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Do You Practice Golf Incorrectly?

2:06 pm September 1, 2009

Most people think that they should practice golf to swing just like their favorite professionals. And on the surface that makes sense. The reason those guys and gals are on the PGA and LPGA tours is because they are the greatest at what they do. And if you’re not trying to be like Tiger Woods, you are still receiving more tips than you can handle from pros on television and in magazines.

Now let’s return to earth for a second. Unless you were born with an unbelievable amount of talent, odds are you won’t be on the tour in the immediate future. Very few ever realize that level and odds are you won’t either. Your goal should merely be to get better. And the worst thing you can do to hit your practical goals is to try to imitate the best.

If you are similar to the majority of people, you perform your practice on the weekends and after you get off work. Golf is their 9 to 5 occupation. They wake up and hit the course. putting in a tremendous amount of hours working to become better at their trade. You on the other hand don’t have that luxury. You might want practice golf 24/7, but let’s be practical and make the best use of the time you do have.

We have all watched our favorite professionals hit a beautifully lofted shot that stops dead on the green a few feet from the hole, or maybe one that backs up towards the pin. We could spend months working on this, but as a weekend golfer, there are more productive ways to spend our time that will result in lower scores. What we should do is improve the basics first, and that’s where our focus needs to be.

Think for a minute about how you spend your practice time. You were likely teeing it up, and using your driver on the range. A good driver might take a few strokes off your score, but think about how many drives you hit during a round. See where we’re going with this? You need to spend much more time working on your short game.

You will realize astounding gains by spending your time working on this, although admittedly, it’s not the most thrilling way to practice. Professional golfers likely spend 80% of their practice time working on the short game. They work on different angles. They practice different lies and in different wind conditions. We already stated it’s best not to replicate their swing, but their practice habits is something we all can learn from.

This may describe you. You have the farthest and straightest drive among the people you play with, but you are still shooting 90 or higher. The problem is obviously with your short game and this is where you should focus your practice efforts. Get better here, and watch your scores go down dramatically.

The next time you decide to practice golf, keep the driver in the bag. Instead practice any shot that’s under 75 yards. That means putting, pitching, chipping and short shots from the bunker.

Here’s something to think about that should make this crystal clear. Did you know that during a typical round, more than 50% of your shots are from under 75 yards. This includes putts, chips, etc. If these shots are 50% of your score, then you should be spending at least half of your practice time working on them. Now consider that in all likelihood less than 20% of your shots are with a driver. If you are honest with yourself, you will recognize that this is where you need to practice most.

When your scores begin to quickly go down by as many as ten shots, all of a sudden banging drives on the range won’t seem like nearly as much fun.

The ideal way to practice without going to the range is by purchasing a golf practice net. You can learn more golf tips like this, as well as read course and golf equipment reviews and advice by going to AllThingsGolfBlog.com.

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