How do pros practice?

[CardsChamps11]

Something I want to do better this year is improve my practice quality in hopes it might lead to some improved play.

 

How do pros typically practice on off weeks versus tournament weeks? Are they structuring their practice in certain ways? The only person I ever remember seeing a breakdown of their day was Tiger a long time ago. 

[MonteScheinblum]

1 hour ago, CardsChamps11 said:

Something I want to do better this year is improve my practice quality in hopes it might lead to some improved play.

 

How do pros typically practice on off weeks versus tournament weeks? Are they structuring their practice in certain ways? The only person I ever remember seeing a breakdown of their day was Tiger a long time ago. 

Everyone is different. However, here are things pros do that most ams don’t.

 

1.  Pros separate movement pattern particle from result oriented practice.

2.  Pros hit fewer full shots, especially drivers.

3.  Pros practice on the golf course.  Not playing for score that often.

4.  Pros don’t shotgun balls and take breaks during sessions to allow mental focus to remain fresh.

 

[Chunkitgood]

Pros practice a lot…when they are kids.  Does what they do as adults relate in any way to what any normal person should do to get better (which usually means learn the very basics of a proficient swing, which the pro learned as a child)?

 

I have my doubts.

[MonteScheinblum]

Yea because NBA players learned to be elite as kids and no rec player got anything out of shooting free throws, endless jumpers and working on coordination with their off hand.  

[golferdude54]

28 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Yea because NBA players learned to be elite as kids and no rec player got anything out of shooting free throws, endless jumpers and working on coordination with their off hand.  

 

Steph Curry said he had to change his shooting form completely in high school. He used to shoot from the shoulders instead of above his head, and he'd gotten blocked every time by taller players with that release point.

 

His dad Dell, who was also an NBA player, worked with him on his shot one summer and wouldn't let him shoot outside the paint in practice the whole summer and when he did play competitive AAU games, he basically missed every shot outside the paint that he tried, which frustrated him to no end but he kept at it.

 

Finally, he was able to change his release point to a higher one and a quicker one at that, and now he's the NBA all-time 3 point shooter and still hitting nothing but net!

[95124hacker]

With a $30k Trackman from behind & a $18k GC Quad face on.

[ferrispgm]

Not quite what you asked but I have made steady progress every year doing the following.  If you want to get better.....find a good instructor to see what you need to work on first.  Then:

 

When you hit balls, work on mostly smaller swings hitting the ball like 2/3 normal distance or less.  If you can't make the movement with little speed, you have almost a 0% chance of doing it at full speed.  Most of my range time is spent hitting 9 iron 100-120 yards, 7 iron 130-140 etc.  Then once I hit those really well consistently, I mix in some full swings. I will hit maybe 5 drivers per weekend at most.

 

Play some rounds working on the feel of what it is you are trying to accomplish, regardless of score

 

Don't give up on making a change because you aren't hitting it well for a few weeks.  Oftentimes I have found that I hit it really well after a period of struggling to make a change. Be patient and don't expect that you will be striping it 3 weeks after a lesson.

 

Quality of practice is more important than quantity.  Personally, I only have Sat/Sun to hit balls or play.  Sometimes, I only spend an hour on the range because I lose focus or I'm just not feeling it that day.  But while you are there, try to focus on making the movement better.  If you start getting frustrated and can't focus, stop.  If you find yourself just beating balls, stop. 

 

 

[iacas]

Somewhat like this…

 

 

Slow. Exaggerated. With breaks (every five balls today). With alignment aids.

[naval2006]

14 hours ago, Chunkitgood said:

Pros practice a lot…when they are kids.  Does what they do as adults relate in any way to what any normal person should do to get better (which usually means learn the very basics of a proficient swing, which the pro learned as a child)?

 

I have my doubts.

I agree the better players mostly learn the game as kids but they practice a lot as they get their game and as grown up golfers. There’s no magic in good golf: loads of practice is the answer, at any level. 
 

I’ve known a few cases of adults who took up the game and became very good golfers through a lot of practice and determination. There’s a couple of club champions in my area that I can recall. 

[Long_Left]

Pros actually "practice." Most amateurs don't, they "go to the range" or "go hit some chips."

 

Practice has a goal, and a plan and intent to achieve that goal over a timeline. The goal is, typically, set by understanding weaknesses, PGAT Pros have their stats tracked for them, most other tours don't, but they know where they need work. The Plan is formulated by a professional coach, and the intent is to get better to make more money and collect more trophies.  Movement change, start line, contact pattern, shape etc. There are some very solid resources out there, books (Adam Young's "The Practice Manual" is great), podcasts, youtube...

 

Volume of practice varies widely among touring pros and "elite" players. Vijay was a reported grinder, Brooks says he never practices.

 

Just because I have to. There are too many amateur players who believe that you can "dig it out of the dirt" or "10,000 hours" or "swing your swing" and a bunch of other commonly held beliefs that have zero grounding in reality. Figuring out how to "practice" makes you a better player. I still "go to the range" for stress relief and to see buddies when I don't have enough time to play, but my time spent practicing is based on where I'm losing the most strokes compared to my target skill level with a goal to achieve.

 

 

[me05501]

It is interesting to see how the short game captivates top pros. They'll sometimes glaze over when discussing their full swing game, but when it comes to getting up and down they seem to relish the challenge and love the experimentation. 

 

We'd all be smart to follow that example. 

[doctor220]

On 4/1/2024 at 2:20 AM, Chunkitgood said:

Pros practice a lot…when they are kids.  Does what they do as adults relate in any way to what any normal person should do to get better (which usually means learn the very basics of a proficient swing, which the pro learned as a child)?

 

I have my doubts.

Yes…. If you want to get good at golf , you would do what professional golfers do. There is no secret sauce that magically works for pros that wouldn’t work for you…. 

[nitram]

3 hours ago, me05501 said:

It is interesting to see how the short game captivates top pros. They'll sometimes glaze over when discussing their full swing game, but when it comes to getting up and down they seem to relish the challenge and love the experimentation. 

 

We'd all be smart to follow that example. 

 

But . . . But . . . doesn't the "Strokes Gained" doctrine tell us that the short game doesn't matter anymore?

[me05501]

1 minute ago, nitram said:

 

But . . . But . . . doesn't the "Strokes Gained" doctrine tell us that the short game doesn't matter anymore?

 

🙂

 

In my limited experience talking with touring pros it seems widely accepted that having a great full swing game is just table stakes. If you didn't have that you wouldn't be out there. 

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, me05501 said:

🙂

 

In my limited experience talking with touring pros it seems widely accepted that having a great full swing game is just table stakes. If you didn't have that you wouldn't be out there. 

 

Driving and Approach Shots still provides the most Separation Value® between players at every level of the game (in general).

 

Absent a glaring weakness, it should comprise most of your practice. Which… you'll see from most Tour players, too: they spend most of their time working on the full swing (and distance wedges, which the Tour might call short game occasionally, but which are shorter "full swing motion" type shots).

 

Edited April 3 by iacas

[gentles]

16 minutes ago, nitram said:

 

But . . . But . . . doesn't the "Strokes Gained" doctrine tell us that the short game doesn't matter anymore?

 

Can you tell me off the top of your head who the top 10 putters are on tour? 

 

What about the top 10 ballstrikers?

[nitram]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:48 PM, gentles said:

 

Can you tell me off the top of your head who the top 10 putters are on tour? 

 

What about the top 10 ballstrikers?

 

Looked at this the other day to see where Scheffler ranked in putting and surprisingly he's second to Nick Dunlap and followed by Spieth. Now the other 7, nah and don't see the relevance As far as ball striking, I saw where Scheffler was 4th behind Mitchell, Yo and Conners. Again, can't tell you the other 6 nor the relevance.

 

I'm not saying SG isn't important to seeing where an individual compares to the competition, and where to focus ones efforts. But the ability to turn 3 or more shots into 2 from 70 yards and in cannot be dismissed. I don't care how good a ball striker you are or if you're leading the tour in SGA. You're gonna miss a green or three in a round. Everyone needs the ability to get it up and down.

 

Edited April 5 by nitram

[gentles]

8 minutes ago, nitram said:

 

Looked at this the other day to see where Scheffler ranked in putting and surprisingly he's second to Nick Dunlap and followed by Spieth. Now the other 7, nah and don't see the relevance As far as ball striking, I saw where Scheffler was 4th behind Mitchell, Yo and Conners. Again, can't tell you the other 6 nor the relevance.

 

scheffler is the best ball striker since tiger woods - not sure where you’re getting your stats from? 
 

 

[MonteScheinblum]

It’s cut and dried.  The guys who hit it better are better players.  A hot short game is big in 2 cases.

 

1.  If it’s terrible, you’re below you’re pay grade.

 

2.  On a given day the hot short game wins between equal players.

 

It’s a fact, better golfers hit it better.  
 

Now if your blading and chunking pitches, leaving it in the bunker and 3 putting from 15 feet, yea, you need to work on your short game.

 

However, if yiu want to get from a 12 to 8, 8 to 5, 5 to 2, 2 to scratch, you need to hit it better.

 

The guy at your club who stripes it and shoots 80 and the guy that wipes it and shoots par being expectations.  
 

Not many Hale Irwin’s

[iacas]

2 hours ago, MonteScheinblum said:

It’s cut and dried.  The guys who hit it better are better players.  A hot short game is big in 2 cases.

 

1.  If it’s terrible, you’re below you’re pay grade.

 

2.  On a given day the hot short game wins between equal players.

 

It’s a fact, better golfers hit it better.  
 

Now if your blading and chunking pitches, leaving it in the bunker and 3 putting from 15 feet, yea, you need to work on your short game.

 

However, if yiu want to get from a 12 to 8, 8 to 5, 5 to 2, 2 to scratch, you need to hit it better.

 

The guy at your club who stripes it and shoots 80 and the guy that wipes it and shoots par being expectations.  
 

Not many Hale Irwin’s

 

Yeah. It's not like we don't have plenty of stats on this stuff.

[Santiago Golf]

3 hours ago, MonteScheinblum said:

It’s cut and dried.  The guys who hit it better are better players.  A hot short game is big in 2 cases.

 

1.  If it’s terrible, you’re below you’re pay grade.

 

2.  On a given day the hot short game wins between equal players.

 

It’s a fact, better golfers hit it better.  
 

Now if your blading and chunking pitches, leaving it in the bunker and 3 putting from 15 feet, yea, you need to work on your short game.

 

However, if yiu want to get from a 12 to 8, 8 to 5, 5 to 2, 2 to scratch, you need to hit it better.

 

The guy at your club who stripes it and shoots 80 and the guy that wipes it and shoots par being expectations.  
 

Not many Hale Irwin’s

 

And probably the guy who 'stripes' and shoots 80 could easily turn that into a low 70 to even sub 70 (if they can putt) ... just with a little DECADE planning and learning one short game shot 

 

I will say, if you just take a lesson and ask to learn how to hit one shot around the green and commit to it ... short game is not that difficult.

 

Though after the coach shows you how to the 'one shot' ... the next question should be how to control the distance. That is by far one aspect of short game that is not most by most local coaches and the main reason I see people struggle around the green. 

[PedronNiall]

Used to be a good series on TGC where they'd show a pro's daily life. Wish that was something that still got run as the guys were pretty open about exactly what they do and how long they spend on each element at different times. 

 

The guys who were middle of the road tended to be less strict. The guys who had multiple wins including more prestigious events tended to have the routines you see of 99% of those at the top in other sports, one with no off switch. Akshay was commenting today about how after Padraig missed the cut last week he was on the green putting for two hours or more; he'd just won the week before that. Tiger is known for how he used to live for the game. Vijay. Phil. Hogan. Plenty of others at the top in one era or another are legendary for the amount of time they spent practicing. 

 

Most of the guys who are the Kobe/Jordan/Bird analogs of golf have a focus on practice they just can't turn off the same way the G.O.A.T.s anywhere else couldn't. On specific routines, how many balls any pro hits clearly depends on where they are and what works for them. Tiger sometimes hit 20 or 30 and called it a day and sometimes made the closing shots from an event as he continued to beat balls into the twilight. Vijay is a notorious range rat. Phil and Padraig at their peak both seemed to obsessively work on every part of their game, though Phil appeared to heavily favor 100 yards an in. Not a great by any means, but someone like Gainey who was trying to make up for a lifetime of missed reps beat balls like crazy until he got his swing honed then from the impression I got eased back a bit once he made the big show. 

 

99% of the pros have been playing since childhood so they have the luxury of having the basic technique locked in. Most of them smacked balls and played sun up to sundown as kids when their bodies could handle miscues without issue and now have the luxury of a lot more freedom to focus on refinement & retention rather than instilling the basics. 

 

It's fun to talk anecdotes here, but if you really want specifics for certain players you're better off reading any of the detailed write ups available for most of them. You can also find full range & other practice session videos for many top players along with interviews where they talk through what they do at different parts of the year. We are drowning in insights that weren't available even a decade or two ago so I'd avail myself of that if following those routines is what I really had in mind. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Santiago Golf said:

And probably the guy who 'stripes' and shoots 80…

 

These guys almost don't exist. I mean, I'm sure there are some out there, but people love to concoct all sorts of things in their mind in an attempt to make their point.

 

As we know, the "full swing" (driving and approach shots) separate two levels of player by about 67%. The short game and putting is about 33% of the separation. Now, that is an average, and we all know averages are just that — they're not everyone.

But, again, the exceptions to the level of a guy that "stripes it" but can't chip or putt well enough to break 80 are pretty rare. As you go on to say, the short game and putting is relatively simple compared to the full swing… odds are, a guy who "stripes it" can figure out how to have one or two basic short game shots and to roll a ball with a putter.

 

I'm not saying there aren't any exceptions anywhere, only that they're rare. And using this rare (and made up) fictional golfer to prove your point… nah.

 

1 hour ago, Santiago Golf said:

I will say, if you just take a lesson and ask to learn how to hit one shot around the green and commit to it ... short game is not that difficult.

 

Right, it's not that difficult… which is why he probably already does it.

 

I've seen for decades now golfers who say stuff like "I'm a great ball striker, play a little draw, but chipping and putting hold me back." They come in with a janky swing, hit pull-draws when they're not hitting push-cuts, contact is bad… and their definition of "good ball striker" seems to be "the ball goes in the air every time I swing at it." They're a 14 because their ballstriking is terrible, not because they can't chip or putt. They hit two greens a round, chip it to eight feet from the horrible spot their 7I from the right rough put them, and then miss the putt and blame their chipping and putting because their two previous shots got in the air and went kinda in the right direction.

 

Very few players are the outliers they often think they are… or they wouldn't be outliers, and the stats wouldn't be what they are.

[KevCannon]

Just to make a sorta blanket statement because it seems like a type of question like this pops up a cpl times per week —- worrying about what Tour Pros do or don’t do, and watching some random video on youTube about copying “Scotty or Rory’s move” , is not how to get better. Your golf game/swing is YOURS and yours alone. Point being that everybody has different movement patterns, limitations, feels, strengths/weaknesses, etc.. if you are able to find a good coach and can afford a few lessons, that’s probably the best starting point for vast majority. Trying to copy Tour Pros is usually a bad idea, if you are just curious about the overall structure of a practice session, remember that it is structured for that player for a reason. 

[MonteScheinblum]

4 hours ago, Santiago Golf said:

 

And probably the guy who 'stripes' and shoots 80 could easily turn that into a low 70 to even sub 70 (if they can putt) ... just with a little DECADE planning and learning one short game shot 

 

 

Not a chance

[Soloman1]

decade doesn’t hit any balls.

 

”everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” - philosopher mike tyson.

 

back to the op’s question, a concert pianist didn’t become one by winging it before they attained that level. and their practice once they became one is different.

 

in the rarified air of tour pros, it’s, many times, fine tuning some specific thing in the tangled spaghetti of golf.

 

for the recreational player, it’s more basic. starting with practicing the clubs you hate instead of your favorite club is a good idea.

 

you have to have a goal for what it is you’re practicing. a good instructor who explains the goal, why and the movement to accomplish it will dramatically reduce the time to get there.

 

if you think you can do it all on your own, you would have figured it out by now.

 

one thing at a time, succeed, then a new goal for the next thing.

 

i know this is simple stuff, but simple is hard to do. complicated is easy.

[doctor220]

20 hours ago, nitram said:

 

Looked at this the other day to see where Scheffler ranked in putting and surprisingly he's second to Nick Dunlap and followed by Spieth. Now the other 7, nah and don't see the relevance As far as ball striking, I saw where Scheffler was 4th behind Mitchell, Yo and Conners. Again, can't tell you the other 6 nor the relevance.

 

I'm not saying SG isn't important to seeing where an individual compares to the competition, and where to focus ones efforts. But the ability to turn 3 or more shots into 2 from 70 yards and in cannot be dismissed. I don't care how good a ball striker you are or if you're leading the tour in SGA. You're gonna miss a green or three in a round. Everyone needs the ability to get it up and down.

 

? What . Scheffler is an average putter statistically who struggles to below average sometimes. He is currently around 100th on tour in SG putting and is basically neutral. He wins by incredible striking. 
 

No tour pro has a bad short game but the #1 ball striker on tour is a money printing machine while the #1 putter often struggles to keep their card. It is pretty hard to miss cuts as the #1 ball striker on tour. 
 

no one is saying to not spend any time on your wedges but most of the time should be on longer shots and putting 

[Pepperturbo]

On 4/1/2024 at 12:54 AM, 95124hacker said:

With a $30k Trackman from behind & a $18k GC Quad face on.

Truth 😛

 

[Shilgy]

On 4/5/2024 at 2:44 PM, nitram said:

 

Looked at this the other day to see where Scheffler ranked in putting and surprisingly he's second to Nick Dunlap and followed by Spieth. Now the other 7, nah and don't see the relevance As far as ball striking, I saw where Scheffler was 4th behind Mitchell, Yo and Conners. Again, can't tell you the other 6 nor the relevance.

 

I'm not saying SG isn't important to seeing where an individual compares to the competition, and where to focus ones efforts. But the ability to turn 3 or more shots into 2 from 70 yards and in cannot be dismissed. I don't care how good a ball striker you are or if you're leading the tour in SGA. You're gonna miss a green or three in a round. Everyone needs the ability to get it up and down.

 

Was that for that event only?  Your SG stats are waaay off.