Practice - how much do you do?

gman100

New to golf and want to get an idea of how much practice the guys playing off under 10 do each week?

Secondly, how do you structure your practice(range, golf course)? what drills do you do? how do you ensure that you maximise the benefit from every practice session?

I am a beginner and my goal is to get to a sub 10 handicap over 2 years so as much detail as possible would be great.

Thanks!

NoelAPM

as a Beginner thats an intense 2 years your setting yourself up for! I'd get a few lessons and a comfortable confident swing to work around before you go to mad practising drills and what have you

SuprSi

I'm off 6, and would play either 3 times a week or twice a week with one session in the range if I can't get to the course. All this is in the summer of course!

Smyth

As much as possible. Some weeks I make it out for 7 full rounds. I'm still pretty new to the whole thing so i'm quite addicted. The first thing I do in the morning before eating is swing a golf club.

I couldn't hit the ball straight for about a month and a half, so I have nightmares about not being able to swing anymore.

This is only part of the madness this sport has brought into my life.

I haven't entered any competitions yet. I'm waiting on my new clubs. I do play frequently with 6,4 and 3 handicappers so I've been pushed to learn very quickly.

So yeah. 20 mins swinging into a curtain set on top of a hedge outside in my garden. Another 40mins or so chipping with my wedges up and down the garden too. Spaced throughout the day in 10 minute sessions.

I'm a freelancer so I can afford this luxury.

The_Kew_Tour

Practise on your short game 70% of your practise on this area of game. Its important you have solid long game but your short game is where you can see real gains to your reduction on your handicap.

Also dont get caught up in the whole hitting it 300 yards instruction. Make sure first that you have good basics what I mean is good alignment, grip and set up.

I advise you to get least 2-3 lessons if you can get advice from fellow players about decent Pros in your area.

BUACHAILL

I have been lucky enough that in the last year I am a freelancer also so time is on my side. My weekly practice generally consists of 4-5 full rounds, one trip to the range to work on alignment,tempo etc, everyday practice putting be it in the house or at the course and generally when I am playing my rounds I will spend a half hour on top of that on my short game. All that said I am still not good enough ha, but I have recently added a lesson to that schedule every two weeks to keep me focused and on the right track.

This schedule has been up and running now 3-4 weeks and already a huge differnce in my game, on average to answer your question I spend about 25 hours a week on my golf and still only off 8, but its getting there.

Mr Titleist

Im off 12 and playing 5 nights a week at the moment........bout 12 holes each evening....although to be honest I would be better served playing one or two nights and spending the other 3 practicing chipping and bunker play etc etc...thats where it counts..

PhilipMarlowe

I went for my first lesson in ages recently with Jimmy Bolger and I should be practicing the drills he gave me a lot (to get width into my swing) but I haven't been able to due to injury (again)... just slipped out to 5 handicap. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't practice hardly at all... some little time on the putting & chipping green and if I did go to the practice area it would almost always be <50 yard wedges I'd hit. I have to balance my time golfing with family etc but then again I get bored quickly when practicing too.
Normally play once at the weekend and 9 holes mid-week. Anything else is a bonus.

If you're really keen to get good then the sooner you learn that scoring mostly depends on how good you are with your short game the better. Once your long game isn't destructive (hitting into trees etc) then you can score very well with a tidy short game.
Find a good (recommended) teaching pro to coach you and if you can at all, play some golf with guys (or girls) off low handicaps and watch how they manage their games. Course management is important to learn and although the good players are good ball strikers, they are often more aware of their limitations too and won't take on the risky shot every time, preferring to rely on getting up and down, which the best players do more often than not.

gman100

cheers for the info gents!

Jasonw

if you want to get down to single figures the most important thing to do is get some lessons. I was in a similar position when I started a few years ago. Started with a 16 handicap and after 6 months of not being able to play to it handed a pro enough money for 6 lessons up front.

First thing he did was correct my baseball grip. You'll never swing it right unless you grip it right. I took the lessons over 3 months of the winter. dropped to 12 that summer and down to 8 over the following summer.

What you're looking to achieve is possible but it's pointless practicing if you're only going to reinforce bad habits. Get some lessons and practice the right things.

Just my 2c

gman100

Jasonw wrote: »

if you want to get down to single figures the most important thing to do is get some lessons. I was in a similar position when I started a few years ago. Started with a 16 handicap and after 6 months of not being able to play to it handed a pro enough money for 6 lessons up front.

First thing he did was correct my baseball grip. You'll never swing it right unless you grip it right. I took the lessons over 3 months of the winter. dropped to 12 that summer and down to 8 over the following summer.

What you're looking to achieve is possible but it's pointless practicing if you're only going to reinforce bad habits. Get some lessons and practice the right things.

Just my 2c

Agreed, lessons the only way, lined up a few in Carton. I'm going to go once a month for as long as it takes.

Thanks for your input.