Golf Tips From The Professional

Practice Time Well Spent

One of the biggest challenges facing people with the desire to play golf is time.  It takes a lot of time out of someone’s busy schedule to play an eighteen hole round of golf.  In addition to the typical four-hour time commitment for a round of golf, golfers have the desire to improve, which means that they will have to spend additional time practicing.  By working with our instructors you will be able to make more efficient use of your practice time.   

Remember, making the effort and the trip to the practice facility and hitting a large quantity of golf balls is not practice.  At best, we would call hitting a large number of golf balls exercise.  Each practice session should have two important characteristics that are prerequisites for improvement: feedback and a goal.

Before a practice session, feedback can be built into a practice opportunity by reviewing one’s previous round of golf.  Use an analysis of your last round of golf to dictate where and what you will practice in order to improve upon your weaknesses and take advantage of your strengths.  Analyze the different areas of your game including putting, chipping, pitching, bunker play, etc.  Even analyze your full swing in terms of direction and contact.  Also, because every shot on the golf course has a target, it is important that every shot at the practice facility has a target.  By having a clear picture in your mind before every shot you will be more likely to transfer the skills learned through practice out onto the golf course.  If you ever catch yourself when practicing where your goal is just to hit the golf ball, then it’s time to take a break.

During a practice session, feedback can be built in through two more techniques.  While practicing have competitions and challenges with yourself.  For example, pick a target at a set yardage and hit five golf balls towards it.  After the five swings take note as to how many of the shots were left, right, short or long.  Then pick another club and another target and play the same game.  This time you could visualize a narrow fairway and see how many of five tee shots you can land within the fairway.  This way feedback is built into your practice and you will have a better awareness of your ball flight, your tendencies, and you will have a clearer picture of what you need to do in order to improve.  Probably the most overlooked practice technique by golfers is the construction of a practice station.  Building a practice station can eliminate variables and simplify the game.  We suggest laying a golf shaft down (pointing at your target) on your target line, and then laying another one down parallel to it.  Now you will have visual feedback on aiming your clubface perpendicular to the target line, and have a better chance of aligning your body (shoulders, arms, hips, knees, and feet) parallel to that target line.  By having these “railroad” tracks on the ground if your golf ball is not going at the target then you can eliminate two variables: aim and alignment.  Golf is hard enough, so use your practice station to eliminate variables and give you feedback on your progress.

Regardless of the length of a practice session, be sure to set a goal.  By setting a goal you will be more engaged in your practice time and you will be sure to accomplish something by the end of it.  A good goal could be as simple as getting used to a new pre-swing address position or a new swing adjustment.  More specifically, pick one goal to accomplish through a practice session.  If students try to accomplish ten different objectives, they are unlikely to completely accomplish any of them.  Also, by picking that one simple goal to practice you have a better chance of fully accomplishing something and will be able and ready to accomplish a new goal during your next practice time.  That’s called progress, that’s called walking up the stairs one step at a time.

We understand that people have conflicting time constraints.  We also understand that golfers want to improve.  Therefore, it is extremely important to make efficient use of your practice time.  Regardless of the location and length of a practice session be sure that your time spent gives you feedback and that you select a goal to associate with that period of time.  Feedback can help you gain a better understanding of your current abilities, your tendencies, what you need to work on, and it can even eliminate variables that complicate the game.  Goals can be incorporated into a practice session to motivate oneself and to have confidence in the achievement of one complete accomplishment on the way to many more.  John Jacobs’ Golf School instructors can help you to create your own unique practice regimen that will improve your game and save you time.

Robbie Fritz, PGA
Director of Instruction
John Jacobs’ Golf School
at Port Royal Golf Club
10 Clubhouse Dr.
Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
(919) 971-5099
rfritz@jacobsgolf.com