Proper Practice Prevents Piss-Poor Performance

Well, maybe I haven’t worded the title properly. This isn’t so much how to improve in a technical sense - I’m not going to give you all the technical tips and tricks that that will magically turn you into a single figure handicapper, or a tour player - “Turning More and getting through it” won’t wipe 13 shots off your game believe it or not. But practice will make you a better player.

Funnily enough… well actually its not funny, I’m in a foul mood right now as I write this -  I’m sitting here after a first round 75, looking at the abysmal state of my golf game compared to what its used to be, and concluding that I need to practice more. But what should I practice? I'm writing this because I'm a strong believer that most golfers are actually better than they give themselves credit for being. Hands up everyone who feels like they don't score as well as they should? Hands up everyone who has played with someone off a lower handicap than yours, but you thought that you hit the ball better than they did? this segment is for all of you with your hands up. 

Now, we all have a tendency to remember a single shot from our last round, or a single hole, and emotionally extrapolate from that, making grand pronouncements that we are a terrible driver of the ball just because you topped your last tee ball a grand total of 9 inches (backwards). I’m guilty of this too! I three putted my last hole today (bugger…) and wanted to throw my putter under the front right wheel of my Toyota Corolla. But actually, statistically speaking, I putted fine today - about baseline for me, or just a shade under. What let me down was my approach play, but I digress. Anyway, one round or one shot that we remember shouldn't drive our practice - a sample size of one is no good to anyone!

I'm diligent enough to keep in depth stats on my phone. I enter all my rounds into an app so when I go to practice, I know exactly what I need to work on, because some AI powered algorithm tells me. Looking at my stats-tracker-phone-app-thingy, I know that the top 3 areas that I lose shots in are 10-15ft putts (I lose about 0.11 shots per putt from this range to the average tour pro), approach shots from 150m - 175m (for me, this is my 9 iron through to my 7 iron, and I lose about 0.19 shots to the average tour pro here), and 50m - 75m approach shots (clearly my approach play is tragic). But let’s be honest, most of you don’t have the time, nor can you be bothered to spend 15 minutes after your round to enter your shots into an app. And consequentially, most of you won’t have an accurate idea of what you actually need to practice. 

Now, this is the part where I tell you what to practice. As you most likely don’t keep stats  here I come to the rescue. I’ve used this as an exercise to distract myself from my game today (not that bloody missed 2ft putt on the last) and I’ve created a list of the most useful things to practice that will help you improve your game. Ideally we’d love to practice everything, but because we work, or have kids, or both, or just can’t be arsed if we’re honest, we can’t practice everything. We should practice the shots that are the most useful, and also that we face the most! For example, there is no point practicing for that one tee shot you struggle with if you’re missing 6 putts of 3ft and in each round. Or Working on a lob shot you’d hit from down right of 5 when you hit it in that stupid blimmin creek every time!

I’ve tried to start with the most common and worked my way backwards from there. I’ve also compiled a useful list of what not to practice, so you don’t waste any of your valuable time on something silly. 

So, into it:

• Putting from 4ft and in - Now I know what you’re thinking - this is an emotional reaction to my missed tap-in on 18 today, and you’re calling me a hypocrite… But hear me out! You’ll Probably have 15-16 of these per round. These take the stress off your game. If you know that you hole 100%  of putts from inside 4ft, then you don’t care about long putts, because if you run it 3ft past then you can hole it. Or chipping because you can clean it up easily… Or approach shots because, if you miss the green then you chip it on and you’ll two putt at worst… Or driving because if you hit it in the trees you can chip it out, hit it up, chip it on and hole the short putt. It’s like a massive chain reaction of stress relief! It just saves you shots and makes golf less stressful. In fact, I played in a pro-am yesterday with a 6 handicapper, an 18 handicapper, and a 35 handicapper, and between them they missed 16 putts of 4ft and in!!!!!!!! I don’t want to see it anymore, my eyes can’t take it. Practice those tap-ins ladies and gents. 

• Driving - Conventional wisdom says that you should spend all your time practicing your short game - I say that’s great and all, but it’s no fun getting up and down for a 9 after hitting 3 into the hazard off the tee. You’ll probably hit 14 drivers a round -  that’s probably 4x the number of 8/7/6/5 irons you’ll hit in a round, yet we waste our time on those on the range. Develop a tee shot that just gets the ball in-play. Doesn’t have to even be in the fairway! Just don’t take yourself out of the hole with a "power fade" that goes over four fairways right and takes someone out on the cycleway. 

• Basic chip shots, about a 5/10 in difficulty or less - You’ll Probably have 6-8 of these a round. These are great because they just keep the momentum going and enable you to actually manage a course properly. For example, take 12 on the Heretaunga course. You and your buddy hit your tee shot’s into the trees right next to each other, and are faced with a choice of two gaps: Gap A is the gap that you can see the flag and the bunkers in, and Gap B is the gap you can see the fairway 10m short of the green in. Because you’ve got a sound short game and have practiced the easy up and downs, you go for the bigger and safer gap, nudge it up short, chip it to 4ft, and knock that in for a par. Your buddy, because he has an awful short game, goes for Gap A and tries to knock it on the green… And they do knock it on the green! It’s just the 15th green after a spectacular Rick O’shea off one of the trees almost saw them swallow their ball. Simple up and down’s are underrated, and relieve stress… Practice them and you’ll sleep better. 

• Choke Down Full Swing Hybrid/Fairway wood - If you’re a 20+ Handicapper, how often do you hit an average drive, have 170+ into a green, and want to just nudge one up there to a playable distance greenside. Maybe into a spot where you have an easy up-and-down like we just discussed. Again, same as driver, it doesn’t matter what your shot shape is, it could be a 40 yard slice for all I care! Just find a consistent one. You’ll probably hit this maybe 6-8 times per round again. 

• Lag Putting - This is the most underrated skill in golf! Watch it in the Masters this week, I guarantee the winner will hit one or two putts from outside 50ft across 38 different humps and hollows to stone dead at crucial times in the final round. Practice putting from outside 40ft, the type where you just want to get it to a distance you can see the hole from. Even practice these from a couple of yards off the green in the fairway! This will account for maybe 5-7 shots a round. Again, a great stress reliever. 

• Punch outs - Don’t laugh at me for this one, but work on a low shot for when the driver doesn’t behave. To hit it well too you have to nail the basic principles of a good impact position, so it’ll carry over to the rest of your game.  You’ll probably use this 4-5 times a round, right? Maybe more on a bad day. 

• Full Wedges/9 Irons - So that when you’ve hit a great drive you can capitalise, or if you’ve had to chip out, you can knock it on and two putt for a bogey or hole it for a par. Hit to a target on the range, and take note of how wide your shot dispersion pattern is. You’ll see probably 3-5 of these per round regardless of your skill level. 

So, now we’ve covered the do’s, here’s a big fat list of the don’ts. 

• There is no point, I repeat, NO POINT in hitting 7 iron after 7 iron after 7 iron after 7 iron on the range, unless you are making a dramatic technical change. If you’re trying to re-shape your swing, then firstly, it better not have been because a YouTube video told you to. If thats the case though then I’ll allow it.However, if you’re trying to get in some useful practice, then this is a time waster. Any iron over an 8 iron isn't much use to you to practice, thats not where you'll pick up shots. 

• A 20m pitch from the fairway, hitting a bucket of range balls all over the green with no real target. I see this all the time, and I'm sorry to tell you, but this doesn't count as short game practice. Work on specific types of simple shots that you see often, and change them up regularly. And for pete's sake, use your own balls! Range balls react completely differently on the green and off the face than your balls will. It would be like the all blacks practicing playing rugby with a cricket ball... It's not the same thing! You may as well not practice at all. 

• Extravagant lob shots or any chip shot harder than a 5/10. You don’t see them enough, but also, the gains from getting one more in every ten up and down are far less than the gains you get doing that with the easy ones. 

• If you can get out of them okay, then don’t practice bunker shots. Once you’re able to get out and on the green almost every time, leave it. You’ll probably only see one a round - no point working hard there to try save 0.1 of a shot getting a bit better at it. Once you get to a low single figure handicap and it actually matters that you hit it close rather than just get it out, then sure, practice away. But until then, leave it. And if you can’t get out, then you can book a lesson HERE.

• Hitting a bloody draw with a driver! There’s maybe 30 players on the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour combined who hit a draw with their driver, and only a couple of those are top 20/30 players! Modern equipment makes it almost impossible to do it reliably, the ball doesn’t spin enough to hold its flight well with a draw unless you swing it 100mph+. If you already hit a draw easily with your driver AND you can control it, then great, then awesome, hit that every time.  But if you don't, then don’t go chasing one because it looks pretty  - instead, just imagine you’re a lefty, and voila! Your slice becomes a lefties power draw.  And certainly don't do it because the pro’s do it, most don't, and plenty can't (me, for example). Own your Fade! As the old saying goes, Faders eat Filet, Hookers eat hamburgers!

• Those 8ft-20ft putts. “Oh but you should hole those!” I hear you say… Well, the best putters in the world who work on their putting for 15+ hours alone per week are 50-50 from 8ft. Why do you think that because you play off a 23 handicap and you hit six putts before your round last week you should hole them every time?! If you hole 1 in 5 then that’s a massive win! Accept that a putt in this range is a lottery, pick an okay line, make a positive stroke, and if it goes in it goes in, if it doesn’t then hey, the odds were against you anyway. Doesn’t even matter if you leave it short! There’s maths that says that leaving it short from certain distances is better, but that’s another story for another segment. 

Ghee, well done on reading through all of that, that was a long segment! I’ll leave you with this just as a thought too - improvement in golf isn’t linear, nor is it instant. It’s not as simple as “I shot 75 today, but worked on my putting overnight, so I’ll shoot 66 tomorrow” (which is a shame, I could use a 66 tomorrow).  We’re all searching for a silver bullet, and there isn’t one. Heck, if there was then I’d be on tour, or I’d be very rich from selling it to people - I wouldn’t be writing this article, that’s for sure! More often than not though, there’s a J-curve (there’s the economist in me), it gets a bit worse before it gets better. 

Commitment to consistency is what drives improvement, not bouncing from one YouTube coach to the next. Keep it simple, work on the right things, and forgive yourself if you have a terrible day - we all do! If you’re working on the right things, and maintain a good attitude, then you’ll get better in the long run. 

And as usual, if every single thing I've written down in this segment fails, then book infor a lesson here and come see me. I’ll fix your 30+ years of bad habits in about 7 minutes, maybe 9 minutes on a bad day.