In the past my practice has consisted of hitting a number of balls with one club then moving on to the next once I felt I was hitting the first well.

The other day I thought I would try something different and hit as if was playing a round, eg 3 wood, then 7 iron, then PW. I found this to be a lot more difficult to hit consistant good shots.

What of the above would be the best way to practice?

It has been said by a lot of smarter people than me that you don’t hit a ball in practice without a purpose ie ball flight ,distance ,target etc also to hit practice balls like you are playing your home coursee.g. if the first hole is a long par four hit a driver or 3 wood then a 5 or 6i then try to chip close to a target that would simulate where you usually end up on your third shot and just play the round.I might add this also takes willpower when you hit a bad shot as you have to be realistic.

Both forms of practice have their place in my book.

If you have just had a lesson and are working on a techincal change hitting balls with one club is going to give you more chance of grooving a swing than switching between them. That said, each shot still has a purpose, don’t go and just smack balls around with the driver to get through the bucket..

As another smart person said ‘If I don’t aim at anything I hit it everytime’

Toolish..driving range owners like people to smash as many drivers as possible.

How true is that:)

Still most players at the range will pull their driver out almost as soon as they are half warmed up. They will then slice their way through a bucket quite happily. To me that is a total waste of money, time, and effort. Self abuse.

Yeah,it is basically just belting the poo out of golf balls but when is all said and done,extremelly satisfying if you have had a bad day and stops the cat getting a #9 up its khyber when you get out of the car :))))

Self therapy for some:)

Gss,

When you have a goal, a plan should present itself then a practice routine.

The trick is, if it starts to work, keep it up, if not, think again. It is always simple .

In the past my practice has consisted of hitting a number of balls with one club then moving on to the next once I felt I was hitting the first well.

The other day I thought I would try something different and hit as if was playing a round, eg 3 wood, then 7 iron, then PW. I found this to be a lot more difficult to hit consistant good shots.

What of the above would be the best way to practice?

I subscribe to there being at least two types of practice.

1) Mechanical practice – This is when you have made a swing change or some other mechanical difference in your game where you must reherse the move over and over until it becomes unconscious.

2) Playing practice – this is the type of practice you should be doing right before playing or in the last week before a big event. It should involve simulation and visualisation and should involve you ‘playing’ the course on the range.

There are other types as well that involve you practicing from bad lies and worst ball games. Those two are a good start though.

Right now I’m doing lots of mechanical practice :)

Take little steps so the final big steps are that much easier.

That last post is one of the best posts I have read for ages. It is the real key to learning anything.

Getting the big picture is crucial but how to build the big picture in practice is all about how the little bits go together in motions.