advice on practice routine?

im gonna list them in the order i usualy do them

ON THE PRACTICE GREEN: 1) chip till i make 2 chips. alternating clubs everyday (60,56,p wedge)2) find a straight putt. put a tee down at 3-5-7ft go through it 3 times, if i miss is start all over again, going through pre shot routine each putt3) do the putting clock from 3-4-5ft. just going around 1 time each. if i miss i dont start over (make all 3ft, then 4ft, then 5). pre shot routine on each putt

4) putt to a quarter, pick it up, throw it, and putt to it again until im comfortable with the green speed, and my delivery speed is consistent. no preshot routine, just aim it and stroke it.

ON THE COURSE: 1) play 9 holes from white tee's using a 3 iron.2) if im outside of 120 i aim for a bunker or a spot off the green3) if im inside of 120 i try to make it4)when i get up to the green i chip balls from each side of the green and at least 1 bunker ---i dont putt on the course because i dont want to see myself missing putts. i think the drills i do in the beginning simulate putting under pressure anyway. make sense?

--- i usually drop a ball per hole around 110 and 94. those yardages seem to be problems for me lately, because im in between clubs.

ON THE RANGE:1) hit balls out of the fairway bunker. going through my preshot routine each time, switching clubs after each shot.

---i only hit about 15 balls. i dont want to take too many swings and lose my rhythm and tempo.

i am a scratch golfer, and im trying to break through that last level. im carrying a 74 stroke average in tournaments this season, but havent gotten a win. a few 2nd and 3rd place finishes, but no wins this season.

the reason im asking for your opinion is i see guys playing 18 or 27 holes a day. i dont really wanna do that because i have done it in the past and i got burnt out in a few months, and ill get used to playing the same course everyday rather than being able to commit to any shot thats infront of me. i believe my routine is very random and i get used to hitting all different kinds of shots, and using my imagination around the greens. i think that if i simply play golf i wont be touching as many areas as i do with my routine.

as far as putting goes, i want to build my confidence. putting from 5ft and in is what wins tournaments, and when you make a lot of putts with no misses i think its only going to be helpfull to see the ball go in every time. thats why i putt to a quarter. i dont want to see a putt i hit miss the hole. im more worried about my delivery speed. besides if u can hit a quarter from 30ft, you can hit a cup no problem.

what do you guys think?

Sounds like quality practice to me, but it's all relative.

What part of your game do you feel is holding you back? Do you see the guys who are beating you are stronger in a specific area?

The guys I know making money have KILLER short games but I don't know what their short game practice is like. They still hit 100's of balls on the range too though.

im hitting 87% of fairways, 70% of greens, and my putts per round averaging at 33. we started the season in january so i have a descent amount of tournament rounds in. soooo....im gonna go with putting.

[quote name='dat dude' timestamp='1365629270' post='6804615']
(a) find a straight putt. put a tee down at 3-5-7ft go through it 3 times, if i miss is start all over again, going through pre shot routine each putt

(b) i dont putt on the course because i dont want to see myself missing putts. i think the drills i do in the beginning simulate putting under pressure anyway.

(c) if im outside of 120 i aim for a bunker or a spot off the green

what do you guys think?
[/quote]
I think you have a good practice routine, but if you want some feedback on it, here's my 2-cents worth. Remember, I'm not scratch, about an 8 Hdcp, so I'm sure there are others on here that may have better input. Here's mine...

1. Your putting practice routine above is OK, but, if you stop after you make 3 in a row (or 3 at each spot, maybe I'm reading it wrong), I bet you really don't putt that many times. I played alot of basketball in my younger days and was a good free-throw shooter, winning local contests, was consistently above 80%. I didn't stop after I made 3 or 5 in a row, that was nothing. I could get on streaks like that all the time. I would shoot 100 (or more) free throws and see how many I could make. That really put the pressure on me. I would increase the putting drills, if you find yourself going through the drill fairly quickly.

2. If you play your practice rounds on greens that you also play tournaments on, then you are doing yourself a disservice by NOT putting during your practice rounds. You are probably not maximizing your green-reading skills. Your stroke could be spot on, but that doesn't help if your green reading skills are lacking. You really need to learn how to read greens based on things like overall slope of course, general tilt of green, grain of grass, sunny vs shadier areas (for speed), etc. Some of these things can really only be learned on greens that are on the course, greens on the practice area may not have the same type or number of variables (in my experience), since they are usually set up on a fairly flat portion next to the first tee box.

3. This is not related to putting, but to item (c) above, I would stop 'aiming off the green' on longer shots. I could see this develop into a habit that you subconsciously start to do outside of 120 yds, leading to more misses. I think it's great to drop a few balls off the green in areas that you might miss or to aim off the green if it's to dangerous a shot and you know you can get up and down, but to purposefully aim off the green on all shots over 120 yds, that's not a good routine, IMO. In my experience, when you get to championship level courses, from the back tees, you are routinely going to have shots of 140-165 yds in and need to hit those greens with those clubs.

Anyway, good luck and take my ideas for what they are worth, an 8 hdcp on a golf forum. Hope my comments help.

[quote name='TheGeekGolfer' timestamp='1365636214' post='6805567']
[quote name='dat dude' timestamp='1365629270' post='6804615']
(a) find a straight putt. put a tee down at 3-5-7ft go through it 3 times, if i miss is start all over again, going through pre shot routine each putt

(b) i dont putt on the course because i dont want to see myself missing putts. i think the drills i do in the beginning simulate putting under pressure anyway.

© if im outside of 120 i aim for a bunker or a spot off the green

what do you guys think?
[/quote]
I think you have a good practice routine, but if you want some feedback on it, here's my 2-cents worth. Remember, I'm not scratch, about an 8 Hdcp, so I'm sure there are others on here that may have better input. Here's mine...

1. Your putting practice routine above is OK, but, if you stop after you make 3 in a row (or 3 at each spot, maybe I'm reading it wrong), I bet you really don't putt that many times. I played alot of basketball in my younger days and was a good free-throw shooter, winning local contests, was consistently above 80%. I didn't stop after I made 3 or 5 in a row, that was nothing. I could get on streaks like that all the time. I would shoot 100 (or more) free throws and see how many I could make. That really put the pressure on me. I would increase the putting drills, if you find yourself going through the drill fairly quickly.

2. If you play your practice rounds on greens that you also play tournaments on, then you are doing yourself a disservice by NOT putting during your practice rounds. You are probably not maximizing your green-reading skills. Your stroke could be spot on, but that doesn't help if your green reading skills are lacking. You really need to learn how to read greens based on things like overall slope of course, general tilt of green, grain of grass, sunny vs shadier areas (for speed), etc. Some of these things can really only be learned on greens that are on the course, greens on the practice area may not have the same type or number of variables (in my experience), since they are usually set up on a fairly flat portion next to the first tee box.

3. This is not related to putting, but to item © above, I would stop 'aiming off the green' on longer shots. I could see this develop into a habit that you subconsciously start to do outside of 120 yds, leading to more misses. I think it's great to drop a few balls off the green in areas that you might miss or to aim off the green if it's to dangerous a shot and you know you can get up and down, but to purposefully aim off the green on all shots over 120 yds, that's not a good routine, IMO. In my experience, when you get to championship level courses, from the back tees, you are routinely going to have shots of 140-165 yds in and need to hit those greens with those clubs.

Anyway, good luck and take my ideas for what they are worth, an 8 hdcp on a golf forum. Hope my comments help.
[/quote]

i like your input. food for thought. yes i do make 3 in a row from each spot when i hit the straight putt. when i do the putting clock its about 12 if i make them all in 1 shot. ill work on the chalk line for a while too.

i will say i try to miss the green intentionally because the bunkers are smaller targets, and i force myself to commit to a target other than the pin. so i feel like i have to focus and trust my swing a little more. plus when i try to hit a green and miss im not shell shocked, and i have confidence in my short game.

[quote name='dat dude' timestamp='1365638464' post='6805843']
i will say i try to miss the green intentionally because the bunkers are smaller targets, and i force myself to commit to a target other than the pin. so i feel like i have to focus and trust my swing a little more. plus when i try to hit a green and miss im not shell shocked, and i have confidence in my short game.
[/quote]
I think that's interesting and well thought out, maybe mix it up. Aim for quadrants or thirds of greens as well as off-green targets.