Practice with Purpose

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 16:00:35

The average golfer probably spends approximately 90% of his or her time practicing the full swing. Most are probably practicing incorrectly a majority of this time unless they are under the supervision of a teaching professional. Of this 90% physical practice, my guess 60-70% of this practice is on the full swing and not the short game (100 yards and in).

My challenge is to reverse this trend as a practice routine. Consider spending 70-75% of your time on the short game. If you think about it, most of your strokes are made from this distance during a normal round of golf. Also, when you know you can get the ball in the hole from that distance or get it up and down a large percentage of the time, the pressure on your full swing will diminish. Even the professional golfers with whom I work need to be reminded of this important practice concept.

You have all heard that "practice makes perfect." This has been modified by "perfect practice makes perfect." I have further modified this to "planned, purposeful, perfect practice makes perfect." And remember, in your casual rounds of golf, nobody cares how you recorded your score but what you scored. Bobby Jones once said that he did not become a really good golfer until he accomplished two things. First, he learned to control his emotions on the course and second he learned to turn a bogey into a par. I hope all of you will consider your practice routines and most of all have fun with this great game we play.

Until next time. Enjoy your golf,

Dr. Richard Gordin