Practicing and Playing - During New Swing Build

I’m looking for references to books, blogs or videos about some practical theory on how to practice at the range, play rounds of (enjoyable) golf while re-building ones swing.

I know what I should be doing re: my swing, and it will take a while to get there; however, when I go to the range to hit balls, I’m looking for a guide on how to go about this (drills vs. full swing).

And even harder is playing a round of golf. While I won’t go much about score at this point, should I be working on my swing during the round? Or just focusing on hitting shots as I normally would (less mechanics, more hitting the ball based on conditions, lie, etc.)?

Anything along these lines would be great for me to read up on and have a plan.

Read:

practice manual by Adam Young, it’s long text book about practice.

be the target by Byron Huff, it’s a short book about what to focus on when playing.

I am probably the least qualified to comment on this, but I am going through the same thing now. I have yet to play since I have really started changing things. Just range time so far.

One thing that stood out to me when watching Althletic Motion Golf on YouTube (highly recommended) was that when you drill, go very slow at first. Don't rush into incorporating it into a full swing. Then, gradually lead up to full swings so that your body has time to adjust to the new movements. Also, it will likely help you feel the changes that you will not be able to in a full swing.

As far as playing, I wouldn't try to focus on too much during the round. I would just hit shots and evaluate from there. I am preaching to the choir here. I need to take my own advice! If you have put in the work in practice, you should see the results during the round. Best of luck to you!

This is a tough call that I think you have to play by ear; there's no set answer. If you have the feeling right now that playing and trying to score would be counterproductive to the swing work that you are doing, then you are probably right. There is a point in the process where it becomes necessary to play to see where you are in the process, and you'll probably be able to tell that, too.

I went thru this at the end of last summer; I started a complete swing rebuild with a top shelf instructor. I did a session with him every week for three months, and hit a zillion balls in between, at first just using drills to ingrain the stuff we were working on. I backed out of three or four tournaments that I was entered in, and didn't play even a "casual" round of golf for a full month because I didn't want trying to shoot a number to get in the way of making the changes. I waited to play until the instructor and I agreed that it was time to "normalize" the stuff that we had been doing by taking it to the golf course instead of just the range.

I would say that it has taken me a full 4-5 months before I was able to consistently make the swing that we were working on while I played. It was maybe a little bit more complicated for me than it might have been otherwise because, at my instructor's recommendation, I also got evaluated by a golf fitness guy and started some workouts to increase my hip mobility, which was THE key piece of what he was trying to do with my swing. Until I improved the mobility part, the swing stuff was difficult to do consistently, so that probably slowed the process at least some.

BUT, in my case, I was involved in a complete rebuild, AND I'm retired with all the time I need to practice and work out. I'm not sure how I would have handled all of this were either of those things different.

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I started beginning of Feb and won’t be playing regularly until May or so, gives me 3+ months to drill and practice. I agree with taking it slow...every time I jump to full swing after starting with like five minutes of drills I go back to old habits. I just want it all to work so I can get going. But then patience is my weak link with almost everything in life.

My thinking is that when I get a bucket at the range, after I’m warmed up I start hitting so short shots with the pauses and such to check positions. I’m guessing what is key is working on one thing at the time. For me, take away, and legs. Trying to combine both thoughts into drills I’m guessing is the wrong approach.

I made a significant change back in September. I just kept on playing and tried to keep the change in mind. It seems to have stuck nicely. Sometimes I suspect golfers over think things.

I’m certainly someone who overthinks stuff. I like being analytical as well as looking stuff up, mainly out of interest not always to improve.

did you take lessons for your change you are working on?

As you improve, your swing will naturally improve when you play even when you’re not thinking swing thoughts. Just swing like you normally do and live with the bad shots you might make. Don’t worry about your score bad or good. If you feel a need to tell people why you’re playing terribly, do so. Otherwise, let them think you’re a newbie and pretend you’re making improvements, because you are.

When on the range take your time working through all the changes you’re making. Don’t rush there. Could take hours to get through a bucket.

Jack Nicklaus played 36 holes a day when learning from Jack Grout. It's important to do both yet spending more than 30 minutes or so on a certain task on the range is a waste of time. Whatever drill you are doing try to incorporate it into your preshot routine.

This will probably depend on your personality...

You really have to be committed to the changes if you're playing during the process as it's too easy to revert back to "what worked before" if the wheels start coming off during a round.

This

I can only speak from personal experience that I'm unlikely to make major changes while playing. Last time I tried that I ended up constantly reverting back to my old swing because at least I could get around the course with some degree of confidence. This time I'm holding off playing for at least 6 months. Just my 2 cents...

Just play. Practicing without playing is a recipe for disaster. Especially if one is a rake and hit range rat. Practice like you play. Space out your shots, add variability and challenge. If using an aid don’t strap it on and use it exclusively - hit a few with it then without it and reverse this process. Durning a round you hit a shot every few minutes and they are with different clubs and different lies and situations. Play some practice rounds.

ive taken lessons since 2014. Never stopped playing. Never got worse. Change takes time and to stop playing means you have no way to assess how well you are incorporating change - the range doesn’t necessarily provide accurate feedback.

Not to mention that I’m not rebuilding my swing to become ‘much’ better at scoring or competing...I’m only doing so because I’m back to playing after a long hiatus so I figured it’s good to find out the state of my swing, and by taking lessons to learn what is a good swing and how I can move towards it, all with the purpose of more consistent shots so that I’m not spraying it everywhere, as for me this takes a bit of the enjoyment away. I don’t have to be a long hitter and I’m okay with a bunch of bogeys due to being a bit off line, just want to enjoy myself. So I will start playing on 2-3 months once the courses open.

The Game Before the Game

The Practice Manual

Very well said!