Practice

Practicing is the part of the game where we learn to measure and strike your clubs, gain confidence on our shots and, hone the art of chipping and putting. If you want to get better at hits game, practice more than you play and most importantly have fun doing it!

You can practice anywhere. All you need is something to swing and some imagination. I like to swing my club in the backyard, and from time to time I will even swing a broom.

In a practice facility you will find a putting area, a chipping area and a driving range. Use them all. Find a practice routine that works for you. I like to start by putting, then move on to the chipping range and end in the driving range, and on occasion I go back to the putting range.


What to Practice

  • The most important club in your bag is your putter. Practice this more than your other clubs.

  • Learn to hit pitch and chip shots, mid and long range shots in the general direction where you are aiming. Once you can do this, learn to shape your shots.

  • When in the driving range, always aim at something. This way, you can gauge the accuracy of your shot. Follow the 10% accuracy Rule. If you are at 100 yards, you should hit inside 10 feet of the flag.

Practice the follwoing shots until you gain consistency and confidence that you can hit these shots 70% of the time. Figure out which club works for each of the distances you are practicing.

Putting Stroke

  • 3 footer

  • 10 footer

  • 20 footer

Chip Shots

  • Release

  • Bite

  • Flop

  • Sand Shots

  • Rough Shots

Pitch Shots/Short Range

  • 30 yard

  • 50 yard

  • 75 yard

  • 100 yards

Mid Range

  • 125 yards

  • 150 yards

  • 170 yards

Long Range

  • 180 yards

  • 200 yards

  • 250+

Statistics

If you would like to study your game in more detail, try tracking your game shot by shot. Keep track of Fairways hit, Greens in Regulation (GIR), Putts and penalties. Over time, you’ll start to see trends and patterns that will surprise you. If you use software to help you do this, you can see graphs, percentages and more.

For example, if you are putting 36 times per round, well that is good, but 32 would be better. If you don’t hit greens often, practice short and mid irons. If you miss fairways off the tee box, the practice accuracy with your long range clubs. When in doubt, take a golf lesson!

Videos

Practice Routines (at the Driving Range)

Warm Up Routines (before a round of golf)

Download

Print this document and use it in the driving and on the course to document the distances you get with your clubs at Full, 3/4 and a Punch swing.


Golf Club Distance Ledger.pdf