How do you practice?

[rowjow]

Everywhere you hear 'practice effectively' and so on. So, how do you practice? and what drills do you do?

[finalist]

M-F driving range during lunch for 45-60 minutes.

 

Typically start off with a 30 ball basket. 8 iron to warm up. Then some strong 6 irons to get everything hitting hard. By this time the flaws have crept in because my tempo picked up. Lately it's been an over draw with my middle irons, so I spend most of the time trying not to draw it -- hitting fades. Then I move on to a few 4 or 3 irons. Not really looking for much more than solid pure contact. Distance will vary somewhat due to wind, so I try not to get obsessed with the exact yardage with the long irons. Then I hit a few drivers. With my driver I try to hit long low shots. I can hit the driver high with ease, but it's the low boring shot that I want. Then I end with wedges to 100 yards, 75 yards and 50 yards.

 

If I have time I'll also chip on the chipping green which goes out to 35 yards, and I'll putt.

 

Sometimes putting is just a game of skins with the retired guys who hang out everyday or I work on short putts, 10 footers and a few lags.

 

The best days are when I never hit the same club more than 3-4 times in a row, but sometimes it's hard to move on when the shots are not as good as they should be.

 

Very recently the only drill I work on is some stuff to keep my shoulders from getting flat on the down swing. I tend to get flat which pushes my rear closer to the ball which makes my hands get more vertical through impact and the strike is a little towards the toe.

 

 

After years of this style of practice and getting down to 1.0 index I think the best thing to do is swing slower until the ball flies straight and contact is pure. Seriously slow like 30% swing speed. Feel what you are doing.

[JBones]

I go to the range everyday, whether I'm playing or not. I'm usually there for 2-3 hours. I start out chipping for 30 minutes, then putting for 30 minutes. I then head to the range for 75-100 balls; if I have they day off or plenty of time, I'll hit 250-300 balls. I warm up with my PW, working my way from the 90yd green, up to the 140yd green. Then I go thru hitting a few full shots with every club. Then I start hitting finesse shots; 120yd punch cuts with 9i, 150yd towering fades with a 7i, shots from divots, etc. My last 20-30 balls I use to hit shots into the 3 short greens that are usually 45, 65, and 85. After I'm done with the range, I'll go back and chip and putt for another hour or so. Im on the green a lot more than the range, because from tee to green I'm about a 1.5, but putt my way to a 6. The last couple weeks I've completely changed my putting grip and stroke and I've been making it from everywhere. I'll get to put that to the test next week at Disney.

[Kanoito]

For me it's the other way around.

 

I do less putting/chipping and more range. I believe video games have helped me greatly reading greens and seeing putt lines in my head.

 

Should my putting be off, I'll putt one ball through the 9 holes twice allowing no more than 33 putts. If I go over, I'll repeat the drill.

 

When my chipping is off, I hit 80 balls and only allow 10 bad chips. If I get more than that I start over again.

 

On the range I warm up with a 9i or 8i and hit around 10 balls. If contact is good, I move on to a 5i or 4i and hit around 20 balls focusing on contact and aim. Since range balls don't fly like normal gamers, I don't pay attention to distance.

 

I'm close to putting my 3W in the basement, so I haven't practiced with it lately.

 

If my hybrid is off, I'll hit around 15 balls focusing on my inside-out path and trying not to skull the ball.

 

My biggest problem is the slicing driver, so I devote a whole bucket practicing inside-out path, wrist release, back swing, etc. If I can hit 30 decent drives out of 40, I'll go play 9 holes. If I'm slicing hardcore, I'll get another bucket and continue with my driver. If the second bucket still slices, I toss the driver in the bag and go get drunk