Maintaining your game?

[hue]

Once you have developed a reasonable game what is the minimum practice that you must do to maintain the same standard and prevent erosion of skills? I read a post where Brian said that the short game skills need more practice to keep the same skill levels than the full swing. I would be very interested in all opinions. Thanks.

 

[jimmydean]

hue, i agree with Brian that the short game takes more practice. Anything involving touch and finesse using smaller muscles and restraint has relatively less of a margin for error than the full swing for a player with decent skills. Personally, i feel that i must hit balls at least 5 times per week to keep my timing.JMO jim

 

[Eminem]

I read an artical about maintaining your swing once which convinced me that the only way to preserve your swing was to 'cycle the fundamentals'. This basically means you have to break your swing down and understand step by step construction your swing. Then you go continously rehease those fundamentals in a cycle hence not allowing yourself to go into sloppy habits.

You of course always have from time to time fall into a habit which you will need to work at first but it would be ideal if you can stick to your plan inorder to repeat your swing.

Jack, you know that really good player?..lol got his teacher to go over his swing step by step every year before the start of the season.... maybe why he won so much !

 

[keygolf]

quote:Originally posted by hue

Once you have developed a reasonable game what is the minimum practice that you must do to maintain the same standard and prevent erosion of skills? I read a post where Brian said that the short game skills need more practice to keep the same skill levels than the full swing. I would be very interested in all opinions. Thanks.

(Gone for awhile, so didn't see this till today). I'm in accord with Brian. The short game has much more variety in it than the long game. Still, there is the habit development issue. The long game, once established in habit, should only require occasional adjustment. The short game has plenty of variation on the "themes," so to speak. You can practice particular shots, or you can break the entire short game down to principal movements.(I favor the latter, since it is easier to habitualize).
Practice it more, but avoid over-kill.

 

[hue]

Thanks keygolf/ Carey you have helped me confirm conclusions that I was arriving at.

"You can practice particular shots, or you can break the entire short game down to principal movements.(I favor the latter, since it is easier to habitualize)."


This is one of the reasons I want to find out more about Brian and Redgoat's ideas on pitching and short game. So that I have a better idea of the short game,s Principal Movements. This is an area of instruction that is not well dealt with in my opinion. I have been watching videos of tour players at tournaments playing short game shots and trying to learn from first principle. I look forward to Stan Utley producing books and videos on the subject. Brian: It would be great if you produced a detailed short game video.