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Practice vs play ratio

Ballsohard

Ballsohard

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I'm interested to hear everyone's take on practice vs play and how much practice you get in between rounds.

I've been playing a lot more than practicing and I've seen my score drop dramatically just from understanding the game a bit more; but now that I'm a bogey golfer the score are slowing down a bit and I'm thinking I need to spend more time practicing ball striking, chipping, flops, and pitches a little more to see better results.

I'd say right now I probably practice once between 3 rounds. Please discuss !
 
I try to practice at least one night a week at work and that's usually 1-1.5 hrs chipping/pitching/putting then an hr on the range. I will also try and get to the range at home once per week on my days off.

Then I will try and get in at least one 18 hole round in once one week and twice the next.

Right now the more consistent swing I can build the better my scores become, getting off the tee well, getting up and down as well as putting well are all allowing me to play good golf or save me from a terrible score.
 
I'm not a range rat, in fact, I despise it.

But, this year I learned how to practice with a purpose, I can go out, work on something specific, and when its there I'm done. Short game though, I've gotten to where i can sit there for hours.

In the end, I would rather play than practice any day, I just love being ON the course so my ratio leans heavy that way.
 
Jman I hate being a range rat but it's a necessary evil and allow me to "golf" when stuck at work.

I love the short game area, putting areas at work and could spend all day there if they'd let me.
 
I rarely practice at a range don't really have one close to me but I do have a little 9 hole course very close. I also volunteer there so I play for free which is awesome. I have gotten to the point where I go out on the course to practice. I take something like weight transfer and really try and work on that with all swings. It works pretty well but I need to expand my practice.

Anyone have practice routines they do on the course and would be willing to share?
 
What's your idea of on course routines?

Playing shorter/longer tees, or simply changing what club you take off the tee which changes club into green.

One that I like to do if short game needs work is to take one club short of the front if the green or 2 short of center this gives me lots of opportunities to work on wedge game.
 
We don't have a good driving range in the area, so I tend to play a lot more than I practice. If I'm by myself then I'll play a practice round, dropping balls at different yardages and practicing different types of shots.
 
Cool that's exactly what I am looking for about the taking a club short of the green to work on chipping.

I have been playing from other tees and changing club off the tees. Interesting so far
 
I virtually never hit on a range. Every time I do my swing changes and I end up with bad habits. I'm sure most of that is me just not "doing it right" but it's just how I've seemed to progress the best.

I have, however, developed a fondness of spending some time on the short game. I have seen a marked improvement in that part of my game after spending some time on it, especially the chipping. I used to just be ok being on the green in the general direction and distance to the hole, and if I got close, great. And I would also have a propensity to thin longer chips, blading across the green for another chip. Not a lot, but enough. Now I actually play a lot of long approach shots with the idea being that I'd much rather be 10 yards short of the green with a shorter club than try to get it to the pin.

Case in point, today I hit a poor drive on a long par 4 and was left with 200 to the pin, 175 to the front. I took out the 7 and hit a great shot just in front of the green. Content with bogey on a tough hole after a poor tee shot, I hit a 50 deg chip from probably 80ft into an up slope and rolled it down the other side to 3ft for a par.

Anyhow, I still play a lot more than I practice, probably 2-3 rounds for every time I practice.
 
My schedule the last couple months hasn't allowed me to play much so I've been at the range a lot. Just hitting all the clubs in my bag and putting. In the last month I've played one 18 hole round and two 9 holes, couldn't tell you how many times I've been to the range even if its only putting or hitting a small bucket. Those 3 rounds have been the most consistent golf I've played all season. Gonna play 18 Tuesday at a tough local course, so excited to see how it goes.
 
I am a recovering range rat after trying to rebuild my swing. Went a couple of years practicing 2-3 times a week, but only playing less than half a dozen times a year, and a couple of those were scramble tournaments. Decided this year I was going to play, a lot more. And I have. My scores are dropping as well, with my handicap dropping over a full point in the last two revisions. I have also had a couple of my best rounds and consistently better rounds.

I do still practice solely about once a week, hitting some balls at Golfsmith during lunch. On days I play I usually practice some as well. One benefit I have is being the member of a club, so I play 9 holes fairly regularly. A lot of times I go out and play 2-3 holes after practicing to make sure I am not in range mode. There are times I will go out after a tough round or tournament round a recreate a shot I had a problem with. That is some of the best practice I get.
 
TheCrest4 said:
Cool that's exactly what I am looking for about the taking a club short of the green to work on chipping.
Click to expand...

It's paid off saving pars several times after poor tee shots or easy birdies on par 5's you can't quite get in 2. It's also fantastic for front pins when being above the hole is bigger trouble than being short.
 
I hit the range probably once or twice per week after work, a couple hours. Maybe twice per week at home for an hour with lots of practice swings. I use a hitting mat and the foam practice balls at home. I play 9 probably once or twice per week. I would say I practice 2 to 3 times as much as I play. I'm a believer that golf is a game of habits above all else, and the way you get into good habits is to study your mistakes, then work to correct them with dozens or hundreds of practice swings.
 
In previous years, my ration was 99.9% play, .1% practice. I quit one of my golf leagues this summer with intentions to practice more...and didn't. It's definitely something I need to get better with.
 
I'm about 40/60, recently started playing 2-3 times a week, but I hit balls about 4-5 times a week. I'm fortunate that I have big yard and can hit up to an 8 iron. I've been working on the distances with my wedges and that has knocked a few strokes off my score.
 
I hit balls for about 15 minutes to establish a tempo, and putt for maybe 10 minutes prior to each round, but as far as serious practice goes, I don't do much.
 
I practice 70% and play 30%
 
I'm guilty of a 90-10 ratio this season....... It's showing too because I need to work on my short game especially putting. Will try to change that, but my course is usually slow so I practice multiple shots on the course almost every round
 
Besides putting at home, I am basically all play, no practice. I play by myself a good bit of the time since I m about the only one at my course that enjoys walking so I do practice some different pitch and chip shots and putts on the course sometimes at least a few times a round just to slow myself down more than anything else.
 
I practice very little outside of chipping and putting, so I'd say it is like 25 to 1 rounds vs range. Not nearly enough to play great.
 
Usually about 5 rounds versus 1 practice session. It does not vary much year round for me.
 
I don't always have time to play, but it's relatively easy for me to forge out an hour to hit some balls and work on the short game. I live 3 blocks from a large range and practice facility and I go there 5 days a week and play maybe twice a week.
 
Play 90%, practice 10%. Short game and putting I can spend more time practicing with. I get bored and get in bad habits when practicing the long game for anything longer than 30 minutes.
 
I'm far more on the practice side than a lot of others in this thread. I still don't have *my* swing yet, so I spend time on the range working on it. Last summer I got frustrated after some poor range sessions though, and would just go play 9 holes to practice instead and I noticed my game scores go from 120ish down to 95 pretty quickly just from figuring out how to work my way around a course. This summer I've had some things I've needed to work on, so I've been hitting the range. It's also helped that I've had some range gift certs too!
 
I despise the range. Now I hit for 15 to 20 minutes per night into the net and just focus on a single club. I hit probably 30 to 40 shots and that is it.

Even when I go to the range, it's a small or medium bucket and that is it.

I'm soon adding a GC2 to my setup so once that happens I plan on "Practicing" more.
 
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