Practice Makes Perfect

Practice Makes Perfect

Right? Practice makes perfect is what everyone says so it has to be right.

Well, not if you’re doing it wrong. I like to say, “Practice Makes Permanent!” If you are practicing the wrong thing, you will end up with a very good “bad habit”.

To improve your golf game, it’s important to take time to work on problem areas, master what you’re already good at, and retain what you’ve learned. But, it’s how you go about your practice – in this case the duration and frequency – that can make the difference.

While it may make sense that the longer you practice, the better you’ll be, that’s not always the case. In fact, it’s much more beneficial to have shorter, more frequent practice sessions, than fewer, longer ones. The brain will learn the complicated movement patterns that the golf swing requires if your practice sessions are frequent and controlled to the point that you are working on ONE thing. Shorter practice times allow you to be more deliberate and mindful in your actions. Whereas, with a long session on the range, you run the risk of mindlessly swinging the club, and loosing focus on the one skill you’re trying to master.

I do believe that if you want to spend two hours at the practice range that you break up your time into 30 minutes putting, 30 minutes chipping, 30 minutes pitching, and 30 minutes full swing. You should have only one thought to work on for each part of your practice. That way you will get much better at that one thought instesd of confusing yourself with many.

So, shoot for frequent practices, but keep them short and to the point. A practice session of 30 minutes, 4 or 5 times a week, is ideal. Practice Makes Perfect is only true if you are practicing properly.