Practice Like the Pros … Or Better by Kevin Smeltz , Director of Golf
Let ’ s apply this to golf . Do we really learn when we put an alignment stick down and hit 200 7-irons to the same flag ? One of my mentors and BGGA advisory board member Dr . Fran Pirozzolo would say no but instead you have the illusion of competence . The student feels like they got a lot better because they are performing the movements better and hitting better shots . The coach feels great because they can see the student swinging better and hitting more quality shots . How much of this is because they are in a rhythm and raking over ball after ball vs . truly improving ?
As I was thinking about how I wanted to approach this blog on how professional golfers practice and what we can learn from them , I began to think , is there a way that we can practice better than a professional ?
It sounds odd I know , but there is a lot of research being done on elite performance in sports and other walks of life and what the best of the best do that perhaps even some professionals don ’ t do .
I have had the chance to be around some of the greatest golfers in the world , multiple major winners and the highest ranked players in the world . Many of them do some of these things instinctively , but can we take some of the research and help the next generation of players become even better . There are many things to cover with regards to this , more than we can cover in one blog , but we will look at a couple of items here to help your practice time become more productive .
The key is learning the information . That sounds obvious but almost everything I know about learning now is virtually the opposite of what I used to think at worst and counter-intuitive at best .
In a coaches ’ meeting , that we often have so we can all improve from each other and share best practices , I came across a good example that hit home with regards to learning . We were discussing this very subject of learning , and one of my colleagues was discussing his daughter and the ABC ’ s . She knows her ABC ’ s . She can recite them like clockwork . However , if you ask her what comes after the letter “ S ”, she must recite the whole song to get to the answer ( she is only 2.5 years old ). The question was , has she really “ learned ” the ABC ’ s . The answer would be it seems so but not really .
If we have truly “ learned ” something , then we can recall this information in different situations , especially in golf when there are so many different variables every day . After you feel like you have grooved your new swing , change targets and clubs . Did you keep the new movements or did your swing regress back to the old habits when you had to take into account different wind conditions , different lie , you only have one chance to pull it off , etc ? If you did regress , you haven ’ t learned it yet . Think of how many times the commentators on TV say down the stretch that the tour pro went back to their old tendencies . They haven ’ t fully learned it yet either . It isn ’ t good or bad . The information they are trying to assimilate in their swing might be great , but it just takes a certain amount of time to incorporate these things .
The key is , is there a better way to transfer these changes more effectively ? The research shows that if you practice more like you play on the course , you can get better faster . Using the alignment stick and hitting a bunch of 7-irons in a row isn ’ t the worst thing you can do . It can be effective , especially initially . Once you feel like you have a handle on it , change targets and clubs and see if you maintain the changes . This simulates competition and is far more challenging to your brain , which aids learning and in turn helps you maintain the changes faster . It will seem harder while you are doing it , and it might not look as pretty as the 200 7-irons but it is what is going on in your brain that you can ’ t see that will help you transfer your new action to the course .
This was a very simple example so stay tuned for upcoming blogs expanding on more concepts like massing vs . spacing , backward chaining techniques , interleaving , etc .