Golf Practice A Pain? Simple Habits For Relief

HOW TO PRACTICE

Good practice habits are essential to develop a skilled golfer player. Tour professionals work extremely hard to develop great practice habits. The key to developing these practice habits is learning how to allocate ones time on the practice tee. Practicing is not a contest to see who can hit the most balls.Golfers need to remember that practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect results.

The place to develop fundamentals of proper golfing habits is on the driving range-not the golf course!

1. Golfers should spend at least 60 percent of the time hitting pitch shots, chip shots, and sand shots. The other 40 percent of the time should be devoted to full swings and visualization of proper golf swings. The majority of full swing time on the range should be devoted to hitting short and middle irons. The practice session should be finished by hitting no more than 20 wood/metal clubs

2. This procedure insures that the golfer spends most of his time developing good tempo and timing. Also, by hitting short and middle irons, the golfer develops confidence in his ball striking ability. Start the practice session hitting pitch shots and then full pitching wedges. This assures that the golfer works on the most important part of the golf swing (the first part of the backswing and the first part of the downswing). This type of session develops excellent tempo. Starting with small swings also helps to prevent back and shoulder injuries which occur by not having fully relaxed or inflexible muscles or lack of warmup before practice.

3. Perhaps the most overlooked practice regimen is the pre-shot routine, and yet it is arguably the most significant action which all levels of golfers can learn. Since the game of golf requires one to start the swing from a static position, it is imperative that the golfer develop a consistent pre-shot routine. Better players feel that once they start their pre-shot routine and get their body in motion by waggling the club, they never stop moving some part of their body. During the pre-shot routine, the golfer must make a few decisions. The fundamentals of the pre-shot routine are as follows: Start the pre-shot routine standing about 10 feet behind the ball with the ball between you and the target. Calculate the distance from the target. Check and calculate the wind speed and direction.

4. Examine the lie of the ball. If on the tee, determine which side of the tee to use. Choose the desired club to hit and then visualize the shot. Where will the golf ball start? How will it fly? What will it do after it hits the ground? Take a practice swing and get a feeling for the upcoming swing. Pick an intermediate target (a piece of grass, a leaf, a divot) between the ball and the target. The intermediate target should not be more than 18 inches in front of the ball. The intermediate target is the point/line over which you want the ball to travel toward the main target in the distance. Look at it and concentrate on it.

5. Step up to the ball and align the clubface to the intermediate target. Align your body parallel to the clubface. Take a couple of waggles with the club, place the club behind the ball, and then swing the club back.

The pre-shot routine should be used for all shots. The porcess of the rountine should not take more than 15 seconds, and the more you practice it, the more automatic it becomes. Do not ignore the visualization technique- use the 15th club-your mental tool for beter golfing!