Effective practice or how to spend the hours on the range productively

Do you spend at least 50% of your time putting? Do you spend at least 50% of the remaining time on the short game? Anything left you can spend on your long game. I bet you have heard that at some point in the golfing life, heck I may have said that to you but that method is only true in some circumstances. If you have no other information then by all means use your time as outlined above but if you have numbers that suggest a weakness in your game that is adding strokes then change your practice time percentages to reflect those changes.

Let's explore that a little further. I'll make the following assumptions.

1. You have a game plan for each round

2. That game plan maximizes your potential for example, if you can't hit the driver in the fairway then you are using a club that will do so.

3. You are keeping accurate records of your results

If these numbers show that you are making all your putts within 3 feet of the hole but putts in the 20 foot and longer range are seldom getting into that 3 foot range then don't practice your short putts practice your distance control.

If when you chip the ball you get it up and down 75% of the time then go to pitching. If it's fine then work on your sand play.

All of my current students have gone through the target drill recently. For those of you who are not my students (why aren't you :-)? ) the drill consists of finding a target at 25 yards and then giving a giving yourself a circle with a 20 diameter. Hit 10 balls and calculate your % of landing the ball in the air in the circle. The goal is at least 75%. Then go to 75 yards with a circle of 40 feet. the % should be 60. Then out to 100 yards and a circle of 50 feet and a % of at least 50%.

You will probably find that your %'s are not very close to the ones I've given you. The first reason is that your technique is not yet good enough however the 2nd and far more important reason is that instead of focusing on the target you focus on technique. Nothing messes up a golf shot faster than thinking about how to hit a shot rather than where to hit a shot. These tests and drills that I use are to get you to focus on the latter not the former.

All of this brings us to the title of this article "effective practice". I'll restate the definition

1. Practice with a specific purpose in mind

2. Get immediate feedback

3. Focus on process rather than results

Let's assume that the drill above or your scorecard from your rounds of golf suggest that at 75 yards you get 30% of your shots into the target range.

You have to analyze why.

1. If you hit the ball very poorly most of the time then you need to focus on technique so your effective practice would look like this

a. My purpose is to improve my technique

b. Is the ball flying better or worse. Am I on plane or not.

c. If my goal is to keep my chest back longer am I willing to do that even if I hit the ball poorly?

2. If you hit the ball pretty well then the practice would look like this

a. Hit more balls into the target

b. Immediate feedback is am I doing it

c. The process is am I focused on the hitting the ball into the target or am I thinking about how to swing?

Golf is not easy. It's fun if you choose to make it so. You don't have to be good to have fun but if you want to get better these concepts that I've outlined here will help.

Take care

If only every shot outside of 100 yards was hit stiff, then all we would need to do is putt

but unfortunately that's not the case. In point of fact that's not even close. I would guess that for most golfers the shots hit from say 100 to 125 yards from the hole don't hit the green more than 50% of the time. When they hit the green they are mostly outside of 20 feet from the hole, hence the emphasis on hitting your putts the correct length. so, you might ask, where does the short game begin. It begins when you are planning the shot you are going to hit to the green and it starts from the assumption that you are going to miss the green with your shot. If, for example, you have a 250 yard shot to the green and you have the skill to make such a shot the first question you must ask yourself is "If I miss the green where can I miss the ball that will give me the best opportunity to get the ball in the hole is two more shots?"

If you watched any part of The Open over the weekend you saw a great example of that with the "Road Hole". You have two places you could miss the green, very short or very long anything else brought bogey or worse into play. Nicklaus talked about the 12th at Augusta the same way. He said anytime you saw his ball on the right side of the green he had missed the shot. Hogan used to play the 11th at Augusta to miss the green to the right. He said if he was on that green in two he had pulled his 2nd shot. Tiger before he became mortal almost always missed his shots in the correct place. It's a bit like driving with a seat belt on. You may not have an accident but if you do you are glad you planned ahead.

O.K. I'm tired of beating you about the head. So where do we go from here?

Some rules/ideas about where to miss the green;

1. Where can I miss the green that I can use my putter?

2. Is that place above or below the hole?

3. How steep is the slope if I'm above the hole?

4. If the slope is too steep, then where can I miss below the hole that I can chip the ball?

5. If I can't chip the ball where can I pitch it?

6. If I can't putt, chip or pitch would a better miss be in the sand trap rather than trying to hit a flop shot.

Once you figure out where you want to miss then comes club selection. Let's say you hit a 7 iron from 150 with some degree of success and the flag is 150 from where you stand. The average green is 30 yards from front to back. Let's assume that the best "miss" area for you is just over the green. Assuming there is a 10 yard gap between clubs then you would use your 6 iron. A good strike on the ball gives you a 30 foot putt in your preferred miss area. A little chunky shoot would travel in all probability 135 yards so you still have a 30 foot putt. But you say I want to hit the 7 iron it's the perfect distance and you are correct if you hit it very well but as Hogan said good golf is playing your mistakes. He beat everyone's brains out by planning his mistakes. Next time we will talk about chipping techniques. Take care

The "in's, out's and why's" of a Pre shot routine

I must admit that for most of my playing career I did not understand the need for a pre-shot routine. It is only in recent years that I have become a big fan. I can find no reasons to not have an effective pre-shot routine and a number of critically important ones that support having one and using it on every shot in play and practice. Here are some of my reasons for having one;

1. If and I believe it to be true that 80% of all golf shots are missed before the golfer ever takes the club away away from the ball then the primary function of a pre-shot routine is to eliminate that 80%. The following is a list of the things that a pre-shot routine takes care of;

a. Gets you aligned correctly to your target

b. Gets the golf ball in the proper position in your stance

c. Puts your center of gravity in the correct position for the shot you are trying to hit.

d. Gives you a mental checklist to go over which when completed gives you the emotional security of knowing that you have made all the preparations that you can for the shot to be hit.

I teach the same pre-shot routine to all. Here are the steps involved

1. After making my club selection and practice swings I stand behind the golf ball holding the golf club in my right hand about 1/3 of the way down the shaft and at a 45 degree angle to the ground. I sight down the shaft through the center of the ball and my target. I'm looking for an intermediate target not more than 3 feet in front of the ball. I believe it is easier to line up with a near target than one is farther away. (Quick note. There are a number of sports psychologists and some instructors who say that it really doesn't matter if you are lined up correctly because your body will make the adjustments so that you can still hit the ball to the target. I answer, why would I want to create an environment where I have to make an adjustment to my swing? The game is hard enough without have to make up a new swing just because I'm to lazy to learn how to line up correctly.)

2. While behind the ball I place my hands on the club in the grip position.

3. I then step into my address position and place the club first behind the ball so that the grooves are at right angles to the target line.

4. I place my right foot at right angles to the target line in a position where a line drawn through the center of the ball would go through the middle of my middle toe from toe to heel.

5. I put my left foot next to my right so that both sets of toes are parallel to each other and the target line.

6. I flare my left foot out a couple of inches, something less than 45 degrees

7. I then step to the right with my right foot so that the heels of each foot are parallel to the target line. The amount that I step back is dependent upon the club I'm hitting and where I want my center of gravity to be. The shorter the club the less I step back with my right foot in order to promote a more decending blow. The driver requires a wide stance so that my center of gravity is further behind the ball which promotes a level to ascending blow.

8. I then tilt my upper body slightly to the right to compensate for my right hand being lower on the club.

I check the accurateness of this by placing my club on the ground at my heels and then placing a club behind the ball so that it is parallel to the first club. By sighting down the 2nd club I'm able to determine where I'm actually aimed.

If at anytime I get interrupted or lose my focus I start over. In practice I asked my students to do this on ever shot.

This pre-shot routine places the ball in the same position relative to the left heel for every shot, approximately 1 1/2" inside the left heel. Don't panic. When instructors talk about different ball positions they are really talking about where the your center of gravity is located. That's why the amount the right foot steps back varies.

This takes practice but is really worth it.

A few more putting thoughts

In my opinion most good putters and all great ones have a specific rhythm for each and every putt. Here is what I mean by "rhythm". From address through impact each putt takes the same amount of time. In my case it's 1001 at address 1002 at the top of my putter backswing and 1003 at impact. I use this same count whether my putt is 6" or 60'.

I like to make practice swings until I have a feel for the distance I want to hit the putt. When I have a practice swing that feels correct and that I have applied my rhythm count to it I attempt to duplicate my last practice swing with my actual one. All I do with my actual is take my address position and then count, sometime out loud, 1001, 1002, 1003. I suggest to all my students that they find their own rhythm. I have one student that doesn't get to the top of his swing until the 1003 count and then is back at impact by 1004. However no good/great putter has a downswing that is slower than his backswing.

One of the major keys to successful putting is "feeling" how hard to hit the putt. Using the count makes that happen for me. The absolute last thing I want to do when standing over a putt is to adjust my speed or break. If I don't have those locked in before I take my address position then I'm in real trouble. If I get distracted or if I lose my focus i.e. the 14 to 17" safe zone then I step back and start again. I can't stress enough how important it is to keep focused on the rhythm and feel of the practice swing in the actual stroke. Thinking about break, score, the importance of the putt are all ways I snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

How often am I successful in hitting the putt into the safe zone? Depending upon the length of the putt roughly 50 to 90% of the time however the number of putts I now make has increased substantially. Remember as Yogi Berra once said, " 90% of the putts that are short don't go in" :-)

Putting Part Two

Additional thoughts on "10" We, some students and I, have played the game with the modification. Along with an improvement in distance control the greatest benefit appears to be in the area of "focus" or the mental side of the game. In at least two cases the 17" safe zone was extended to 10' on either side. One would think that a target that size would be very easy to hit. Everyone myself included had difficulties in changing our focus from the 17" window to the much larger size. This suggests to me that the most difficult part of this game is mental. By that I mean the ability to focus in on what the real objective for a particular shot should be. In this instance the objective was to putt the ball from 15' away into a 10' diameter circle, 10 consecutive times. My almost scratch handicap student took 6 tries before he was successful. This was not because it was difficult but because he was unable to focus on the task at hand. Food for thought.

Now a shift in gears

I suppose that in the final analysis any method of hitting a putt that allows you to consistently hit the ball in the hole if fine with me. There has been and probably always will be lots of personal approaches to the putting stroke however the vast majority of putting strokes fall into one of the two following camps.

1. Straight back and straight through where the power is generated by the shoulders and

2. Inside to square and back to the inside where power comes from the right arm.

I putted for a number of years using number 1 until it finally occurred to me that this type of stroke requires me to use the small muscles of my hands to manipulate the putter face in order to keep it square to the target line. I don't believe that using the small muscles of the hands works for any golf stroke much less the putting stroke. The older we get the more true this becomes.

I started putting with method 2 for a number of reasons.

1st. I'm already standing to the side of the ball so a putter stroke that works around my body just as a full swing does makes sense to me.

2nd I'm most comfortable with me eyes inside the target line and behind the ball just as it is with the full swing.

3rd. Inside to square to inside allows me to use a right arm/right shoulder stoke as my power source in the same manner that I would use a pool que.

Detractors to this method point out, I think incorrectly, that it is harder to get the putter face square at the moment of impact. That concept has greater validity if and only if you do not keeps the putter shaft lined up with a particular spot on the body. I use and teach that the putter rotates just as if it were a belly putter. If this is done then contact with the ball when the face is square is automatic. Some may say "why not use a belly putter"? If all we were concerned with is line then maybe the question would be valid but our primary concern with the putter is distance. I've yet to see anyone with either a long or belly putter be able to control their distance the same way the top pros on the tour do.

I think the manner in which you place your hands on the putter is critical. The left hand barely resides on the club with the shaft placed in the life line of both hands so that someone looking at your putter set up from down the line would think that your putter shaft is running through the middle of your forearms.

The putter head must in my opinion but grounded behind the ball. If you are right handed and you have the toe of the putter raised then because of the loft of the putter you are actually aimed left of your target. If the heel is in the air you are aimed right of your target.

The fine art of putting part one.

Harvey Penick said I believe that he started all his new students with one ball on the green putting it into the hole. As they achieved some competence he then moved them to chipping, then pitching, lob and sand shots. It wasn't until they had a fair mastery of these skills that he went to the long game. I was fortunate enough to have a couple of phone conversations with the short game wizard Paul Runyon. It is my recollection that he said essentially the same thing. This progressive concept is at the heart of my teaching philosophy. I use this concept for three reasons. First, nothing will reduce your scores faster than short game success. Second, all golfers can improve their short game skills. It only requires the correct techniques and practice. Not all golfers have the ability to hit long drives. Third, because everyone can improve their short game it builds confidence to tackle the long game with greater optimism and less pressure to succeed.

Before we actually start I want to tell you that I have never had an original thought about golf. That may be true about life. :-) Everything I know I have learned from those who came before me. I may package it a bit differently but the fundamentals are already there. I suspect that what they taught me they learned from someone else.

O.K. here we go.

Putting is all about speed. Period. Until you can control the distance you hit a putt you will never be a good putter. For some of you this will be old information but review is always good.

What is the correct speed for any putt? I've stolen this from Dave Pelz. He calculated that any putt, in order to overcome the ramp effect surrounding every putting cup, needed to have enough speed to finish 14 to 17 inches beyond the hole. Any putt hit this hard will still go into the hole. His testing supports this. The ramp effect is created by all the golfers that have played the hole you are on before you got there. It's caused by the impressions their shoes and body weight make when they tend the flag or when the reach into the cup to pull out a putt they have holed. If you are the first group to reach a hole since the cup was changed there will be no ramp effect but the a putt that still leaves you 14" from the hole should be easy to hole. All of my putting instruction is based upon you being able to learn to hit every putt 14 to 17 " beyond the hole.

Now a very brief discussion about break. The amount a putt will break is determined by how hard the putt is hit. A putt that just barely falls into the hole will have more break that one where the putt hits the back of the cup. When a pro asks his caddy to help him read the break the caddy makes his recommendations based upon how hard his pro hits his putts.

Here is a game I learned when I was back at David Leadbetters in the early 80's. It's the hardest putting game I know and the most effective. Just yesterday one of my better players and I created a modification that we think will help. The game is called "10". You find or create two cups about 15 feet apart. A slightly uphill/downhill putt is preferred. 17" from the rear of the cup you place a marker or stick a tee into the ground. The area from the front of the cup to the marker counts. It does not matter how far left or right of the hole your putt finishes. As long as it is between the front and the marker you are good. You take three golf balls. Start at either end near the cup. You putt your golf balls to the other cup. Any time you miss you start over. The objective is to putt three balls from one end into the safe zone then go the other direction also into the safe zone. Then three more into the original direction and finally one ball back the other way until you have made 10 consecutive putts into the safe zone.

Here is the modification. If you are unsuccessful in your second attempt at the original distance then move the rear markers out 2 feet, so that you have increased the size of the safe zone. Then try again. You continue to move the markers out until you are able to get 10 consecutive putts into the safe zone. Once you get 10 putts into the safe zone then start to move the markers back in. With this modification you can practice this drill for an hour without wanting to break your putter. I guarantee that repeated practice with this drill will make you a better putter.

Part two in a couple of days.