Learn to Practice Like a Pro Golfer
May 9, 2022
Whether you are new to golf, or just feeling motivated to improve your game, it’s a good time to learn how to practice like a pro golfer. That said there are many factors that come into play when it comes to improving performance, and unless you’re rich or unemployed, you may not have enough time to spend on the range to compete on the PGA Tour. Whereas some golfers are born with talent, most players take years to master the physical and mental side of the game. Nonetheless, any golfer wanting to lower his or her handicap can learn from how a pro golfer maximizes their time between rounds. Success starts with properly respecting the physical factors, mental factors, and mechanical factors involved with lowering one's score.
Anyone who has ever teed-it-up knows that golf is a complicated game and God-given talent doesn’t seem to be what creates champions (or even scratch golfers). Although most amateurs think that lowering their score is just a matter of finding more time to spend on the golf range, that is good example of how “stinking thinking” can limit one’s potential. After all, most golfers will shoot the same scores year after year. Truth is there are numerous ways that you can have a positive impact on the scores you shoot. For example, playing practice rounds, methodically hitting balls on the range, meeting a friend at lunch for a putting competition, and even spending time visualizing your golf swing can help. But practice doesn’t make perfect if you’re swing is fraught with flaws.
Routines Need to Be Specific
A serious bodybuilder doesn’t race around the gym stopping at any piece of equipment that catches their eye. That strategy would never allow them to build strength and tone their muscles. However, the majority of golfers that hit balls on the driving range are randomly selecting clubs from their bag in hopes they will magically get better, which is a key reason most golfers shoot the same scores year after year. If the number of baskets of balls hit is your practice strategy, don’t be surprised when your efforts don’t correlate to your ability to perform on the course. It is not the number of repetitions, which is what so many golfers think. It is the quality of the repetitions that can really make a difference. Every pro golfer relies on critical feedback from their coach, so spend time with an instructor before you waste money on the range.
Practice should never be painful, difficult, or boring. Never approach your time on the golf range as the number of balls you must hit to get better at the game. To speed up your learning, focus on the shot your want to hit and then do a self-critique as to where the shot finished. Taking this approach will allow you to provide better feedback to your instructor. Having a coach will make the hours spent on the range more fun and more productive. Being able to accurately measure your progress is key to staying motivated. It’s also important to mix it up, and when it’s time, make sure your practice routine becomes more challenging. The bodybuilder in the gym isn’t going to get stronger or boost muscle growth by the lifting the same amount of weight day after day.
Don’t Call It a Driving Range
As already mentioned, golf is a complicated game and your self-speak has more to do with success than you might think. With that in mind, don’t call it a driving a range. Duffers often rush to the driving range and pull the big stick out of their bag as quickly as possible. A good place to start improving your game is to call it a golf range, or just “the range”. There are lots of shots that can be learned on the range and repeatedly hooking, slicing, or duffing range balls with the big stick is never the way to start your day. Most golf ranges today have an assortment of flags or mini greens to accommodate the full range of clubs you carry in your bag. Rather than wasting a basket of balls aiming at the 300-yard marker, practice like a pro golfer and have fun visualizing the full gamut of shots.
Becoming more successful on the course depends heavily on your ability to develop and engage in solid practice routines. This will allow you to develop and improve the skills you need to lower your handicap. Unfortunately, all of the time you spend practicing poorly is just setting yourself up for failure. Once you’ve stretched and warmed-up, start by practicing with clubs that you are really not excited about hitting. You know, the ones that nobody will even notice when you hit a good shot. That will help you erase the picture you have in your mind of other golfers on the range applauding some mega drive that you’re unlikely to hit. Learn how to make a crowded range your personal space where you routinely practice golf skills correctly to become a more competent and confident player.
Practice Correctly to Practice Effectively
Always remember, once you learn how to practice like a pro golfer, hitting the ball where you’re aimed over and over again will feel great. If improving your golf skills and building your confidence is your primary purpose, start by defining where you need to improve in order to attain your on-course goals. Recreational golfers are often reluctant to put that kind of pressure on themselves. Instead of focusing on performing their best on the golf range, they attack a bucket of balls with a truckload of performance anxiety and try to execute shots under pressure that they have not practiced hitting. Following well-defined routines is a key component in correcting bad shots to master the shots you need to hit. Investing time in your routines will improve both your mental and physical game.
Unfortunately, you can practice with your driver until your hands bleed, but if you are swinging the wrong club, you are not practicing effectively. Of all of the clubs in your bag, there’s a good chance that your driver is not a club built for your swing. In fact, chances are it was built for a pro golfer with a 115 mph-plus swing speed. According to Lance Reeder, the founder of Krank Golf, that’s a huge problem since ninety-nine percent of recreational golfers do not physically have the golf skills to hit a USGA-conforming driver. If that’s the case, you are not taking full advantage of the golf technology that is available to you. Krank’s ultra-hardened beta titanium X2 driver is micro milled and forged into a cupped shape that optimizes the face surface area for maximum spring effect.
One of the most frustrating things in golf, is playing every day and not getting any better. If you are struggling to find distance, invest in a driver designed to maximum your level of golf skills. Use this website’s convenient contact form or call 855.699.1900 to add the yardage you’re giving away off the tee.
