We finally got a good day in over a week and I went to the golf club late yesterday afternoon to walk a quick nine. I went into the shop to check in and the Head Pro, Cory, asked me for some advice. He said that he wanted to play better this year in Carolina PGA events and he was ready to commit to a planned practice regimen. He said he had set his staff and his work schedules and he had around 10 hours he could commit to serious practice. He asked if I could help him set a schedule of what to practice for how long and how many balls to hit.
I have had that formula for practice presented to me many times by students. My answer is always the same. I am very leery and I guess against practice that is based on set schedules of what club to hit, how long and or how many balls to hit, chip, pitch or putt. My rational is that I think that although this is practice, I do not see it as good practice. To me, good practice is not watching a clock or counting swings. It is practicing what I need and for how long I need to practice to acquire a skill, re-acquire one or get my swing back in sync.
Even if one has a time and number mentality to practice, I have seen golfers with this approach get nervous and even have anxiety attacks if, for any reason, none of which was laziness or slacking off, their schedule was disrupted. They didn't hit the required number of drives or putts and or for the required time. They feel guilty and even not prepared and now their confidence is lowered because they feel they did not practice enough.
A second issue with time and number practice regimens is that I believe it does not address the first and major issue of practice. A set practice routine may hit all the clubs and shots one basically uses. But it does not address adequately that your game is in the constant flux of change. What was good yesterday, or for the past week or month, has left and is no longer smooth and consistent and can't be counted on to produce a good shots.
Because of this ebb and flow of our swings and overall aspects of our game, I believe it is more important to keep your practice regimen more flexible, inter-changeable and adjustable. You know the expression, 'Go with the flow.' I think this is applicable for quality and productive practice. The 'flow to go with' is spending more time practicing what is needed, that is, what is out of sync and not working and performing properly.
If your practice session is based on time and/or number of shots you have to hit, I asked Cory how many drivers or 5 irons or whatever club he was hitting, would he have to hit to know that club and swing were good and firing on all cylinders. He said not many and I answered, 'Correct.' I then came back with that certainly one could say hitting more would groove the swing more. I added that is true, but it also could work against you if you got careless and over confident. But even if you stay focused and hit it pure with every swing, there is still one big issue being overlooked and ignored. What about any part of your game that is not up to par and even causing problems? Should not problems and under performing parts of your game really be the focus of attention in practice, especially in the beginning. Fix the problems first and then get to checking out the good parts of your swing and game.
The point is simple. I believe it is more important and imperative that quality practice always include if not start with working on the swing issues or club or shot that needs attention. I call this 'practicing what I need.' Practicing what has been adding shots to my score or what has been making scoring more difficult or just plain practicing what I know I do not do well enough and must improve.
I mentioned that many times in interviewing students. I asked what are their strengths and weaknesses. When I ask what they practiced, their main practice focus is on their strengths as practicing what one likes and is good at is easy and feels productive. When I ask how much they practice their weakness, the answer is always the same: not much, or very little to even almost never. When I ask why, they always say the same in that they don't like that club or shot, so they don't practice it and do practice their favorite club or shot.
Hello, how do you expect to get better and learn to hit the problem club or shot if you ignore, neglect and run from practicing the parts of the game you need the most. The key is to know what is weak and under performing in your game and make those the focus of your practice. I asked Cory, in more of a statement, how do we identify and know what is under performing and needs attention and practice? 'KEEP STATS for all your rounds.'
Then analyze them because they will tell you in black and white, no gray, what is good about your game and what is not. I told Cory, that since he has not played much to go back in his memory and do his stats for his last 2 or 3 tournaments. With those stats he, and if he wants my help, will set what he needs to practice most, without time and quantity limits. Then he must also include practicing the good with the bad. We still have to keep the good fine tuned.
The key to quality practice is finding the mix or harmony of practicing what we need to learn a swing or get it fine tuned and better, as well as practice what is good to keep it good. Keeping stats will tell you what is good and more importantly what you need to practice.
The Surge!
Comments
Practice time allotment
Surge, I need help to determine a practice routine for myself. I have sinal fusion L2 thru S2 3 knee replacements and one eye. Due to these limitations I need to fine tune my practice routine. I am not able physically to spend hours practicing. Could you point me in the proper direction as to where it would benefit me to spend most of my time.