Interesting thread. I had the chance to coach a nice high school team this past fall that made it to Florida State Finals. It was my first time coaching a golf team, I am a full time instructor at a busy academy. I really enjoyed my time coaching as it was certainly a change from the norm. My take on this is that you've got to use some sense, the players should certainly spend more time on their weaknesses than their strengths. I had open range time, where I was able to see each area of the range and monitored the players practice habits whereever they were, they were not all together typically. I certainly introduced some drills that I felt would benefit each of them as a group, but that was done on occasion. Mostly, I felt that skills testing lead to the most productive practice time. I am a believer in playing more than practicing during the competitive season; pre-season, more range time. What I feel is the most important is to make sure the players are staying focused. I kept on-course practice time fresh by changing formats, playing different games, and I would position alignment sticks on the course at a couple places that may be tricky or relevant to the upcoming host course, while the team would go around the course they would each stop at that stick and play a few shots. This improved shot-making and prepared them for different situations. All that said, as far as high school players go, you can not practice short game enough. Short game shots improved their impact conditions, it improved their tempo, and of course is saved shots on the course.
