How to Optimize Your
Practice Session
By David Louys-Moroney, BGGA Senior Coach
Please note that this article is most relevant to golfers who already have acquired a
reasonable level of skill for the game and play on a regular basis. A beginner or novice would
certainly have to practice in a different fashion than what is expressed in this article.
The biggest fault I observe in golfers, is that they
head to the practice facility without any real plan
of what they want to achieve, and they do not
practice how they play. They have the mindset that
by spending time hitting balls either on the range
or on the short game area, their skills will improve,
and this will translate to being more consistent
during their weekend round. To determine if you
have had a successful practice session is NOT
if you hit 70% of those consecutive fifty 7-irons
straight at the flag, but can you transfer your
practice session into when you play on the course
by shooting better scores?
One of the best sayings in regard to practice is
that “you get good at what you practice, and
you don’t get good at what you don’t practice”.
There is a big disconnect with golf in regard to
the environment where one practices, compared
to the real game situation out on the golf course.
The driving range is usually a wide-open expanse
of ground with a few flags dotted around. The
player hits those fifty 7-irons consecutively at one
flag (blocked practice) and then another thirty
drivers into the abyss of the wide-open driving
range. They leave the practice session feeling
great that they have grooved their swing as they
hit so many good shots.
Then they play on Saturday and don’t understand
how their tee shots are all over the place and
the 7-iron they hit on the par 3 was nothing like
the 70% they hit at the range. The reason they
cannot perform on the course is because they
have practiced in a completely different fashion
than what they experience out on the golf course.
The experience the player has during his Saturday
round is that they get to the tee box of the par
3 and it could have been five minutes since they
last made a full swing from the previous hole. This
is very different than the 20 second time frame
they were using during their Wednesday practice
session. Remember that you get good at what
you practice. If you take 20 seconds between
each ball on the driving range, then you are less
likely to be engaged with the mental processes
you need to focus on to hit a successful shot. The
player will be utilizing their short-term memory of
the previous 20 shots they have already hit within
the last six minutes. This form of practice gives
the person a false sense of competency and does
not relate to the real game of golf.
So how can we improve the retention of our
practice session so that it has a positive impact on
our shots and score out on the golf course? The
best way to practice is to practice in a random
fashion rather than the blocked practice fashion
which I have explained above. Let’s explain what
a random style practice session looks like. First
you will save money as you only need to purchase
a medium bucket of balls rather than a large
bucket, simply because you will not hit as many
balls within the same time period. You will get
to your spot on the range and do a stretching
routine and then hit a few wedges to continue
to warm the muscles that you have activated in
the stretching. Then you will hit three to four mid
irons, then three to four long irons, a couple of
hybrids and 3 woods and then three drivers. Once
you are fully warmed up then you will go into your
random practice mode. This means you will NOT
hit two consecutive shots with the same club or
at the same target. You will go through a full pre
shot routine for every shot.