How Regularly Do You Need To Practice And How Quickly Do You Lose Your Feels?

[Denny100]

Hello Everyone

 

Just posing the question, how often do you feel you have to practice to maintain your current level of play/a level of play that is satisfactory to you?

 

I feel like I have to constantly hit balls, or I feel unathletic and stiff, and my swing definitely gets worse.

 

Thats more than likely due to a crummy technique that requires timing and a lot of reinforcing of certain moves.

 

I dont really like taking days off, a day off here and there is ok, but if i take two CONSECUTIVE days off, I notice the stiffness setting in and then when I go to practice/warm up before playing on the third day, i strike it poorly for a while until the feelings come back.

 

Putting wise, that doesnt tend to wear off as quickly whereas you might think it would be otherwise. Chipping and pitching i tend to over-spin shots initially until I get settled in again.

 

Id be surprised if peoples feelings wear off as quickly as mine do though, wouldnt think thats normal? pro's can go a week or two, not touch a club, and when they come out to play they seem to be just fine.

 

Just find it interesting, how do you feel about how much practice you need to put in?

 

Thanks Everyone

[airjammer]

3 hours ago, Denny100 said:

Hello Everyone

 

Just posing the question, how often do you feel you have to practice to maintain your current level of play/a level of play that is satisfactory to you?

 

I feel like I have to constantly hit balls, or I feel unathletic and stiff, and my swing definitely gets worse.

 

Thats more than likely due to a crummy technique that requires timing and a lot of reinforcing of certain moves.

 

I dont really like taking days off, a day off here and there is ok, but if i take two CONSECUTIVE days off, I notice the stiffness setting in and then when I go to practice/warm up before playing on the third day, i strike it poorly for a while until the feelings come back.

 

Putting wise, that doesnt tend to wear off as quickly whereas you might think it would be otherwise. Chipping and pitching i tend to over-spin shots initially until I get settled in again.

 

Id be surprised if peoples feelings wear off as quickly as mine do though, wouldnt think thats normal? pro's can go a week or two, not touch a club, and when they come out to play they seem to be just fine.

 

Just find it interesting, how do you feel about how much practice you need to put in?

 

Thanks Everyone

I’m 44 about to turn 45 in a few months and I definitely have to swing a club every couple of days not to lose my swing a bit. It wasn’t that way when I was younger but the more and more I tinkered with my swing the more it requires me to at least swing a club just to not look like a beginner when I start hit balls again. I’m close if not scratch and I’ll top drives and other atrocities  if I haven’t swung in a month or so and go from the car straight to the tee. 
 

It’s my opinion that it’s mostly losing a bit of range of motion as I’m a naturally stiff individual. 
 

My putting feel never leaves me thou. 

[getitdaily]

Once a week was best for me for a long time, twice a week was a bit better. That was when all I did was maintain my old swing. I'm working through a fairly major overhaul and now I need to hit balls 2 or 3 times a week because stuff isn't ingrained yet.

 

I can find the new feels on the range before I play, usually. I have been seeing it take me a few holes to find the new feels or the one that's off. What sucks is that I've been going 1 or 2 over through a few holes until I can adjust and then playing level or under par the rest of the way. I hate getting over par early. Just changes the mindset completely. 

 

But I do usually pick up on changes pretty quickly so I wonder how much the need for as much repetition as you need is based on the ability for muscle memory to set in...

Edited September 6, 2023 by getitdaily

[ae1985]

Seems like i'd need to practice 20 hours a week to get where I am happy but I dont have time. Feel like I am going to suck my entire life.

[MelloYello]

I try to make swings everyday. Every little thing you can do helps. Putting at home, swings in some makeshift hitting area, basic chipping...you've got to do something. 

 

If you show up to the range not having touched a club in several days it's gonna show up. 

 

Plus, the more often you do something, the less of it you need to do. If I were to spend 15 minutes hitting balls a day that could easily be enough. 

 

Golf is about quality over quantity. 

 

 

.

Edited September 6, 2023 by MelloYello

[mshills]

When I was a younger (under 40) and lower-index (5 to 8 index) player, I hit balls all the time.  I think it was to excess -- I would hit a large bucket before and after play, and practice during the week too.

 

Now in my late 40s after I got hurt, I recognize that I probably have a finite number of swings available in my body, so I want to use those on the course, not the range, so the only practice I get in these days is on the golf course.

[nitram]

12 minutes ago, ae1985 said:

Seems like i'd need to practice 20 hours a week to get where I am happy but I dont have time. Feel like I am going to suck my entire life.

 

 

[nitram]

1 minute ago, mshills said:

When I was a younger (under 40) and lower-index (5 to 8 index) player, I hit balls all the time.  I think it was to excess -- I would hit a large bucket before and after play, and practice during the week too.

 

Now in my late 40s after I got hurt, I recognize that I probably have a finite number of swings available in my body, so I want to use those on the course, not the range, so the only practice I get in these days is on the golf course.

And after a certain point, playing makes you better than practice . . .

[ae1985]

6 minutes ago, nitram said:

 

 

Could you post the full size? i cant read it.

[vandyfan]

I have a net in my backyard and I try to get out there every day if possible and even if it is only to hit balls for 5-10 minutes. Most of the time I make it out there 6 days a week and play the other day. I, personally, love hitting balls on the range but I realize that after about 15 minutes I need to either stop and think for a bit or go to the short range or putting green. But I can lose my feels rather quickly since I have been working on a swing change for about a year and feel like I will be working on it my entire life. 

 

I am also in a club now so hitting balls is much easier to just pop over before the round and hit balls for 5 minutes or so. I feel like that has made my overall scoring much better because I come to the first tee confident and warm vs just showing up and seeing what I've got. 

[Ghostwedge]

22 minutes ago, MelloYello said:

I try to make swings everyday. Every little thing you can do helps. Putting at home, swings in some makeshift hitting area, basic chipping...you've got to do something. 

 

If you show up to the range not having touched a club in several days it's gonna show up. 

 

Plus, the more often you do something, the less of it you need to do. If I were to spend 15 minutes hitting balls a day that could easily be enough. 

 

Golf is about quality of quantity. 

This ^^^

On non playing days it's everything from "air" swings in the supermarket to grabbing a .putter and rolling 6 balls in the den. 

[st1800e]

24 minutes ago, nitram said:

 

 

Or, in the words of Sandy Tatum:

 

”Instead of worrying about what you no longer have, figure out what you still have left, and make that work as well as you possibly can."

[st1800e]

24 minutes ago, ae1985 said:

Could you post the full size? i cant read it.

“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that's good.” 

― Elizabeth Edwards

[TLUBulldogGolf]

Once or twice a week, but if I don't play for a while that's not necessarily going to translate on course. 

[Long_Left]

I've played my best golf after longer layoffs. Family vacations, work trips, etc. I tend to over practice because the range I use is close and I can hit as much as I want for $35/month. Without enough time to play actual golf, I head to the range to spend 45 minutes or an hour hitting half a bucket and chipping but it's not always "good" practice, some days it's stress relief or just getting my body moving. 

 

It's a highly individual question, I play with guys who shoot mid 70s every single time they play and I've never seen them on the range once, I also play with guys who seem to live at the range when they aren't playing and some are brilliant plus indexes and some are lifetime hacks. 

 

If you're working on a change, practice, drill, etc more. If your swing is your swing, hit a few until you feel good and move on.

 

[aramirez24]

Put a sim in the garage a few years ago and initially I was hitting tons and tons of balls every day. I still hit balls every day, but probably 40-50 max and mostly all under 150 yards. I have a few par 3 courses I cycle through and swinging a different club to different yardages has translated more to my real life game than pounding 7 irons over and over again. I still do that, just not as often now. 

[KD1]

My swing feels usually last for about half a small bucket... I really need to learn to quit when I'm ahead

[pseudoswede]

Late 40s, currently 8.3 index. I started the season with a 10.4. I have zero desire to grind out range sessions, so I don't.

 

In my Thursday night 9-hole beer league, I literally roll out of the car with my bag, put a ball on a tee on the first hole, grab a club, and swing away. 

 

In my weekend 18-hole traveling golf league, we're usually given a small bucket of range balls. I'll hit 10-ish 8-iron shots (the first few are usually shanks or chunked), 5-ish 5-iron shots, 5-ish driver shots, and maybe a few gap wedge shots if there are any range balls left.

[nitram]

25 minutes ago, ae1985 said:

Could you post the full size? i cant read it.

"Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that's good. - Elizabeth Edwards

[scottik187]

I'm a 5, 40 years old. Playing better now than ever. Getting better every week. I can only play once every couple of weeks at the moment, but I try to do something golf-related every day.

 

Putting
- Daily: Hit putts on the inside putting mat, even if it's just a handful a day at min
- Once or twice a week, the day before I play if possible - work through a handful of drills, hit about 100 putts in a session. Roll the ball down the line and find the centre of the face

- My putting has been the biggest area of improvement, despite rarely practicing on an actual putting green

Chipping:
- Get out into the backyard once or twice a week, practice off a mat and in the "rough". 100-150 balls per session, at various targets. 
- Chipping is quickly becoming a weak point in my game, mostly because I can't practice it properly at home nor do I put enough time into it

Full swing
- 1x 1.5hour session at the Simulator. Work on any problem areas, do some drills, work on wedges, play 18 holes at Pebble etc. During the season these sessions are about making minor fixes and just trying to make flush contact.

Fitness
- Use a golf app like GOLFWOD PT, this has helped me a TON with stiffness, core strength and sore hips. Surprisingly, it's really helped my consistency

Mental
- I'll listen to Bob Rotella, especially leading into a competitive round, to get in a good frame of mind. 

 

Swing drills at home
- I have a couple of clubs lying around and a mirror, so I'll work on feels etc at random times during the day. This has been a major factor in improving my game, as I can take problems and work through them. Helps when making swing changes too.

 

[Zitlow]

There have been studies of Olympic athletes that benefit by using mental imagery to train.

 

https://www.peaksports.com/sports-psychology-blog/how-olympians-use-mental-imagery-to-improve-success/

[vandyfan]

A man much wiser about practice and the golf swing than me said to only hit balls for 15-20 minutes at a time (and never rapid fire where you are hitting the next ball before the first one has landed). It doesn't mean you have to leave the range or practice area after 15 minutes but you should take a 3-5 minute break every 15/20 minutes to think/reset yourself. 

 

Also, since I swing almost every day, I spend a lot of time hitting 75% 7/8 irons where I am not so worried about speed or distance but rather directional control and clubface contact. That guides me more than anything. It also saves my body quite a bit. Probably hit driver less than 3% of my swings on the range. Things seem to translate from the 3/4 8 irons all the way through the rest of my bag. 

[Warrior42111]

I do firmly believe is purposeful practice vs hitting balls. What am I working on ingraining? What should it feel like? What should the ball flight (if it matters) be? etc. Also as mentioned by others I do my full pre shot routine and back off between shots. Now how much? I think it's very individual. Some are natural athletes or people who can pick things up quickly and get around. Others need for proper reps to get something comfortable.

[mshills]

2 hours ago, nitram said:

And after a certain point, playing makes you better than practice . . .

Amen to that. Funny thing about golf, you don’t play golf on the driving range. 😁

[Santiago Golf]

If I am just traveling and playing coures ... I don't practice and kinda just enjoy the day, will still try to break 80, be competitive

 

If I am playing competitively the goal is to break 75 and then there is more "pressure" 

 

I find practicing my routine very important, I want setting up to the ball to be consistent and mindless

I want to feel comfortable picking targets and hitting recovery shots as well (so playing and hitting tricks shot on the range are very important)

 

This winter I plan to do some crazy amount of practice. I will be a pushup challenge, bouldering, yoga, working out, and practicing golf 3 to 4 times a week on top of playing at least 3 holes almost every day

 

I have played at a scratch level not practicing at all but played and caddied every day, after working on my game a little bit during the winter ... though that level of play didn't translate in better tournament scores

 

Idk ... every on is differnet

[MountainKing]

I don't really feel like I have too many issues losing my swing, most of it is just mental for me.  I don't really swing much during the winter months and it doesn't take much to get back once the season starts back up.  What I do tend to lose is short game and any sort of feel shots, but full swing is full swing.

[MK7Golf21]

I have hit so many balls over the years that I can take extended breaks (several months) and come back without skipping much of a beat. 

[DaveMc82]

For the last 2 and a bit years I’ve replaced all Monday-Friday practice time with either the gym or CrossFit. Lessons are now every 4 weeks and rotate through full swing, bunkers/pitching, putting/chipping. Currently I play 1-2 times a week and practice 1-2 times a fortnight. 
 

Index has gone up this season due to CONSTANT windier conditions all ‘summer’ (UK doesn’t get real summers) despite playing miles better than when I was practicing 3-5 times a week. If conditions had been normal I’d expect to be significantly lower. Playing in winds barely dropping below 25mph takes it’s toll on scoring most through GIRs and missed fairways. 
 

Big takeaway for me with the lack of constant practice is that my old techniques were reliant on me being in rhythm through frequent practice/play. I was managing some serious flaws and having gaps in between sessions led to the bad stuff coming out on course. 

I feel comfortable now rocking up out of the car and walking to the 1st tee and having a few air swings. It’s convinced me that the work to eliminate outlier flaws is key to removing the need to groove rhythm on the range. 

 

[SNIPERBBB]

Full game feels never really go away for me. It's the short game, under 50yds where shots are more about touch that goes away after a few weeks of inactivity.

[Dewdman42]

If I don’t hit every few days then it definitely will take me a session or two in order to get back into it.  Use it or lose it