How? What? When? of PRACTICE

My husband, Mike has lots of "Mike-isms" and one of my favorites is "don't mistake activity for achievement." Being out on the range and hitting or putting around the green for x # minutes can be relaxing and mindless. There is something to be said for just putting in "reps" but practicing with a purpose is a better use of your time if you want to improve.

SPECIFY, QUANTIFY, and TRACK your progress. Challenge yourself and create game-link conditions to simulate a scoring mentality and pressure you might feel when you are actually on the course. Here are some ideas to get you going with some quality practice:

Putting:

Hole 30 3-foot putts from around the hole

Hit 15-foot putts on a medium right to left breaker. Putt until you have holed or missed 5 putts in a row on the high side & within 2 feet radius.

Complete 15 30+ foot putts that come to rest within 18 inches past the hole

Short Game:

Pick a spot to chip. Make a "6 foot tee box" three steps onto the green and hit 20 chips with PW. Total that landed in box ______ ? How far did the balls roll on average?_______

3x3x3. Hit three balls to three different pins from one spot. Repeat twice more from different locations. How many came to rest within 6 feet of the hole? _________

Hit a 30 shots with your SW landing the ball at a 30 yards (set up a zone using tees, towels, cones). Repeat with GW and PW. Notice change in trajectory and roll percentage. Make notes on what you observe. How many times did you actually land it in your zone? _______

Full Swing:

Practice with your Driver for 10 minutes or until you have hit at least 10 drives into a 30 yard wide fairway.

Hit three fades, hit three draws with any club. Repeat pattern three times, then change clubs. Repeat with three different clubs.

These are just SOME ideas. Get creative and come up with your own plan and commit to executing it 1-3 times a week. You will see results, I promise!