The Daily Divot: Practice Does Not Make Perfect
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 actually 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 own 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.”
I agree. I’ll delve deeper into practice habits in a future Newsletter, but for now, I’ll say this:
Don’t buy the large bucket. Slow down. Work on a drill. Put 5 or so balls down on the mat at a time.
Take 1 club and pick a target. Hit those 5 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 going to the range and practicing. It is vital to improving. But if done wrong it can be detrimental to your game. Oh and don’t forget chipping and putting!