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Question for all level of golfers (when is enough grooving and practicing enough)?

ShotScope
I'm still at the point where I want to practice as much as I can. I know I have the physical ability to be much better than I currently am, and I see it for about half of the holes I play in a round. My problem is that little things like set up/tempo/alignment get thrown off somewhere every couple holes which throw off my game, so I'm still trying to ingrain the correct way so I don't lose it on those blow up holes. I've only been taking golf seriously now for about 2 1/2 seasons, and haven't taken any sort of lessons yet, so I know I still have a good amount to learn.

I tend to find myself taking a bunch of range time at the beginning of the season, and then mid season (so about now) I tend to just play 9's after work as my practice and don't hit range as often. It seems to keep me in a better groove.
 
For me personally I don't go to the range anymore and hit a bucket of balls unless something really bad is going on with my swing. I'll get a bucket and sit there and hit 20 - 120 yard wedge shots all night. I've focused more on scoring distance this year and distance wedges and it's really translated into shooting some of my best scores ever. I'll go hit balls out of the bunker. I'll hit chip and pitch shots. The one thing that I need to work on more is putting. IMO short game is confidence and feel based and if I don't practice it I lose that feel which results in lost confidence. I believe I can easily take 3-5 strokes off my game right now with a better short game. For the foreseeable future that's what I'll practice. Even if it's only 20 minutes in the yard hitting 15-50 yard pitch shots at a towel I laid down like last night.
 
I will never fault anyone for working hard on their game. Nor will I say how long they should practice. I will say that most are not working hard on the right things. Going to the range and beating balls doesn't make you better. Most of the time if just makes bad habits more a part of your game. And consequently, these folks are always trying to get better and are doing just the opposite.

I think everyone should except, at some point and time, that they are as good as they are going to get. And just enjoy the game they have and the people they play with.
 
JRod said:
I'll never be as good as I was 15 years ago but if I can continue to shoot in the 70's most of the time I'm content not practicing .

The ROI of my time at this stage of life is just not worth it .


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What he said.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I will never fault anyone for working hard on their game. Nor will I say how long they should practice. I will say that most are not working hard on the right things. Going to the range and beating balls doesn't make you better. Most of the time if just makes bad habits more a part of your game. And consequently, these folks are always trying to get better and are doing just the opposite.

I think everyone should except, at some point and time, that they are as good as they are going to get. And just enjoy the game they have and the people they play with.
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Well said .. Well said

before I did online golf I knew nothing about the golf swing. And ironically I played better knowing nothing :). For 20 years I had no idea what ott was or what casting was (seriously). Nor did I even see my swing on video until 10 years or so ago . Maybe a lot of us need to go back to that way of thinking. Golf sure was fun back in the day without technology
 
I'm there with my full swing. It is what it is and I'm confident that I can get the ball somewhere around the green in regulation on most holes on an average day. About the most I will do is hit 10 or 15 balls before a round just to see how far right I need to aim that day. But I still enjoy going out working on my pitching, chipping and putting several times a week, where at times, I regain the easy relaxed feel that I had many years ago and I'm able to pull off almost any shot and any lie that I can come up with. But it never quite makes it to the course. But it's still in there, somehwere.
 
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sure, some guys/gals have natural ability and can play a few times a year and threaten par. i'm playing in a "tournament" later this year with a guy who was recruited by notre dame. he touches his clubs less than 10 times per year. the last time we played together, he didn't warm up, took a blade mizuno 2i off the tee and hit it dead straight about 240. me, i'm not a natural athlete, and i've always had to work hard to be passable at any sport i've been interested in. but i really enjoy the process. i look forward to practicing, sometimes as much as i do actually playing. it's therapeutic, it's quiet, and it's completely free of pressure.

if you think most golfers are range junkies, constantly working on their games, you've been spending too much time on thp. we represent the 1%; the rest of the world shows up on a saturday morning and treats golf as a reason to drink beer outdoors.
 
Mystery Meat said:
That is another issue (short game practice) . Once you have the stroke down you should have the basics. One season I practiced incredibly hard on chipping/ pitching/ putting and bunker play on the same practice area. Worked great there as I had the speed / grass length and sand makeup mastered. But guess what ... When I traveled and practiced it felt like I was back at step one. So I kinda think excessive short game practice only benefits the area you practice on. Course conditions are unique per course or on some municipals per hole at times
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There's no question that standing on a chipping green, chipping balls for hours on end is of limited benefit. True short game practice requires encountering different lies, different distances from the green, different slopes of the green, etc. That's not to say that practice in a short-game area is useless. It's certainly better than no practice at all. But chipping 50 balls to a 10-foot flag on a level chipping green may not help much when you have to hit a 15-yard flop over a bunker to a green that runs away.

Take advantage of the short game area, but if you find yourself alone on the course one day, take advantage of some real situations to get in some real practice.
 
wadesworld said:
There's no question that standing on a chipping green, chipping balls for hours on end is of limited benefit. True short game practice requires encountering different lies, different distances from the green, different slopes of the green, etc. That's not to say that practice in a short-game area is useless. It's certainly better than no practice at all. But chipping 50 balls to a 10-foot flag on a level chipping green may not help much when you have to hit a 15-yard flop over a bunker to a green that runs away.

Take advantage of the short game area, but if you find yourself alone on the course one day, take advantage of some real situations to get in some real practice.
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Great response. Love the quick 9 hole by myself days. I will hit multiple balls off the tee and put the balls in some bad spots and see how I do. It's amazing how your imagination of how to handle a difficult shot can really help your game
 
I think you worry about scores too much MM. Clearly your aren't playing much golf these days so stop worrying about it. Golf is what you make it, go out and play. If you go out and shoot 100 but still enjoy it then thats all that matters. Some are happy with 120 and some are happy with 70. If you don't wanna practice then don't lol it seems like you just want to go play but are afraid that you aren't shooting low scores anymore or something and its subconsciously getting to you. Just go hit some balls dude and enjoy it haha
 
I don't usually practice unless there is something going on with my swing. I usually just use the driving range to warm up, and then the practice green to get an idea of the green speeds for the day.

Otherwise, I just like to get out and play some holes to practice.
 
wadesworld said:
There's no question that standing on a chipping green, chipping balls for hours on end is of limited benefit. True short game practice requires encountering different lies, different distances from the green, different slopes of the green, etc. That's not to say that practice in a short-game area is useless. It's certainly better than no practice at all. But chipping 50 balls to a 10-foot flag on a level chipping green may not help much when you have to hit a 15-yard flop over a bunker to a green that runs away.

Take advantage of the short game area, but if you find yourself alone on the course one day, take advantage of some real situations to get in some real practice.
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This 100%. And there is tons of research out there to back it up. The blocked practice is good for ingraining a feeling/swing plane/thought/etc., but random practice from varying lies to varying targets with no more than a few balls to the same target at a time is what translates to the actual course.

And golf, like many athletic activities, is a perishable skill. If you don't use it you will loose it (at least to some degree).
 
I never go to the range and rarely practice putting. Worked hard on putting last year with my teacher, but I'm just lucky to have time and health to play, so I just play and I am VERY happy with it this way.
 
I like that CRW " golf is perishable "'

I often wonder about the guys who take 5/10 or more years off. Wonder if for them it is like just starting over ?
 
Mystery Meat said:
I like that CRW " golf is perishable "'

I often wonder about the guys who take 5/10 or more years off. Wonder if for them it is like just starting over ?
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I don't think it's always like starting over. For a lot of people (regardless of physical activity), the mind knows what to do. It's more a matter of getting the body to do what the mind wants. So at that point it's more like knocking some rust off versus starting over.
 
If time and money allowed I'd practice 10x more than I do now both on the range and on the course, spend more time with my coach looking at my game from all aspects.

My practice isn't beating balls it's about working on positions/feel of my swing, working on shot shape. On the course it's practicing how to make better decisions to control the damage or prevent it, hitting from bad lies/angles.

To me practicing/working is part of the joy/fun of the game. The score doesn't always reflect the work you've put in just like the paycheck doesn't always reflect the work you've done at your job. But the only way to make either one change is to keep working and perfecting what your doing.


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Mystery Meat said:
I like that CRW " golf is perishable "'

I often wonder about the guys who take 5/10 or more years off. Wonder if for them it is like just starting over ?
Click to expand...

I know for me that when I took the game up again I thought it'd be like it was the first time I swung a club but you'd be surprised how natural it felt. The first couple times out were interesting and I struggled with alignment and ball position mostly. The swing itself felt fine.
 
Good reads . I guess I can just go play and play the white tees and shoot in the 70's all the time playing 300 yard par4's. Etc. But I enjoy playing now from the very back on the hardest courses i can, why I practice is for the torture I guess. Nothing like hitting long hybrids all day into par 4's and 3's. Heck , if I keep at my new handicap will make me a real ringer when I turn senior with an higher handicap of the super up tees. Good times coming for the old fat guy
 
This year I am closer to 70 yrs old than 60 yrs old. Started golf at 45 yrs old. Played for 5 yrs. Got to a 10 hc. Quit for 12 yrs. Retired at 62 and started again. Last few rounds have been 79-85 from the white tees. I only play with my son. We try to play once a week. We play for "The Championship of the World ". He gives me strokes and we play match play. I go to the range 3-4 days a week. Range is as much for exercise as practice. Some days are better than others. Used to be there for a few hrs. Realized that after an hour and a half, that tiredness causes more bad than good shots. So I hit a few balls, sit down and enjoy being outside. Hit a few more.

When I play, I want my son to have his best round. I want mine to be 1 stroke/hole better. If (no when) I hit a bad shot, I hunt it down and hit it again. Have taken a few lessons and watched many videos. I usually know what caused the bad shot and try to not do it again.

The range is just exercise and practice to help this arthritic body turn properly.
 
Plus, I have finally (after SOME expense ) realized that newer, bigger, faster, longer clubs will NOT make you a better golfer if you don't make good contact. An ugly swing produces an ugly shot, regardless of club.
 
Mystery Meat said:
I like that CRW " golf is perishable "'

I often wonder about the guys who take 5/10 or more years off. Wonder if for them it is like just starting over ?
Click to expand...
I worked at a course about 7 years ago, and I of course plyed nearly every day. Frequently I played with the teaching pro at the course (hooray free lessons!) and I was getting pretty good. I was down to a 20ish handicap. I moved, and for assorted (mostly being a new father) reasons stopped playing. This is my first season playing again. It has been interesting to say the least. Its not quite like starting over, course management is pretty close to where it was, putting is still close to where it was, but my irons and woods are certianly struggling. It doesn't help that I'm now in my mid 30s and have been working in a cube that seems to have unusually high calorie air for the last few years. I've played probably 30 rounds this year and its getting better. It is exceptionally frustrating at times because I know what I want to do, but getting everything where I want it is harder than it used to be. On the other side of the coin my good shots can be much more impressive, just less frequent....

As for practicing, coming back to the game this year I went to the range quite a bit earlier this season, but I haven't been back in a month or so, I've taken to playing 9 after work as much as I can it seems to work better for me. I get a chance to play lots of differnt shots, and usually I can practice a bit at each hole, since its a pretty quiet course.
 
Never. Peter Aliss said it right at The Open. You can do all that prep but all the way through its about getting more consistent. Consistent is what makes a better golfer and the way to consistency is practice.
 
it's kind of self-esteem I think. If you considered enjoy is the best way to improve your life, enough is not same for everyone as others mentioned already.
It's not the joy or hobby if you have some stress or wonder when you play some activities or actions. Take off burden by comparing with others. :)
 
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