Yesterday I went out to play nine holes. That might not sound like an earth-shaking statement, but because my immune system is compromised I haven’t played, except for a few rounds on an executive course, since February of last year.<\/p>\n
I have been practicing all along, and can hit the ball pretty well, but that is different than playing. Which is the subject today’s post.<\/p>\n
What I have been practicing are the mechanics the swinging the golf club, chiping, and putting. But I had not been practicing the act of making a golf shot. Those are two very different things.<\/p>\n
When we complain that we can’t play like we practice, not understanding that difference, I believe, is the likely cause.<\/p>\n
When we hit a shot on the golf course we have to pay attention to these things:
\n– Focus our mind what we are about to do
\n– Decide where we’re going to hit the ball to
\n– In many cases, decide how we’re going to hit it
\n– Decide which club we’re going to use
\n– Set up: grip, aim, stance, posture, ball position
\n– And finally, hit the shot.<\/p>\n
Do you practice all of that at the range? Or just the last one, hitting one ball after another?<\/p>\n
If practice is just ball-striking, we are not preparing ourselves to play the game.<\/p>\n
Yesterday I hit five bad shots that turned a 40 into a 46. None of them were the fault of bad ball-striking. The fault was in not paying attention to the things that surround ball-striking, because I hadn’t practiced them enough.<\/p>\n
I know how to do everything on that list. But I had not practiced doing those things enough, and in sequence, so they had become habits. I would forget to do one or two, or not do them correctly.<\/p>\n
If you just want to go out and bat the ball around and have fun in a pleasant surrounding with your friends, go right ahead. There is value in that.<\/p>\n
But if you want to shoot low scores, you need to practice in such a way that you make a habit of all of golf. Not just the hitting-the-ball part.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday I went out to play nine holes. That might not sound like an earth-shaking statement, but because my immune system is compromised I haven’t played, except for a few rounds on an executive course, since February of last year. I have been practicing all along, and can hit the ball pretty well, but that … Continue reading Take Your Course Game to the Range<\/span>