Practice is key to improvement.  This statement may sound obvious, but most golfers certainly don’t practice enough or when they do, they don’t practice with a sense of purpose.

I wanted to write a blog that will aid you in your practice and make sure that your practice is being carried out in the correct way.  When golfers practice, they will often relate a good practice session with the time it has taken them – “I had a great practice session, I hit balls for an hour” for example.

I want to shift your way of thinking about practice and make sure that your practice has some real purpose to it and that you are focusing on the quality not the quantity.

In this article you will find a complete guide to practice.  How to split your practice between Block, Variable and Competition based.  The 1/3 approach is key to seeing improvement on the golf course.

It is firstly important to understand the three areas that make up your practice session.  Whether you are practicing for 30 minutes or 3 hours it is vital you have some structure if you want to carry over swing changes and increase your performance on the golf course.

1/3 Block Practice – This type of practice is the traditional ‘reps’-based practice.  Hitting a volume of golf balls with the same club, same target, and technical thoughts to ‘grove’ in your new swing.  This is the type of practice that most golfers will engage in when they head to the practice area.

1/3 Varied Practice - This practice is about variability and creating a differing scenario each time you hit.  For example, you should use your pre shot routine each time you hit a ball, change the target, change the club and create a time gap between shots so you start to create a similar scenario to being on the golf course.

1/3 Competitive Practice – We play golf with a scorecard and pencil therefore we should be practicing with a scorecard and pencil.  This is the single most important part of your practice session.

Planning your practice

Every golfer wanting to improve their game must dedicate some time to practice what they have been taught.  A golf lesson is exactly that, it’s a ‘lesson’ you are learning the correct technique.  Practice is the only way you get good at what you have been taught.

The longer you spend practicing with quality, the better chance you have of improving.  This does take time, getting into good practice habits is something that, like your actual swing, needs dedication and time to change.

Keys to a good practice plan

• Don’t try to do too much – Make your practice realistic and fit it around your other life priorities. If you try to do too much and you find it difficult to stick to you will be less likely to see it through.
• Plan for breaks – For example, if you have an hour scheduled then use the 1/3 process and allow time for breaks. An hour session may be 3 x 15mins and 15 mins for break/toilet/refreshments/changing activity so the 15 mins you spend during each 1/3 of practice are completely uninterrupted and focused.
• Use your notebook – Keep notes of things that have helped you such as positives thoughts and feels throughout your block practice and make sure you record your scores when completing the competitive part of your practice – this is what makes the competitive practice worth it’s weight.
• Set objectives – Even if they’re just in your mind, try to set small goals for your practice session – for example you may set a score for the competitive game you want to beat. You might aim to miss only on one side of the target for your block practice session.  Setting small objectives will keep your mind focused on the task in hand.
• Keep your concentration – For the entire 15 minutes you are practicing your 1/3 area, keep your phone away from you and keep all distractions out. Your concentration level should be that

How to decide what areas to practice

A good coaching program will frequently be reviewed and in an ideal world you will record simple stats when playing to help your coach see where each part of your game is at, at any stage in your journey.  There are a few considerations when deciding where to spend most of your practice time such as your ability, your goals, how much practice/play time you have etc.  One thing remains constant however, you must always try to make the worse part of your game the best part of your game and if you live by that objective then you will always be moving in the right direction with your game.

Most golfers practice the areas of the game they enjoy the most rather than the area that is poor.  It is the job of your coach to make sure you are practicing correctly and that’s why, as a coach who wants the best for his players, I have written this guide.  Together with your coach you can plan your practice.

The biggest factor that prevents golfers from practicing is time.  This is something to take into consideration when you decide to take golf lessons.  You must account for the time you need to dedicate to practice as your practice is equally, if not more important than the coaching session itself!

When you commit to a coaching program you will be asked how much time you have per week to practice and how much time you have to play non-competitive golf.  This is vital for your development.  For every hour you spend with your coach, you should spend double that amount in practice.  So, between every 1-hour lesson you should make time for 2 hours practice.  That doesn’t have to be weekly, it just must be the ratio you stick to.

As well as being split into practice types (Block, Varied and Competitive) your practice should also be split into skill areas such as putting, chipping, long game, bunkers, driving, also on course practice and mental skills.

Let’s get started on your practice session and for these examples I will use 15 minute 1/3 segments!

1/3 - Block Practice

Example – Hitting 50 balls with the same club to the same target with little rest in between shots.

Block practice has many benefits, it helps to grove in new feelings, it builds confidence and helps players find some repetition.  Particularly if you have little experience in swinging a club and you need to be accustomed to what it feels like.  It also has downfalls, at what point during play do we hit the same club one after another to the same target with 20-30 second intervals?  It has no carry over to the golf course because there is no consequence, we hit a bad shot and just pull another ball in, all is forgotten once we hit a good one.  That’s why this shouldn’t be the only type of practice we partake in.

How to - Block Practice

Whether you’re putting, chipping, ironing, or driving…

• Select the club of choice based on your current swing change
• Have your balls ready to be hit and easily accessible
• Have no access to your phone or anything else that can distract you
• Pick a target and use alignment aids of you have them
• Intense and deliberate swing thoughts and rehearsals of the move

2/3 - Varied Practice

Example – Hitting 50 balls, changing your club and target in between shots with a small period between each shot to somewhat simulate real play.

Varied or random practice requires a little more planning.  Select the different clubs and shot types you are going to practice and make a note of them in your notebook to refer to.  Each shot you play should be executed in the manner it would be on the golf course.  This means your pre shot routine should be carried out each time and after each shot your club should go back in your bag to keep you in the mindset of real play.  You should hit less balls (maybe ½ as many as block) but with greater focus on your process.

How to - Varied Practice

Whether you’re putting, chipping, ironing, or driving…

• Select the clubs of choice and make a note of them
• Minimal swing thoughts
• Full pre shot routine before each shot
• Put your club in your bag after each shot
• Change your target after each shot
• Have no pre planned order, select each shot type at random
• Make notes based on your results
• Have no access to your phone or anything else that can distract you

3/3 - Competitive Practice

Example – Select a set target area, hit 5 balls and record how many balls you got inside that area.

Competitive practice is, in my opinion, the single most important type of practice you will use in your golf development.  You are practicing with a scorecard and pencil, and you have a target score to achieve, you also only have 1 chance, and you should show this to your coach (there is the pressure) – it’s the closest thing to actual play.  If you do not partake in this type of practice and see your scores improve in practice how can expect to see your scores improve on the golf course when faced with the same shots.  Why would a F1 team expect to the win grand prix if their practice times were slower than the time they need to win on the day?

How to - Competitive Practice

Whether you’re putting, chipping, ironing, or driving…

• Choose your game/challenge to complete (you may wish to complete more than one)
• Select the clubs of choice and make a note of them
• Minimal swing thoughts
• Full pre shot routine before each shot
• Put your club in your bag after each shot
• Keep your score
• You should be in the same state of mind/concentration on every shot as if you were playing the winning shot of your club championship
• Have no access to your phone or anything else that can distract you
• It is important that as you progress through your practice plan that your games and challenges become more difficult, and your target scores are lowered.
• Make your practice games tougher than the real thing, i.e., if you would be happy to chip your ball to 6 feet, make your target area 4 feet and so on.
• As your level of expectation increases, so should the difficulty of the challenge.

The Four Phases of Game Improvement

The idea that a golfer can learn a new skill in a controlled environment (during a coaching session, supervised with instant feedback from the coach) and then take that learned skill into a situation where the golfer is under ‘stress’ i.e. playing on the golf course, immediately is a completely flawed idea yet one employed by a large number of amateur golfers.

Many coaches will tell you that change takes time, it really doesn’t, you can change something very quickly.  In fact, I would expect to see my students make changes as quickly as in a 30 minute session.  What takes the time is being able to use the newly learned skill when the body and mind is under ‘stress’.  This stress is directly related to the fear of a negative outcome (poorly hit ball, bad direction etc.)

‘Stress’ can take many forms in golf and for some it can start before even setting foot on the golf course.  It’s important to understand that as soon as we experience stress in golf it becomes extremely hard to trust any kind of new skill or movement pattern.  A long time mentor of mine, Hall of Fame Instructor once said “First the golfer must be able to make the change, once you see that they CAN it’s about whether they WILL”

The ability to learn new skills has never been so much in the forefront of my mind as much as when my son was 3 years old.  Watching him learn his daily skills is an ever-evolving process of trial and error with the instinctive inquisitive mindset that comes so natural to young humans.  Let’s make a comparison here – My son was learning to ride his bike.  Well sure as the day is long he will not be jumping on a pedal bike and riding on the road.  He learns the concept of riding his bike by having a balance bike where his feet touch the ground and he can scoot himself along without the worry/stress of any particular negative outcome – he feels safe and in control.  Once he gets the concept of riding the bike and is confident in steering he starts to take his feet off the ground and coast for a while – it’s at this stage I can see he has the ability to balance on his own without the aid of his feet.

Next comes the stage where he will learn to pedal. While he is learning a new skill he needs support in the crossover so he has a bike with stabilizers.  Again he feels safe to learn his new skill because he knows he is stable, safe and in control while he learns to combine pedaling and steering at the same time.

After a while Grayson says “Daddy, take these off” and points to the stabilizers on his bike.  He feels ready to be able to balance like his balance bike while pedaling and steering.  So I take off the stabilizers but replace the aid of balance by holding Grayson and the seat as he pedals.  He feels some wobble but knows he is safe.

Finally, during mid ride I let go.  He finally is riding his bike on his own, all the learned skills are blending together and although he may have some conscious thoughts at this moment he is in control of his destiny and maintaining his form.  As time goes by and the more practice he does, the easier and easier riding his bike becomes until he no longer needs to think about any of the individual skills that got him to this point.

So how does this story apply to golf?  Well I believe, like Grayson learning to ride his bike, making a change in any part of your golf game is a journey through 4 key Phases.

The phases of game improvement

Phase 1 – Practice facility with coach

This phase is the starting point for any new skill being learned.  The golfer is in need of a change to improve his/her technique and once the coach identifies the fault and diagnoses the cause, they will start the process of teaching the new skill.  This may come in the form of visual or feel, maybe a combination of the two.  The golfer learns that feel and is able to make the change with the coach watching on for guidance and support.

Phase 2 – Practice facility without coach

The golfer practices this skill in the same environment as where the skill was learned (practice ground) and is able to successfully execute it without the coach present and with only his/her feelings to give feedback.  This is probably the most difficult phase as if the golfer drifts away with other swing thoughts not relevant to the new skill being learned then the new skill will not be learned.

Phase 3 – Golf course in practice

The golfer now takes their newly learned skill into a ‘stressful’ situation (the golf course).  There is now an outcome associated to failing.  However, the golfer is still in practice mode, there is no score associated to the game but the golfer is focusing on executing the skill in the environment that he/she is ultimately wanting to perform in.

Phase 4 – Golf course with scorecard

This phase is the final step.  Being able to perform the skill under the ‘stress’ of not only an associated outcome with the shot in hand, but with the overall score of the game, the outcome of the result and whatever may lead on from this round of golf (winning the club championship/making the cut in a tour event/winning a major championship).

As a parent coaching a child to ride a bike, we wouldn’t jump to phase 4 – riding a bike on the road without stabilizers!  Yet as golfers, we expect to be able to go from phase 1 to phase 4 within days or weeks. 

Of course not every new skill will take the same time to progress through the 4 phases but the important thing to understand it that these phases exist and there’s no short cut.

How you practice throughout the 4 phases of game improvement will determine how quickly and if even you can go from phase 1 to phase 4.  Many amateur golfers never truly learn the skill they have been ‘trying’ to learn for a very long time.

I hope you have found this blog post useful.