Goal Orientated Practice

I have seen more players in the last 3 years that come into the golf shop and say "can I have 4 tokens or 4 bags of balls?" 30 minuets later, "can I get 2 more tokens or bags of balls?" My point is, too many players are hitting balls; just to hit balls. This kind of rapid fire practice would be like practicing running a mile without timing it. How do you know you got better? I would love to see more golfers set goals for themselves when they enter a practice session. Things like...

Get alignment down,

Develop a routine,

Lighten grip pressure,

Shorten swing,

Increase shoulder turn,

Hit 10 balls inside 10 feet of a flag...etc.

I read an article once that said Vijay Singh took 1 min to hit 2 golf balls when he practiced. That's 30 seconds per shot. So if my math is correct, a typical small bag of range balls is 30 balls. It should take a player at least 15-25 min to hit 3o shots on the range. Think about what you doing when you are hitting balls, get rid of "aimless" practice and develop goal orientated practice to help you get better.

Some Mental Thoughts on Putting

Putting sometimes can be more mental than physical. Whenever I find myself in a putting slump I refer back to Dr. Bob Rotella's books. I have read all of Dr. Bob's books and strongly recommend them to any golfer looking to improve mentally. Just for fun, I want to give you my top 10 of Rotella's Rules for Putting from his book Putting out of Your Mind.

1. The putting game is the place to look if you want to gain a competitive advantage.


2. You need to Love putting.


3. There is nothing worse than dwelling on the putts you've missed.


4. To gain control, you must give up control.


5. Putt to make it.


6. More often then not, anger is the enemy of focus.


7. You already have touch. You have to believe in it and use it.


8. If you think the putter you are using will help you, it probably will.


9. There is no perfect way to roll the ball.


10. Practice in ways that build confidence.