Practical Golf Preparation - Adopt A Practice Regimen For Success In Your Next Golf Tournament

How well prepared were you for the last tournament round you played in?

It's possibly the biggest thing separating good players from average player.

When it comes to practicing I see 4 types of golfer:

1. Players who get ready for each event
2. Players who practice regularly on their technique, but no for tournaments
3. Players who practice irregularly, usually to either correct a fault that's affecting their game or in a panic prior to an event
4. And players who just play, never practice at all, just play.

Which group are you in? And what can you do easily to improve your chances of playing good golf?

If you are in the last group, "never practice at all, just play" - you'll need to decide what your goals and ambitions are in golf, if you are happy with what you get out of golf then stay as you are. I know from my research that if you are reading this article you are more driven than that so if you do harbor ambitions to improve you firstly need to be clear about why you want to improve. Only then, when you are clear about the why, can you move on to the what and the how, so get clear about your "why" then …Read on.

Players in the third group already have the "why", usually it's to feel less embarrassed about bad shoots, losing week after week and not being as competitive as they need to be. These reasons are all strong enough motivation to do just enough practice until they feel less bad about their game. The big difference comes when you get a vision of how you want to play, a vision so clear you are motivated to move towards it, you can see yourself as a consistent player able to compete in your level of play, confident you can perform to a credibly just about every time you play. Change the reason you practice and you'll feel like practicing more. To find out what and how to practice to become the better golfer you now see yourself as...Read on

If you are in the second group of players you are already tantalizingly close to becoming successful and your work ethic and vision will stand you in good stead. If you are someone who practices regularly, working on techniques and mechanical moves you may only need to change the way you practice to get a quantum leap in performance on the course. If you feel you work hard but aren't getting the results you think you deserve...Read on.

Here's what the best players do in practice, and what you can do to get huge improvements in your game.

Have a clear vision of what it is you are going to practice, and why. Go to very practice session with absolute clarity about what you will be doing and what outcomes you want.

So for example, if you are getting ready to play a tight course that rewards accuracy off the tee and has small greens then 3 woods and chipping will be important. If you are playing a long course then driver and fairway woods and wedges might be the priority.

Have a plan; know you will do in the session:

Warm up, working your way through the bag from wedge to driver

Work on particular shots which will be important in your next round.

Play the course on the range, use markers to represent fairways or hazards, pick targets to aim at for each shot. Play the club you would have on the course, if the first hole calls for a driver and a mid iron, play exactly that, then play the second as you would in practice. After you've gone through what I call your "Rehearsal 18" you'll very likely have an aspect of your game you want to improve, so work on that until you are happy.

Prepare for adversity, practice from sand, the rough and trouble shots. When you face them for real you'll have a feeling of confidence knowing you have practiced for exactly this occasion.

Be disciplined, when you have achieved what you set out to achieve in your session go home, golf's not an endurance sport, be disciplined. Well structured practice, repeated over the long term, will give you the rewards you deserve, whereas irregular, sporadic sessions won't, golf does not reward blind effort.

Gary Player's often quoted as saying "the more I practice the luckier I get" - and I can't argue with him, but what you should add to this is "the more I practice - with discipline - the luckier I get" remember Gary Play is renowned for his discipline, he never practiced without a definite plan for each session and neither should you.

So go ahead and take a few minutes to decide why you want to practice, be clear about what and how you are going to practice, and above all stay disciplined and you too can look forward to seeing great improvements in your game.