It’s not unusual for me to talk to golfers of all ages and gender who tell me they hate to practice. When they say this I of course ask, why?
They’re response is varied but overwhelmingly the majority of the answers have to do with frustration centered on what exactly to practice. I mean has this ever happened to you? I know early on in my golfing career it certainly did.
As I began to teach I would always or almost always suggest to my students what to work on after the lesson and in between our next session. Then when I would see them next time I would ask if they’d actually practice and the answer was typically in the 50-50 yes/no range. This, as I say, early on as an instructor stumped me.
Then one day maybe 10-12 years ago I realized as I watched others practice on the range how scattered and unorganized their time practicing really was. While watching and trying to make something out of this, I realized that when people come to the range, they may know what to practice, just not how.
So from that day on I started creating handouts to give my students showing them the DRILL(S) they needed to work on to get better results. This one step helped their time on the range become more productive, because now it was well defined. And instead of them just coming to the range and as my dear friend Da Coach says “swacking” a few and calling it a day, they now had a roadmap or a plan.
If you’ve been around me much or read my other posts, you know the stat. If you come to the range and hit balls, without using a drill, the average person will hit 8 out of 10 different. And while two shots hit are in fact the same, they may not necessarily be good the same, but never the less the same. So of course this stat provides proof that practice does in fact pay off when this same average person goes to the course and then performs inconsistently!
So now we know when people say the more I practice the worse I get, it’s not a lie but a truism, if they practice like the average golfer. Today my friend I am going to share a secret, ok… maybe a bit too dramatic, but definitely a way for you to improve and utilize the time on the range more effectively…ready?
When you go to the range, make the decision that you’re going to work on either contact or direction. In other words if you decide direction, and then judge your results, only, on the direction the balls travel as it relates to your target.
And if it’s contact, then judge each shot only, on how solidly it was struck, and not so much on direction!
This is step one, make this decision. Step two; decide on specific drills that will re-enforce decision one.
So if your decision was working on direction. Then pick 1 or 2 specific drills that you will work on while at the range that will positively influence direction.
An example might be:
- You lay down a golf club that is showing proper alignment and before each shot you go through your pre-shot routine walking up from behind the ball seeing this correct alignment
- You do this drill, hitting 15-20 balls, creating a better reference of what the correct alignment feels like. Then when you’re on the course and line up the old way you will feel it and have a much higher probability of correcting it. This of course may result in more shots going towards your target.
- Mission accomplished!
The same process should be used if the decision were contact instead of direction. Pick a couple of drills to support the decision and then hit 15-20 balls per drill and then go to the next area of the range. Maybe putting or maybe call it a day.
In closing let’s talk about how you just reversed the time and have now set up the opportunity to blow away your learning speed!
No Drills and randomly hitting balls = 8 out of 10 different
With Drills and hitting 15-20 to build new and correct references = 8 out of 10 the same!
This is why those guys and gals who use coaches and drills always, even at their worst, seem on. They have created a way to learn that helps them learn faster, while making sure they minimize the guesswork and maximize the retention!
Repetition is The Mother of Skill….or Practice does not make Perfect, Perfect Practice makes Perfect!
So now when I work with my students, I provide them with specific drills to practice; no guesswork and no waste of time….see you on the range.
