at the big practice green farthest away from the club house.  The practice green has nine holes with a lot of tricky pin positions. 

My practice game is that I "play" the nine holes at the practice green with two balls.  My goal is to get all the way around without three putting.  (It's hard for me to do.  I'm usually 2 to 4 over putting nine holes with two balls.  lol)

 

[iacas]

19 hours ago, Runnin said:

Yes.  Make your practice like play and your play like practice. 

Really not a big fan of that.

The goals are completely different.

[dennyjones]

On 9/25/2017 at 7:18 PM, Club Rat said:

Every once in awhile, I'll just hit balls, because it beats "a day at the office" .....  

+1

[NJpatbee]

Perhaps because I am a high handicap (17) and typically get to practice only once per week I really enjoy it.  I am fortunate to have a grass range nearby and usually know what my latest weakness has been.  I may spend 30 minutes just working on one club and usually see some improvement.  I allow time to hit most of my clubs, even if just a few balls, since there will be no more practice sessions before my next round (I do hit 20-30 balls to loosen up before I play at my home course).  The one area that I do tend to get bored with is putting practice, which I do prior to playing on the course's practice green.  My back also aches after about 10 minutes of putting.   

[Fairway_CY]

I've taken a lot of these suggestions and put them into practice.  I spent a good amount of time around the short game area on Tuesday morning.  I played games to keep myself engaged and never got bored.  I had to leave after about 90 minutes because I got a weird pain between my calf and my ankle of my left leg.  

I then went out on Wednesday morning and played nine, but I had to leave again because of the same pain.  I played really, really poorly.  Like... 52 poor.  I felt like I couldn't swing the club through the ball because of the pain in my leg.  

I was completely off of work today, so... I spent the morning on the course.  I played 27 holes.  

The first nine was tough.  I struggled with a lot of my game.  Off the tee, I was wild... but in play.  On the greens, I really struggled.  The speed of my putts was horrible.  I shot a 47 there... but I started to feel more comfortable over the last 2-3 holes.  The back side was totally different.  I narrowly missed a par putt on the 10th hole... then three-putted the 11th for back-to-back bogeys.  Then, it started to click again.  I made par on 12, 13, 14 and 15.  On the 16th, I hit a good chip from just in front of the green, but once the ball got near the hole, it gathered steam and finished 17 feet away, so... I settled for a bogey.  A poor tee shot to the 17th resulted in a bogey before I finally got up & down for a par on the 18th to post a 40 on the back.  

As I was packing up my clubs, one of the members asked if I had time for 9 more, so... seeing as I had nothing to do, I went back out.  I hit 6 of 9 greens and managed to get up & down on 2 of the 3 holes I missed the greens.  I did three-putt the 6th hole, but... that was just mental and I rushed the par putt.  An unlucky kick on the 9th after I hit the pin and it kicked 15 feet backwards instead of settling 4-5 feet away.  I shot 38 there.  

I really didn't want to leave, but... I had to go so I could be home when my daughter got home from school.  

Providing the weather allows, I'm going to spend some more time in the mornings next week at the short game area of the club to see if I can get things together before the final tournament of the season in less than 2 weeks. 

CY

[MarvChamp]

The question is practice WHAT and WHY? It is relaxation for me to practice my focus, trying to feel the clubhead throughout the swing. Seeing what my hand position or swing path does to the flight. I like to try to hit draws, fades, low punches...Trying to feel what my hands and the clubhead are doing. I like to practice concentrating my eyes and my mind on the target rather than the ball. All such stuff are more satisfying to me than hitting wedges and mid irons toward greens (but I do). -Marv