Weekly practice hours and practice/play ratio for those low single digits working to get better?

[RoyalMustang]

I'm down to a 5 and starting to play some better golf: I'm wondering what my ratio of practice to play should be at this point? I can get to the course 5 times a week and have roughly 2 hours when I do so. In that time, I can either walk 9 holes after a warmup or do any combo of full-swing range/short game/sub 100-yard/putting practice. 

 

I've been walking at least 27 a week as I enjoy it and the exercise is great (roughly 4 miles for the front 9) but should I now be dedicating a bit more time to practice? That's roughly 5 hours of golf and 5 hours of practice-warmup per week. Playing is good: if I am not swinging well, I can working on understanding what I need to do to snap out of a funk. Hitting on the range is much easier. However, the range provides me with chance to add better movements into my swing. The short game practice is key for distance control in chipping and pitching. Putting is important to just keep my stroke fresh and consistent. 

 

 

 

[ericz]

I've backed off on practice over the past year, and have instead opted for playing more 9 hole practice rounds instead. Occasionally I'll have a "practice week" where I'll spend 3-4 days on the range, and then usually 18 on Saturday and Sunday. I think the on course playing time is more valuable for me at this stage in my game. I'll hit up the range and/or putting green only when I need to work on something very specific. I don't just go to hit balls any longer. But everyone's range is probably different, but I wouldn't hesitate to change your ratio of practice/play as you see fit.

[SNIPERBBB]

Unless you're overhauling your swing  I would defend play more than practice. I don't practice as much now. I do more maintenance work on the range and dialing it half wedges.

[iutodd]

Play more than you practice.  When you practice - practice with purpose.  You can't know what you need to practice unless you're playing and you know where you're losing strokes.

 

The general rule seems to be that basically all amateurs don't practice enough inside 100 yards: wedges, pitches, chips, putting.  It's hard not to suggest to someone with as much time as you (and with access to facilities like you have) to spend a day a week on those things - but again - have purpose when you practice.  Say: "I'm going to work on a 75 yard fairway shot today."  or "Today I'm working on speed drills with my putter."  or "Today I'm chipping from the fairway to short/long/medium targets with different clubs."

 

I would also say that an underrated thing to "practice" is your mental game.  You're going to hit balls in the hazard, you're going to have doubles (and triples), you're going to three-putt, you're going to get horrible breaks.  How you handle those things on the course is super important.  Strategy is also important.  When you're trying to shoot in the 70s every time you have to try really hard to not give away strokes because you aimed wrong/didn't know the yardage to a bunker/didn't know there was a hazard that was reachable/etc.  

[RoyalMustang]

3 hours ago, iutodd said:

Play more than you practice.  When you practice - practice with purpose.  You can't know what you need to practice unless you're playing and you know where you're losing strokes.

 

The general rule seems to be that basically all amateurs don't practice enough inside 100 yards: wedges, pitches, chips, putting.  It's hard not to suggest to someone with as much time as you (and with access to facilities like you have) to spend a day a week on those things - but again - have purpose when you practice.  Say: "I'm going to work on a 75 yard fairway shot today."  or "Today I'm working on speed drills with my putter."  or "Today I'm chipping from the fairway to short/long/medium targets with different clubs."

 

I would also say that an underrated thing to "practice" is your mental game.  You're going to hit balls in the hazard, you're going to have doubles (and triples), you're going to three-putt, you're going to get horrible breaks.  How you handle those things on the course is super important.  Strategy is also important.  When you're trying to shoot in the 70s every time you have to try really hard to not give away strokes because you aimed wrong/didn't know the yardage to a bunker/didn't know there was a hazard that was reachable/etc.  

 

Thanks! What are "speed drills with putter"? I do a lot within 100 yards: its probably the strongest part of my game as I get a lot of good birdie looks when playing well. Chipping is "OK" our practice chipping green is tiny so longer chips are out. Pitching is solid over 20 yards but I can always use more practice. I also hit the practice bunker for 25-50 balls a week. 

 

What you mentioned is why I like playing: it simulates the mental up and downs of a round. Today, I started hot at -2 after 2 holes, then started making some bad duck hooks here and there to blow up my score. I got to +4 after hole 7, finally figured out the feel of where I needed to be, and closed with a tap-in par and another birdie to get back to +3. It wasn't great overall (granted is a very tough 9 at a rating of 74/139 if you go 2X around) but the sort of thing I need when my swing disappears for a few holes. That's my biggest challenge; eliminating those duck hooks which run up my score in a big hurry. It really comes down to turning vs sliding. 

[iutodd]

Speed Drills?  I think of it mainly as working on lag putting and developing the feel for the right speed at different lengths from the hole - you can google any number of drills for lag putting.  It can also be working on "holing speed" - you can work on putts that die at the hole, go in so hard they almost pop back out, and then in between those two speeds.  It's good for the 5-10 foot range.

 

Also sounds like you need to work on eliminating those duck hooks!  Getting your number down is, generally, way more about eliminating doubles than it is about giving yourself good birdie looks - because some days the birdies just aren't going to fall.

[phizzy30]

I play twice a week and hit the range once a week.  My swing is in a good place now after making changes the past two years.  If I had more time, I would love to practice more but my personal training/fitness business requires a lot of my time.  With that being said, the areas of improvement for me are chipping and driver.  This is where I lose the most strokes.

Edited August 9, 2023 by phizzy30

[MelloYello]

All depends on where you are with your game obviously. These days my "practice" is usually very dedicated to minor corrections (tweaks) to my technique or in knocking off the daily rust that would accumulate if you didn't hit a few balls.  

 

 

That said, I play ~3x per week (~54 holes total) and I practice ~2x per week. 

I spend about 5 days doing golf stuff. I take Monday's off because the club is closed and I will usually dedicate at least one other weekday to necessary chores / yard work. 

 

Sat & Sun are competitive 18-hole rounds at my club with my normal group. So that's a base load of 36 holes. Usually 1-2x per week I'll supplement that by playing 9 after work in the evening. That gets me to 45-, 54- or even 63-holes sometimes. 

 

Because my weekend rounds are bets I have to play seriously. That means I treat my weekday 9's as practice / warm-up. I'll typically play 1 ball but I'll play different tees and hit various clubs off the tee to prepare myself for the weekend. 

 

On off days I'll throw in some practice. Usually ~2 range sessions (45 minutes each) with some 20-30 minute putting session(s) afterward. I do most of my block practice putting at home with gate drills (Putting Tutor) and a line on the ball so the work at the course is just supplementing that: distance control, reading break, putting on slopes, etc. 

 

 

[RoyalMustang]

2 hours ago, iutodd said:

Speed Drills?  I think of it mainly as working on lag putting and developing the feel for the right speed at different lengths from the hole - you can google any number of drills for lag putting.  It can also be working on "holing speed" - you can work on putts that die at the hole, go in so hard they almost pop back out, and then in between those two speeds.  It's good for the 5-10 foot range.

 

Also sounds like you need to work on eliminating those duck hooks!  Getting your number down is, generally, way more about eliminating doubles than it is about giving yourself good birdie looks - because some days the birdies just aren't going to fall.

 

Got it-I thought you meant trying to add speed to the putting stroke (like how people do speed work to increase their SS). 

 

yes, duck hooks cost me big time; it's easier to raise the floor than the ceiling most of the time. 

[RoyalMustang]

12 minutes ago, MelloYello said:

All depends on where you are with your game obviously. These days my "practice" is usually very dedicated to minor corrections (tweaks) to my technique or in knocking off the daily rust that would accumulate if you didn't hit a few balls.  

 

 

That said, I play ~3x per week (~54 holes total) and I practice ~2x per week. 

I spend about 5 days doing golf stuff. I take Monday's off because the club is closed and I will usually dedicate at least one other weekday to necessary chores / yard work. 

 

Sat & Sun are competitive 18-hole rounds at my club with my normal group. So that's a base load of 36 holes. Usually 1-2x per week I'll supplement that by playing 9 after work in the evening. That gets me to 45-, 54- or even 63-holes sometimes. 

 

Because my weekend rounds are bets I have to play seriously. That means I treat my weekday 9's as practice / warm-up. I'll typically play 1 ball but I'll play different tees and hit various clubs off the tee to prepare myself for the weekend. 

 

On off days I'll throw in some practice. Usually ~2 range sessions (45 minutes each) with some 20-30 minute putting session(s) afterward. I do most of my block practice putting at home with gate drills (Putting Tutor) and a line on the ball so the work at the course is just supplementing that: distance control, reading break, putting on slopes, etc. 

 

 

 

Sounds good-thanks for sharing. 

[hoselpalooza]

@RoyalMustang, where are you dropping shots?

[RoyalMustang]

1 hour ago, hoselpalooza said:

@RoyalMustang, where are you dropping shots?

 

Mostly duck hooks (hazards and otherwise bad balls)

 

I shot +7 for 18 holes today and had 4 hazard penalties. 

[hoselpalooza]

5 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

Mostly duck hooks (hazards and otherwise bad balls)

 

I shot +7 for 18 holes today and had 4 hazard penalties. 

 

Get rid of those duck hooks! 😅