We are down to the final components of effective practice that can be seen every week on the European Tour, which I can tell you is the biggest R&D laboratory in golf. We’ve used some very clear pictures just how the pros go about trying to get better and how it can improve your golf. Let’s examine three more qualities that you can apply easily to your own game.
[styled_image image=”http://www.johnnyfostergolfacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/1.jpeg” w=”300″ h=”240″ link=”” lightbox=”yes” alt=”Bunker Practice” rel=”tour” align=”right”]Difficulty – the more we learn about the psychology of good practice, the sort that creates lasting improvements, the more we hear about making part of your practice more difficult than the game itself. I say ‘part’ because I don’t recommend you take all the enjoyment out of your practice time and make it impossible, but a portion should challenge yourself because that’s when we learn best – on the edge of our comfort zone. In Abu Dhabi, a hole was cut in the green that was significantly smaller than a regular hole. Holing out to this ‘mini hole’ would help narrow the focus and also the regular sized hole would appear larger when on the course for real. So have a think about what constraints you can place on your practice and enjoy the benefits of a difficult game appearing a little easier for once!
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[styled_image image=”http://www.johnnyfostergolfacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2.png” w=”300″ h=”240″ link=”” lightbox=”yes” alt=”Bunker Practice” rel=”tour” align=”left”]Utilising Technology – no matter what opinion you hold on the technological advances in golf, you can definitely harness it to your advantage. The keys are to have a purpose when utilising it and to work with someone who can really interpret the data. Trackman and Flightscope are two of the launch monitors available today which can deliver information about your club and ball characteristics. They provide the opportunity to gather how far you hit your clubs and offer some fun games to help ‘dial in’ your distance control, as well as being a valuable aid in your lessons. SAM PuttLab offers a similarly forensic look at the putting stroke and of course there’s a multitude of apps to help with your game. Just like Tiger is doing, I’d recommend a session on Trackman at some point in your practice if you can get access to it. It’ll give you some idea of how far you hit the ball and club data from impact if you are interested.
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[styled_image image=”http://www.johnnyfostergolfacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/3.jpeg” w=”300″ h=”240″ link=”” lightbox=”yes” alt=”Bunker Practice” rel=”tour” align=”right”]Fun – I’ve always believed that if you enjoy something, you’ll stick at it, and if you stick at it in the fashion that’s been suggested in these blogs, you’ll improve. So, my parting shot is to always design an element of fun into your practice time. You might be asking what room ‘fun’ has to play in making practice more difficult than the game or playing bunker shots out of foot prints, but if you love a challenge and understand the longterm process of improvement, you’ll have fun seeing how good you can become. I still relish the chance to experiment with new shots and then challenge my students to beat me as in Portugal with the NUIM scholars. That’s fun to me!
I’m certain that if you apply any or all of the nine practise ideas I’ve suggested here, you’re game will improve and that’s what it’s all about.
If you like any of these ideas and want to learn more, or are interested in our academy, please feel free to visit our website www.johnnyfostergolfacademy.com or contact us by email on info@johnnyfostergolfacademy.com
Thanks for reading and be sure to check out the next blog coming soon!
Good golfing,
Johnny.
