A Reminder to Myself: Practice Does Not Make Perfect
As I mentioned in the latest newsletter, I’m not loving my current swing. So, I went back through old posts to find a little inspiration and found the post below.
Practice Does Not Make Perfect
“As a golfer desiring to improve your game, it is imperative that you strike the words “practice makes perfect” from your vocabulary and rid yourself of this mentality as soon as possible.”
-Shane Jones, The Little Book of Breaking 80
I wish I had listened to his quote above after reading Shane’s book years ago. Like many others, I made the mistake of developing bad habits and ingraining them through repeated “zombie” range sessions.
Those range sessions were basically me hitting a large bucket of balls every 10 seconds while trying to “self-diagnose” my swing.
I think there are two takeaways here:
Get a lesson. Have the fundamentals and basic setup shown to you by a professional. It sets you on the right path and will save you time and effort. You'll have a plan and drills to work on at the range.
Our practice habits aren’t very good.
Shane says:
“It isn’t that hitting golf balls is inherently bad, but rather, the manner in which most golfers approach hitting balls on the driving range is ineffective, and in many cases, downright detrimental to their games.”
Don’t buy the large bucket. Slow down. Work on a drill. Put five or so balls down on the mat at a time.
Take one club and pick a target. Hit those five balls at the target, taking ample time between each shot. Hit the next ball and watch its flight. How did it feel? Was it off the toe? Heel? Fat? Thin? Rehearse a feel with just the club after the first shot. Take your time.
I don’t want to discourage you from practicing at the range. It is vital to improving. But if done wrong, it can be detrimental to your game.
Most of what’s in this article is obvious. Nothing is world-changing. But am I doing it?
No. I’m rushing, changing things constantly, and not rehearsing between swings or getting feedback between shots.
Despite knowing this (and writing about it), I still fall prey to the biases to which we all fall. So, this was a welcomed reminder.
Lesson:
slow down
pick a target
rehearse
no zombie range sessions
analyze feedback between shots
take half shots and use drills
Til next week.
