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How to enjoy your practice

How practice should be managed to guarantee improvement while maximising your enjoyment and sense of achievement

Posted: 24 January 2005
by Peter Hudson

’Rough!, rough!’

I love to practice. If I had the time, I would spend most of the day on the practice area. However, like me, you can doubtless remember times when the practice was not exactly constructive.

While it’s fine to go and hit balls at the range for fun, don’t be fooled into thinking you’re improving your swing. How many times have you had a lesson in which you showed positive signs of improvement but a month later you were back to your old bad habits and back in the rough off the tee?

Time is our most vital asset in today’s hectic world, so when you want to make changes quickly and correctly you need to maintain as much, if not more, focus as when playing.

Achieving results from practice will result in more enjoyment and satisfying play. Practice has to be outcome driven, focused, organised, planned and should employ accurate feedback. Follow these basic guidelines to put together a positive, constructive practice session:

What am I going to work on today?

Usually the best idea is to work on the one thing that will make the most difference to your game.

Fact file

Golf coach and sports psychologist. Peter Hudson, has joined the Golfmagic instruction team to present an innovative series of articles, which we hope will shed new light on the game.

As president of the World Golf Teaching Federation of Great Britain and coach to the Essex county team, he aims to bring 30 years experience to Golfmagic visitors who are keen for themselves, their family and friends, to make the most from golf.

He says: "I don’t just teach what to learn but how to learn."

*More information about Peter Hudson’s approach to coaching can be found on his websites – www.yourgolfcoach.com and www.wgtfgb.com Alternatively call him direct on: 08700 114 292.

What is my specific outcome and what will the final outcome achieve for me?

Be very specific and use tried and tested methods to evaluate your goals, such as SMART (Are your goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible?)

What drill, exercise, or routine am I going to use?

Pick a drill that you believe will work and stick with it.

How am I going to measure the feedback?

This is where you will need the most focus. Frequently it may be more detailed than you have experienced before. For example, what angle did I create on the back swing between my off target upper and lower forearm? The angle is usually too acute.

How will you know when you have succeeded?

What exact criteria will be evidence that you have succeeded?

Coaching tale

Club golfer Brian had had many lessons, the majority of them trying to cure his banana slice. I went over every piece of advice and drill that had been recommended to him.

We decided to use the drill that had made the most difference and mapped out a practice and feedback schedule. It was very precise, including how often and long he was to do each part.

I asked him to call me if, at any time, he failed to keep to the plan. Sure enough, 10 days later he called and said he needed to see me and he demonstrated each feedback procedure we had put in place.

Diligently Brian explained what he was feeling with each movement and how, disappointedly, not too much seemed to be changing.

He continued to hit balls giving me detailed feedback each time, until he noticed I was laughing. He had been so focused on giving feedback that he hadn’t noticed the gentle draws he was now achieving with his driver.

Brian had successfully got so lost in the process that he was achieving ingrained changes that he had been attempting for years.

In a nutshell

Keep a clear picture in your mind of what the practice will eventually get you.

Warm up and warm down.

Leave yourself plenty of time.

Listen to relaxing music beforehand.

Focused on what your body is doing.

Hold your balanced finish from a good swing allowing the neural pathway to deepen and maximise your ability to notice what you felt.

Maintain a professional attitude.

Find a great coach who will give you the right practice.

DON’T

Rush your next shot.

Practice until you know what you are doing is correct.

Hit balls without moving away from mat and starting a whole new routine.

Hit too many balls. Quality of feedback is what matters.

Pay any attention to where the ball is until you’ve achieved what you want with your body. (Then you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised, like Brian).

Conclusion

Feedback is your most important aspect to good practice. Using a scale of 1-10 will help. Ten will be what you want to feel. You can monitor how other parts contribute to the movement on this scale.

Make slow motion swings without the ball. Feel what you want to feel, before hitting the ball and comparing the two swings.

Discover the difference and focus on what makes the difference. Remember, practice should be fun, just like when you play. Get lost in the process and notice how quickly you begin to make permanent changes in a fraction of the usual time.

Remember: Practice makes permanent, good practice makes perfect.