# Practice



## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

How often, and what do you pratice?
I try and get to the range 2 nights a week, about 40 to 80 balls each night, and work a lot on my mid to short irons.
Then at lunch (lucky to get 1 hr lunches) I chip or practice half wedges for about 1/2 hr 3 to 4 days a week (weather permitting)


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## Foster4 (May 2, 2007)

since i work 2-6 everday mostly i get up and try to play in the mornings. Then after work i will go hit a small bucket and practice my short game for about 2 hrs. I probably do this about 3-4 times a week and i at least try to hit about 6 times a week and practice my short game


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## 300Yards (Jan 23, 2007)

Well..my scedule varies, cause I don't have consistent work hours, but I get on the course 4x a week. I practice my irons shots on the range, starting with my PW, and going up to my 3 iron. Then, I use the rest of my balls, and practice my wedges on the chipping green. After that, I go to the putting green, and a feel for the green speeds, and breaks that day. I typically fo through 200 balls, in my practice routine. I don't hit my wood or driver, at all during practice. The first two holes are Par 3s, so I don't see the need to do so. Then depending on how my scedule is, I may go ahead, and play a round, or go home, and get ready for work after that.


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## golfermatt91 (Jul 14, 2006)

because i am 16 and dont have much money im at the range about 3 times a week and play 1 time a week.


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## 65nlovenit (Dec 8, 2006)

Your practice schedule is a good one Steve…. Just a few suggestions. Your practicing your short game, so I’m assuming your able to hit your 7/8/9 and wedges successfully. What I would suggest, now you’ve got to practice accuracy and distance control. Ranges are usually poor places to practice either. They fail to provide realistic targets or accurate yardage markers. I would suggest you purchase a couple sets of cheap sports cones (Wal-Mart carries them, 3 to a package). Find a vacant ball field, and walk off a hundred and twenty five yards, putting a cone down at the 15,25,50,75,100,125 yard marks. Get a golf buddy to stand off to the side and watch you chip. Use all of your wedges and 9 iron. Invest in a cheap set of kids portable CB radios, have your buddy call back each one of your shots. This way you’ll get to know how far you can hit a given club, and also it will help you recognize different yardages, so you’ll know what club to use when your on the golf course. Next set up a dummy flag stick and practice lobbing to the flag, don’t be happy till you can cluster your shots within a ten foot radius. When you see these guys on the TV, they go right at the flag, the closer you can get your shot to the flag, the shorter your putts going to be. ACCURACY & DISTANCE CONTROL. Then of course hours and hours of putting practice can’t hurt either, in particular distance control…


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

I wish I could find a vacant ball park or something along that nature, but unfortunately around here, all the parks and ball fields have a big sign "NO GOLFING" :-(


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## bjterry62 (Jun 12, 2007)

I try to go to the range and hit an 80 ball bucket about 3 times a week. Start with PW (15 balls) and work up through odd numbers to 3i (8 to 10 balls each), ALWAYS aiming at a specific target and ALWAYS going through my preshot routine. I rarely worry about distance with range balls, but I do like to focus on the contact and the ball flight that I'm shooting for. I then switch to the woods. I only hit about 5 balls each with my 2 fairway woods and the driver. Focusing on smooth takeaway and acceleration through the ball. I then polish off the remaining balls hitting to a flag around 100 to 115 yds.

Every day on my lunch break, I go to a nearby course and spend 45min putting and chipping. I only use game balls during short game practice because these are the balls I'm going to be playing with and I want to KNOW the feel will be the same when I'm playing. Also, tests have shown that putting distance can vary A LOT depending on what ball you are using. 

Quite often in the evening, I hit pitch shots in my yard usually anywehre from 10 to 25 yds. I have a shag bag full of old game balls and I just dump them all out and pace off the distanc I want to hit and put the bag down there and use it as my target. I focus mainly on contact and how much backswing I have to take to get the right distance.

BT


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## 65nlovenit (Dec 8, 2006)

The reason ball parks put up that sign is because golfers chew the heck out of the grass area taking divots, buy a cheap door mat and hit off that, its not 100% but it will definitely keep you in the grounds keepers good books.


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## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

I wish my actual practice schedule was as good as my intentions. I close early, at 3 PM during the summer, but it seems like I have had so much to do lately that I just don't have the energy to get up and go to the range once I'm finally free. In the past month, I've only played twice and practiced once!

Now that we seem to have some good afternoon weather, at least for a while, I hope to play tomorrow and Saturday. I may practice before or after my rounds, but I won't get to the range otherwise. I just have too many hobbies...


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## Will (May 12, 2007)

No driving ranges around so I dont practice. Imagine the first hole.... :dunno:


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## golfermatt91 (Jul 14, 2006)

Lol no driving ranges around you... 

you should by a net then...

the first hole lol i would shoot like an 80 lol


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## cbwheeler (Apr 9, 2007)

The question here shouldn't be how often do you practice, but what are you goals when you practice, what do you achieve when you practice? If you just hit golf balls and make small swing changes now and then, you're just staying in your same scoring range. What you should be doing is setting goals for yourself, reaching those goals, and setting new ones.

For example, my goals this year are to revamp my swing to be more consistent, to improve my short game to get up and down 75% of the time, and to get my handicap below 4. Each time I practice, I have a small subgoal to achieve to get me closer to those goals.

When you practice, have a goal, and achieve that goal, EVERY TIME. Don't just go out and blindly hit balls. It will get you nowhere.


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## golfermatt91 (Jul 14, 2006)

thanks for the tips... Im going to start doing that this season.


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## Will (May 12, 2007)

golfermatt91 said:


> Lol no driving ranges around you...
> 
> you should by a net then...
> 
> the first hole lol i would shoot like an 80 lol


I do... :laugh: 

Seriously though, Ive thought about a net, but Im afraid without being able to see the actual ball flight path, it could reinforce some bad tendencies in my swing and further ingrain them instead of what practicing should be which is helping me get better. I dont really have a problem with solid contact which is more what a net should be used for IMO.


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## golfermatt91 (Jul 14, 2006)

Good point.... you could also set a video camera up behind you so you can see the flight of the ball and what your swing looks like to see whether you need to do any adjustments or not.


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

*epiphany on the range tonight*

I had been having trouble with my 3/4 wedges, laying the sod over them a lot, and was looking for a solution. Watching the CVS Classic last night there was a segment with Brad Faxon on wedge play. He said to avoid using the small muscles of the hands and arms, his swing thought was to take the club back and then feel like he was hitting the ball with his chest. So I took my sand wedge to work, and at lunch, took some wiffle balls and tried this swing thought with my 3/4 swing, and made good, crisp contact. I headed to the range tonight, with the same swing thought in mind, and low and behold, 3/4 sand wedges 75 yards to an 8 foot pattern. SWEET!
I then thought, hmmmmmm what would happen if I hit a full iron shot like that. 
I had been hitting my 7 about 145 to 150. 1st swing with my 7 (nice easy and smooth), 165. WOW! (a little fade though)
So I strenghtened my grip a touch, and repeated. BOOM 165 to 170 and straight.
Rinse, Lather, repeat.... same results. Nice solid, crisp contact, 165 to 170 yards.
Increased my lag, got the shaft leaning forward at impact, and a controlable shot. Now I am aware I can over do it, and end up coming over the top, so must watch this, but with my leg drive, this should be a small issue.
Took my 8 iron, 150 and almost hit the yardage marker.
Tried my 4 iron, which I had been hitting about 180ish, and bam, 200. I gained about 1 club in length, and am swinging easier. 
Now I know this just applies to me, every one has different issues, but Man did it feel good!!
I know I have to work on it more, but that's what the range is for.
At least it worked for today LOL


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## golfermatt91 (Jul 14, 2006)

NICE!!! I dont get what you mean though by hit with your chest... can you explain.


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

Again, this is just a mental image, and I caution it is not for everyone, it just worked for me.
I wasn't rotating my body enough, and getting a bit handsy, thereby not retaining the angle of my left wrist and club (90°) long enough. So I imagined a club sticking out of my chest, and hitting the ball with that, then my arms and hands follow.
And this is a MUST for me, I must make sure to start the swing with my hips/legs to avoid coming over the top.
It feels very much a Zach Johnson kind of swing

Edit: Will this be a one day fix, or did I discover something in my swing? Only time, and play will tell


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

Alas, it was not a quick fix. Didn't hit it mearly as well tonight :-( But nothing in golf is a quick fix LOL


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## Foster4 (May 2, 2007)

My intentions on the practice range are to make sure my swing is dialed in. Fixing mistakes i have encountered on the course, then learning new shots (ones i don't hit alot and may only encounter once a round) Then i hit shots i hit a lot high draw high fade and making sure i can hit 7-60* wedge certian distances like a 7 iron to 100 yards Pw wedge to 100 9 iron to 100. This lets me hit a variety shots and use my imagination instead of hitting the same shot every time.

But while i'm doing all this I am playing *"TARGET GOLF"* That means i always have a target i am aiming for. Because i want my practice to be precise just like i would play in a tournament. 

Then theres putting and chipping....I try to practice this twice as much as any full swing stuff or playing.


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## cbwheeler (Apr 9, 2007)

It does promote a Zach Johnson type of swing, and that's why he is such a solid ball striker. He swings with his body, with his hands trailing just slightly behind, and has a slight strong grip. This means the clubface is square for a very long time.

An easier image to use is to imagine there is a string attached to the middle of your chest, and that string is attached to the butt end of the grip of your club. When you turn through with your chest, that action pulls the club through.


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

Yes, and I really felt it too. But I have a match tonight, and a tournament tomorrow, and just don't trust it yet. It will take more work, to become consistant, where I can trust it


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## 300Yards (Jan 23, 2007)

Stevel1017 quote:



> I had been having trouble with my 3/4 wedges, laying the sod over them a lot, and was looking for a solution. Watching the CVS Classic last night there was a segment with Brad Faxon on wedge play. He said to avoid using the small muscles of the hands and arms, his swing thought was to take the club back and then feel like he was hitting the ball with his chest.


This to me, is very interesting..as I do something similar. I tell myself to shift my weight to the left, and then bring my right elbow, back down to my side..I believe it was Harvey Penick, who came up with this one..but it works good!! Give that a try, and see if it works..


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## Butz (Nov 17, 2006)

65nlovenit said:


> Your practice schedule is a good one Steve…. Just a few suggestions. Your practicing your short game, so I’m assuming your able to hit your 7/8/9 and wedges successfully. What I would suggest, now you’ve got to practice accuracy and distance control. Ranges are usually poor places to practice either. They fail to provide realistic targets or accurate yardage markers. I would suggest you purchase a couple sets of cheap sports cones (Wal-Mart carries them, 3 to a package). Find a vacant ball field, and walk off a hundred and twenty five yards, putting a cone down at the 15,25,50,75,100,125 yard marks. Get a golf buddy to stand off to the side and watch you chip. Use all of your wedges and 9 iron. Invest in a cheap set of kids portable CB radios, have your buddy call back each one of your shots. This way you’ll get to know how far you can hit a given club, and also it will help you recognize different yardages, so you’ll know what club to use when your on the golf course. Next set up a dummy flag stick and practice lobbing to the flag, don’t be happy till you can cluster your shots within a ten foot radius. When you see these guys on the TV, they go right at the flag, the closer you can get your shot to the flag, the shorter your putts going to be. ACCURACY & DISTANCE CONTROL. Then of course hours and hours of putting practice can’t hurt either, in particular distance control…


I 2nd the motion.
Best suggestion so far


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## 300Yards (Jan 23, 2007)

> Originally Posted by 65nlovenit
> Your practice schedule is a good one Steve…. Just a few suggestions. Your practicing your short game, so I’m assuming your able to hit your 7/8/9 and wedges successfully. What I would suggest, now you’ve got to practice accuracy and distance control. Ranges are usually poor places to practice either. They fail to provide realistic targets or accurate yardage markers. I would suggest you purchase a couple sets of cheap sports cones (Wal-Mart carries them, 3 to a package). Find a vacant ball field, and walk off a hundred and twenty five yards, putting a cone down at the 15,25,50,75,100,125 yard marks. Get a golf buddy to stand off to the side and watch you chip. Use all of your wedges and 9 iron. Invest in a cheap set of kids portable CB radios, have your buddy call back each one of your shots. This way you’ll get to know how far you can hit a given club, and also it will help you recognize different yardages, so you’ll know what club to use when your on the golf course. Next set up a dummy flag stick and practice lobbing to the flag, don’t be happy till you can cluster your shots within a ten foot radius. When you see these guys on the TV, they go right at the flag, the closer you can get your shot to the flag, the shorter your putts going to be. ACCURACY & DISTANCE CONTROL. Then of course hours and hours of putting practice can’t hurt either, in particular distance control…


That is pretty much what I do to practice my chipping.

I like my range because it does have realistic target greens, with flags. My range has 3. One at the 100 yard mark, one at the 200 yard mark, and one at the 250 yard mark. Those are great to send balls at..they even act like greens.. To bad they don't have more ranges like that..makes it a lot easier on people.


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