Effective Range Practice

Driving to work this morning I was thinking about my students in Taiwan and China. I enjoyed my time over there and the kids I coached were all nice kids and generally worked hard on their games. This got me thinking about practice and practice routines. What is the best way to practice? Do we need to hit thousands of balls to improve our swings and our games? What is effective practice?

One student I had in China (pictured above) was notorious for not practicing effectively. He would hit balls on the range without choosing a target, using his pre-shot routine or even taking enough time to set up to the ball correctly. Sometimes he would hit balls without even looking down the practice fairway! I think his record for consecutive shots without looking at a target was five! Now this student was an extreme example but I think all golfers can benefit from an understanding of different types of practice and when to use the different types of practice.

Most golfers I know tend to go to the range and just hit ball after ball after ball with little thought. This can be called "rake and hit" practice and it not very helpful for improving your golf. I tend to call this exercise rather then practice. I would suggest there are three main types of practice and they should be used at different times to ensure you get the most out of your practice and make the most improvement.

The first type of practice could be called block practice and technical practice. This type of practice involves hitting a number of shots with a club only working on the technical aspects of your swing you are working on with your coach. There is no need to worry about where the ball is going during these types of sessions as the emphasis is on making the swing changes you are trying to make with your coach. This type of practice should be used during time when there are not many important competitions for you to play in and you are working on correcting your swing faults.

The second type of practice could be called random practice or transfer practice. This type of practice is designed to more closely simulate on course play and make it more difficult to get in the "groove" of hitting 20 shots with the same club. Basically, you would change clubs often and change targets more often. An easy formula may be to change targets every two shots and change clubs every six shots. You should also use your pre-shot routine before every second shot. This type of practice should be used to help you take your swing changes onto the course with you.

The third type of practice is called competitive practice and this type of practice needs to be used in the weeks leading up to an important competition. As the name suggests, this kind of practice involves competitions with yourself or a training partner. Closest to the pin competitions and Aussie rules goal type challenges are only a couple of the games you could use during these sessions. You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to inventing competitive practice sessions. Send me an email if you need some ideas. When using this type of practice you should use your full pre-shot routine and make every shot as close to an on course shot as possible. Obviously, doing these practice sessions you won't hit as many balls but the intensity levels will be closer to what they would be during a competition. This will help you take your new and improved swing into a competition with confidence.

Until next time,

Brent