HOW to practice

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Slowhand

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There is no shortage of information in the golf world on WHAT to practice.

There is very little information on HOW to practice effectively to create change.

Changing habits that are ingrained by years of repetition isn't easy. (Even Tiger took a while to get comfortable with his new swing changes.)

I know this can be a broad topic, but in your experience, are there any guidelines on HOW to most effectively do drills and exercises?
 
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Tom Bartlett

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Great question

Slowhand said:
There is no shortage of information in the golf world on WHAT to practice.

There is very little information on HOW to practice effectively to create change.

Changing habits that are ingrained by years of repetition isn't easy. (Even Tiger took a while to get comfortable with his new swing changes.)

I know this can be a broad topic, but in your experience, are there any guidelines on HOW to most effectively do drills and exercises?
Click to expand...

There is a great book written by a Polish gymnast called "The Inner Athlete". The book is all about how do we learn a physical movement. In the book he states that unlearning something takes longer than learning anew (of course we all know this from experience).
Then he goes on to talking about how to learn something faster. Interestingly he uses golf for a lot of his examples. He said one of the quickest ways to 'learn' what you are doing wrong and then be able to 'unlearn' it was to exaggerate the mistake. For example: If you throw it away (flipper), then you should flip it more so that your body (brain) can sense what it is that you are doing. Because, by it being a habit you no longer feel it (hence, the reason it is repeated over and over), so exaggerating it will let you sense the 'wrong'. BTW, I have used this technique myself and it works remarkably well.
I will try to dig up the book and get some more for you.
 
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Tom Bartlett

Administrator
Another great question

Mr Inconsistent said:
And to add on to this question, how to practice so it carries over to the course?
Click to expand...

Best ways I have found for this is practice playing. When at the range, picture yourself on the first tee hitting the tee shot. Then use whatever club you would use for the second shot, and so on.

Another good way is to put pressure on yourself when practicing, to help simulate a real round. Make sure there are consequences for your mistakes. For example when practice putting, make 50 three footers in a row and if you miss you must start over again. Same can be done at the range. With a driver hit 10 shots in a row that draw and if you miss...So basically, come up with different challenges or games with penalties so that you are practicing playing.
 
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Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
Tom Bartlett said:
Best ways I have found for this is practice playing. When at the range, picture yourself on the first tee hitting the tee shot. Then use whatever club you would use for the second shot, and so on.

Another good way is to put pressure on yourself when practicing, to help simulate a real round. Make sure there are consequences for your mistakes. For example when practice putting, make 50 three footers in a row and if you miss you must start over again. Same can be done at the range. With a driver hit 10 shots in a row that draw and if you miss...So basically, come up with different challenges or games with penalties so that you are practicing playing.
Click to expand...

Just to add to Tom's response, when i go to the range with my g/f or a friend we will play a game where the other person has to hit the shot the other is asking them to.

For instance it might be my turn to hit the shot and you tell me, "Jim i want you to hit a low draw with your 8 iron to that flag over there and you can't stop until you hit it within 20 feet."

So then it will be my goal to do that before i run out of balls at the range. Whoever runs out first loses and has to buy more balls. It's a fun game because you have the consequences Tom talks about.
 
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Slowhand

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When practice does NOT make perfect

Learning a good golf swing is mainly a matter of motor skill acquisition. We need to learn a series of precisely timed movements, with little tolerance for error, and be able to repeat these movements exactly, each time.

I think one of the most neglected parts of golf instuction is teaching the student what to do after he/she leaves the lesson tee. The goal of the teacher is to help the student change and improve. To this end the student gets feedback, advice, exercises and drills. The student leaves the lesson tee with the assumption that he/she will practice on their own and (hopefully) return, showing improvement and the cycle starts again.

Here's a true scenario I observed at the driving range a few years back: Two golfers in the next stalls over were discussing a local teaching pro. "I must have taken 20 lessons from X," says the first guy, "but I stopped." "Why?" asks the other. "For the last 10 lessons he kept telling me the same thing." said the first.

Who was at fault? The student or the pro or both?

How do you get students to change their habits? I know I've had the experience of starting off consciously doing a drill or trying to make a swing change, and then after 15 or 20 shots my concentration wanders and pretty soon I've fallen back into the old pattern. How much practice is enough?

Does anybody use visualization drills? Do they work?

In piano pedagogy, you start off practicing a difficult passage very slowly and gradually build up speed. Do you think slow motion practice translates the same way into a full-speed golf swing?

Sorry for so many questions, but I really believe this is a key issue.
 
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Brian Manzella

Administrator
The hammer...

We have to keep reminding some folks....

This section is for QUESTIONS from forum MEMBERS and ANSWERS by MANZELLA ACADEMY STAFF only.

You'll catch on....

:)
 
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