Instruction
10 principles of effective golf practice (for pros and beginners)
I hate to say it, but many golfers spend a lot of time practicing and don’t get much better. Why? There are a lot of reasons, but by far the most pressing issue is the structure of their practice in the first place.
I watch a lot of golfers practice as a golf instructor, and I’d estimate that 90 percent or more of their practice is little more than physical exercise; it doesn’t help golfers improve their skills and score better. If your golf goals are to get a little sun on your face, wind in your hair, or enjoy the company of others (or even a bit of solitude), I certainly don’t want you to get the idea that you’re doing things the wrong way. Please, continue to enjoy the game the way you want to enjoy it. This game should be fun, after all.
My experience is, however, that even golfers who play strictly for fun a few times a year would like it more and have more fun if they could play better.
So here is the deal: There are ways to practice golf (or anything) that are more effective than other ways. We can all agree on that. Below is a list of my top-10 practice principles I recommend to all golfers. What these principles do in a nutshell is guarantee the time you’re spending is as efficient as possible.
You might notice that many of the principles I recommend are used a lot by the good golfers you know, but not as much by the bad ones. That’s no coincidence. Go to a professional golf event, and you’ll see all of these principles in practice.
1. Start each practice by writing down what you’re going to do. List the specifics, the games you’ll play… everything.
2. Do a full routine with tournament-like intensity on every single shot.
3. Play the ball as it lies all the time. Drop it and play it. Don’t fluff.
4. Think about what you’re going to do before you hit every shot, and assess yourself with feedback when necessary. Remember, prepare-perform-review.
5. Always do your putting and short-game practice before full-swing practice. That’s a requirement. Be disciplined with it even when you don’t feel like it.
6. Half or more of your time during golf season should be on the course playing, or on the course doing scoring games. You need to learn on the course.
7. Never hit balls on the range with balls right at your station. Put the bucket, bag or triangle a few feet behind you. Walk back and pick up one ball at a time.
8. Play practice games, preferably against others. Any games you play, keep a score. Record the score at the end of each practice.
9. Always finish a practice session with a game, and make sure you are “winning” your way off the course.
10. When you’re done with practice, write down anything important: scores you got on games, thoughts, general feelings, etc.
Want to take your practice a step further? I highly recommend linking yourself up with a coach who can guide you through these principles. He or she can also recommend new techniques and playing adjustments that can help you make even faster progress.
Getting better at golf requires time and discipline — like going to the gym, eating healthy or learning a new language or instrument. You can’t change that. What you can do is spend your time in a way that helps you get the most out of what you have. Remember, you are in control of your improvement. You want it, so get it done.
Good luck, stay disciplined and let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below.
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Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!
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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.
As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.
The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.
Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:
Mis-aligned hands
By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.
The position of the grip in the upper/left hand
I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.
To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.
Too much lower (right) hand on the club
It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.
Gripping too tightly
Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.
So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?
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skip
Nov 30, 2016 at 1:54 pm
There’s also a little thing called talent.
Eric Cogorno
Dec 3, 2016 at 11:05 am
Yes there is…I think the purpose is to get as good as you can get…reach potential! Different for everyone!
Clay
Nov 29, 2016 at 7:13 am
Mr. Peppertooth is so distinctly correct! I say “right on dear Chauncy.”????
Mongoose
Nov 28, 2016 at 11:49 pm
Zero people will do any of this…
mark mckeown
Nov 29, 2016 at 9:43 am
wrong
Looper
Nov 29, 2016 at 4:41 pm
No your wrong, so I guess everytime you practice you follow this to a tee???
Shortside
Nov 30, 2016 at 9:15 pm
I play 3 shot par 5’s at the range after loosening up. Always starting with wedges when warming up. When the par 5 phase starts it’s 1 swing each with the driver/3 wood, long iron/or hybrid, short iron/wedge.
Eric Cogorno
Nov 29, 2016 at 11:06 am
Some people go to the gym and workout hard, others don’t. Same rules apply to anything in life you want to get actual lasting results in. Can’t please everyone, no one size fits all.
Mongoose
Nov 29, 2016 at 4:39 pm
I agree, great piece but what is the average handicap nation wide…
Eric Cogorno
Dec 3, 2016 at 11:06 am
Too high buddy! I could give the perfect practice plan to 100 people and maybe only 10 will actually follow through…just like everything else in life!
Bart Dickens
Nov 28, 2016 at 8:23 pm
I an a bit of a social golfer that enjoys a cool beer or two on the course. My instructor tells me to practice like I play. So now I bring beers to the driving range.
Bob Pegram
Dec 1, 2016 at 3:46 am
Bart –
Did you go to Palisades High School?
knoofah
Nov 28, 2016 at 3:49 pm
I think this may be covered in your 4th point, but I believe that recording your swing at every practice session possible is an essential for improvement to happen. This is both for your own information and your coach’s. This is integral to the “Review” part of your “Preare-Perform-Review.”
Great article, Mr Cogorno.
Eric Cogorno
Nov 29, 2016 at 11:07 am
Thanks, man!
Bob Jones
Nov 28, 2016 at 2:46 pm
Re #5: When I practice chipping and putting, my back is always a bit sore when I’m finished from all the bending over, so I hit balls first. Also, I practice chipping with only one ball: chip it and putt it out, just like you do on the course (and no do-overs!).
Eric Cogorno
Nov 29, 2016 at 11:08 am
Love practicing with 1 ball. Less quantity, but better quality.
antonio
Nov 28, 2016 at 12:54 pm
Very interesting article, thanks!
What is the reason behind principle number 5 (practising putting and short game BEFORE full swing shots)
birdy
Nov 28, 2016 at 1:33 pm
i’m guessing its to make sure it gets done. easy to skip out on putting after hitting a bucket and just go home. if you putt and chip first, you’re less likely to skip out on hitting balls.
Eric Cogorno
Nov 28, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Yup, to make sure it gets done! Easy to skip!
Rob
Nov 28, 2016 at 11:26 am
Grab a buddy (preferably one who has a better short game than you) and find a practice green that has a bunker, some short grass, some long grass, lots of different slopes. Take turns picking different spots around the green and a hole to play to (even stipulate a specific club) and do this 18 times (9 if you are short on time). You can play it as a match and/or as stroke but the most important part is to put enough of something on it that you feel that “must-make” pressure – I found money or beer are the most motivating (especially when you are broke).
Eric Cogorno
Nov 28, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Love it!
Greg Norman's Chainsaw
Nov 28, 2016 at 3:17 am
Great little article. Especially the emphasis on games, short game and on course scoring practise. I see way too many people practising the same shot off a perfect lie, hitting the same chip 20 times or putting 4 balls in a row. Practise scoring and playing!
Eric Cogorno
Nov 28, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Yessir!
M.
Nov 27, 2016 at 5:59 pm
Bucket away from you sounds like hard work, but productive!
Eric Cogorno
Nov 28, 2016 at 2:07 pm
Takes discipline!
Gubment Cheez
Nov 27, 2016 at 4:46 pm
Write down my feelings?
roastwrx
Nov 27, 2016 at 5:16 pm
Yea and while you at it….
Hold hands with someone when you head to the first tee
Eric Cogorno
Nov 28, 2016 at 2:08 pm
Even better….teamwork!!
Eric Cogorno
Nov 28, 2016 at 2:07 pm
Yeah, a golf love story
Mark
Nov 27, 2016 at 12:28 pm
I know I am being something of a pedant but I cannot resist on this occasion.
When practicing, here is what people are incorrectly doing. They “practice as a golf instructor”. When what they should be doing is practicing as the golfer they are.
KK
Nov 27, 2016 at 3:26 pm
Wth does that even mean?
Mark
Nov 27, 2016 at 4:47 pm
It means the author of the article failed to clearly express himself.
roastwrx
Nov 27, 2016 at 5:17 pm
They don’t like for someone to express their self around here…
You’ll get blocked yo
And have to get a new username
KK
Nov 27, 2016 at 6:41 pm
He gave a list of ten specific things to do when practicing. It doesn’t get any clearer than than. If anything, your “Don’t practice like an instructor, practice like yourself” is the most vague, useless thing I’ve ever read on GolfWRX.
Eric Cogorno
Nov 28, 2016 at 2:10 pm
Lol
Chauncy Peppertooth
Nov 28, 2016 at 12:59 pm
Its supposed to read: “as a golf instructor, I watch a lot of golfers while they practice.”
This article is spot on. Being aware and in control of your feelings will shave more strokes than any improvement club or swing change. Everyone knows that one golfer, the 12 handicap that can’t hit the broad side of a barn on a relaxing day with the boys, but throw some skins at him and once the pressure is on plays to a 6. We call them “gamers”. If you don’t know what I mean or have never experienced this, look up Rocco Mediate 2008 us open. My point is, you can shoot par with the ugliest swing if you have the sharpest mind. Golf is played 95% in between the ears.
Eric Cogorno
Nov 28, 2016 at 2:09 pm
Love it!