Talkin 'About Practice – Vol. 1: 4 Common Mistakes Most Golfers Make

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Swing technique, training aids, instruction, fitness, strategy … the list goes on. One can get lost in the pursuit of dialing in your golf game. The fact that you have visited this website implies that you are looking for improvement, and when it comes to getting better the importance of quality practice can be overlooked.

As Allen Iverson once said, " We're talking about practice."

We, at Golf Blueprint, are excited to begin a series of Practical Golf articles aimed at making practice more effective. In this section we will focus on four common mistakes we see golfers make during their practice sessions.

What is golf blueprint?

Before we get into the mistakes, let's first imagine and why you should (possibly) listen to us!

Golf Blueprint was founded by Dr. Kevin Moore and (soon to be Dr.) Nico Darras. Kevin Moore has a PhD in applied mathematics and psychology, and Nico Darras is completing his PhD in education with a focus on adult education theory.

As academics, the Golf Blueprint team has used their decades of research and applied it to golfers looking to improve their game. As a golfers, Dr. Kevin Moore played Division I collegiate golf and most recently competed in the 2018 US Mid Am. Nico Darras started playing golf when he was 22, and a year later he was a scratch golfer. He is now on the Outlaw mini tour in Arizona.

We have found that exercise, when done deliberately and in a structured way, produces significant results without a major time investment.

In general, we draw on our expertise in analysis, training, performance, and psychology to create data and research-based improvement plans tailored to each golfer's game.

In fact, our Golf Blueprint members have seen a improvement in just 3 months of using our program.

But enough about us, let's talk about you . The most common complaint we hear from golfers is that they don't see any meaningful return on the time invested in the practice course. Here are the most common practice mistakes we see.

Have no plan to improve

A golfer runs up a range. Does this sound familiar to you?

OK, get a wedge and hit a few balls to loosen … OK, now I think I should hit a short-haired iron. 8-iron, let's try that; I like my 8 iron. What was that move I found on track the last time? … Okay, I made some good ones; let's get to the 4 iron … How long have I been here? Time to hit a few drivers so I can roll some putts. Wait, what about chipping? Do I have to chip today? No, let's save that for next time.

Most golfers have zero practice plans . They know they want to improve their game and work on it, but they don't have a system for achieving that goal. They go through the exercise blindly and choose what to do next without having a structure of which exercises to work on, how long to work on those exercises, and the order in which to work those exercises.

With no plan, golfers leave the practice session, unsure whether they have achieved what they wanted to achieve during that session. A key to avoiding this feeling and a foundation for any golf blueprint plan is to have a prescribed and detailed set of "practice cards" with identifiable goals before you even set foot on the course. Having things lined up ahead of time will help you avoid decision fatigue and mindless movement through your session.

What am I working on on the Driving Range?

If there is anything the most recent analysis movement in golf has taught us, golfers make terrible judgments about the areas of their game that need work . They overestimate some skills and underestimate others. Inaccurate assessments of your game lead you to make uninformed and inappropriate decisions with practice.

Advances in golf data analysis have disproved myths like "drive for show, putt for dough" and helped teach golfers that they could be working on the wrong things on the range. We now know how golfers stand out from each other and provide actionable advice on how to optimize their practice time.

There is one common roadblock. When asked about a self-assessment of their own games, golfers overemphasize the importance of certain skills of the game, while underestimating the critical areas that can help them score better almost immediately. Spending too much time practicing five-foot putts while already proficient from those distances takes critical time for other areas of your game that need attention.

Identifying an area of ​​the game to be worked on is not just an exercise in identifying what you are "good" or "bad" at. Rather, it identifies an area of ​​your game in which improvements will lead to the most profit . For example, almost every golfer wants to hit the ball farther off the tee, but perhaps the most immediate profit you can make is with short iron and wedge play. Getting taller from the tee is difficult, but you can dramatically improve your scores within 150 yards with structured practice.

Without understanding your areas of optimized improvement, your practice time could be wasted. One of the best ways to solve this problem is to keep track of round-by-round statistics as well as certain practice statistics.

We took it a step further and wrote a patent pending algorithm that takes these important parameters into account to create tailor-made improvement plans for golfers like you. By setting the right goals, our members have been able to set appropriate expectations and enjoy golf more.

Putting too much emphasis on what happened in the most recent round

"I can't believe I cut my driver in the water at 18; I'm going to work on that today!"

How many times did you walk into the firing range while thinking about your last round? Too often, that's how much.

A key to a solid mental approach to golf is not to value a single shot or round. It is not an accurate indication of a golfer's play.

Hitting one ball of OB does not necessarily mean your driver needs work. That one bad memory could make you forget that your other 13 drives were in good positions and gave you great opportunities all day long from the fairway.

Or let's say you 3-putt the last hole to lose the game, and you believe your putting should work. How about the sequence of 20-foots you made on the front 9 when you were warm with the putter!

In understanding data analysis, a single shot doesn't tell us much, but a thousand over the course of a season can be an important trend indicator. Unfortunately, golfers tend to focus on that one bad shot and spend time correcting that mistake rather than realizing that it was probably a statistical anomaly and that they should move on .

The same goes for practice. Remember the second point above; golfers need help in judging their games themselves.

By overemphasizing your previous round and most recent performance, your practice sessions will likely be reactionary and sporadic, with no plan or process to rely on . We have found that delivering a custom plan monthly allows golfers to focus on certain & # 39; practice maps & # 39; while avoiding the tendency to make sudden changes based on one shot.

Golf practice can be boring

Let's face it, hitting 7 iron after 7 iron on the range or "work on putting" mindlessly hitting 20 footers isn't the most exciting thing in the world.

You have a plan, you have identified key areas for improvement and strength, and you are not relying on your most recent achievements to practice your design. If you don't see any improvement, a likely culprit could be how you are mentally engaged in practice despite putting practice time into it .

In skills development research, random and blocked time form the basis of practice. Blocked practice refers to practicing a single skill in repetition, while random practice refers to working on different skills with some degree of variance. These forms of practice are regularly discussed in golf circles, but one thing remains clear: without proper mental involvement you will not see any improvement in skills .

There are several ways we want to keep golfers involved in their practice. One of the most important ways is to make sure that each exercise is deliberately designed with a particular focus and purpose. Focused practice, distance control, alignment and shot shaping are used to stimulate the mind during a practice session. We recommend adding these elements to your current routine as it will make a difference.

Packing

Being aware of these four errors and how to fix them will (hopefully) help you enjoy and get the most out of your practice sessions. In the age-old question of the chicken and the chicken; which came first, a golfer who liked to practice because they improved or a golfer who improved because they liked to practice? This is part 1 of a multi-series that the founders of Golf Blueprint are offering to Practical Golf readers. We look forward to expanding your knowledge in future episodes!

For more information or to sign up for Golf Blueprint, visit www.goflblueprint.com