Driving to Success
Golf is a game that requires practice if you want to improve. Whenever you see a great player and you think it looks so natural and easy, bear in mind that they will have spent countless hours working on their games to make it 'appear' effortless.
In my eyes, golf requires a mixture of repetitive and variable practice. I'm going to discuss these two types of practice below and give you some ideas as to how you can improve your game using these methods.
Repetitive (Block) Practice
When you are learning a new skill, then you are going to have to repeat that movement many times, before it becomes automated. Unfortunately with golf, there is no short cut, no secret recipe to success; it's going to take discipline and dedication to become the best golfer you can be.
Repetitive practice sounds pretty straight forwards and logical, but the key is to work on the most effective things repetitively. Even though they are repetitive, most of these sessions do have a slight variability to them.
Below is an example of a repetitive practice session, based on hitting 100 range balls, working on pitching and approach play. Five minutes warm up. Practice swings, stretching etc. You should be fully warmed up and game ready, before hitting your first golf ball.
Pitching distance control - 10 balls to 50 yard target 10 balls to 75 yard target 10 balls to 100 yard target
Approach Play - 20 balls with 7 iron to target 20 balls with 5 iron to target 15 balls draw flight to target 15 balls fade flight to target
Variable Practice
To really practice the game of golf, you are going to have to do some variable practice. There are no second chances on the golf course, if you hit a bad shot you're going to have to deal with the consequences and play the ball from where it lies. As such, it's important that you do lots of variable practice, where you vary skill or distance after every shot. This is a more difficult way to practice as the results are seldom as good as they are with repetitive practice, but the more you do this then the better you will get.
5 balls to 50 yard target 5 balls to 75 yard target 5 balls to 100 yard target
2 balls to 50 yard target 2 balls to 75 yard target 2 balls to 100 yard target
1 balls to 50 yard target 1 balls to 75 yard target 1 balls to 100 yard target
1 ball to 30 yards 1 balls to 100 yard target 1 balls to 50 yard target 1 balls to 75 yard target
2 balls with 7 iron to target 2 balls with 5 iron to target 2 balls with 9 iron to target 2 balls with hybrid to target 2 balls with wedge to target 2 balls with Driver to target
1 balls with 8 iron to target 1 balls with 4 iron to target 1 balls with 3 wood to target 1 balls with hybrid to target 1 balls with wedge to target 1 balls with Driver to target.
Now play an imaginary round playing all shots until you would have been on the green. This should 'hopefully' take no more than 50 balls!
Play Better Golf
Whenever you see a good player strike an iron shot, they make a distinctively solid noise produced by the correct ball to turf contact. They do this by contacting the ball before the turf when the club is still travelling on its down swing. Many players mistake this with trying to hit down on the golf ball and as a result end up making they're downswing too steep, which can lead to many different errors.
The key is about controlling the low point of your swing and not the actual angle of attack. The more you can move the low point of your swing arc to the target side of the golf ball then the more your golf ball will be struck on the downswing BEFORE the club head reaches the ground. This controlling of the swings low point will naturally create the downward attack angle and crisp strike that we desire.
Today's drill will help you with your low point control. Firstly place a towel on the ground roughly 5 inches behind the ball. Now swing to the top of your backswing making a centred pivot. From the top of your backswing work on driving your body towards your target, this action will help transfer your weight onto your front foot and allow you to strike the ball without making any contact with the towel. If you hang back and don't correctly shift your weight, then your club head will strike the towel before the ball as your swing bottoms out early. This will be tricky at first, but with a bit of practice, you should see a big improvement.
Wednesday Junior Night starting Wednesday, 3 June
We're starting a junior's night every Wednesday from Wedesday, 3 June. This will be open to all junior season ticket holders. The session will run from 5pm-6pm and we'll be using the six hole short course where you'll be able to play round and learn to keep a score and try to beat your best score each week.
If you're not yet a Season Ticket holder, then it couldn't be easier to sign up. Application forms are available from the starters box or can be downloaded from our website.
Perth City Golf Championships
It's not long now till the first of this year's City Golf Championship events, so have you got your entry in?
These events are a great opportunity to come and play the North Inch and see how we've been improving the course. If you click on the links below, they will take you to a downloadable entry form and there is also some more information about each event.
Campbell & Dickson - Sunday, 7 June - 8.30am - 12 noon
Gent's 18 Hole Stroke Play (Scratch & Handicap); Click here for an entry form.
Cameron & Valentine Trophies - Wednesday, 10 & Friday, 12 June
Ladies 36 Hole Stroke Play (Scratch & Handicap); Click here for an entry form
Hay Robertson Trophy - 4 Man Team - Sunday, 21 June
Gent's Foursomes Stroke Play (Scratch); Click here for an entry form
Perth City Golf Championships are open to all golfers who play within the Perth & Kinross County Golf Union area. For more information about the City Golf Championships and to find out how to enter, please visit www.northinchgolf.co.uk/fixtures
Download an entry form by clicking here.
If you'd like more information on our range membership, then check out our website, give us a call on 01738 440678 or email info@noahsarkgolf.com.