Perfect Practice

[SNIPERBBB]

You're making this way more complicated/misunderstanding the idea. Its simply an admonishment that you dont get better just by practicing; it tries to destroy the nonsense of "practice makes perfect". Lot of people practice at golf but aren't going to get any better because their practice is ingraining bad habits especially when considering the deceptive results given by hitting off mats, hitting to a wide open range with no regards to alignment, not putting any pressure on yourself to achieve a certain result with each swing( like land he ball just short of the blue flag with a baby draw starting just off the right side of the green)and/or the consistency of their swing results.

 

Again, its not just some practice strategy that someone has created that is the "perfect practice". What works for one person won't work for another. If you see my practice sessions, they'll look more like someone just machine gunning balls down range.

[MountainGoat]

Thanks, again. I ordered the two books you recommended, but I'm hip deep in Adam Young's book, so it's too late to pull out now. I think I understand where he's going and, if so, it's very consistent with my own experience. @SNIPERBBB -- You'll have to excuse me, but I'm a scientist by disposition, training and profession. Separating supposedly wise aphorisms from reality is what I do for a living. It's the one service I provide to the world, but it makes me intensely annoying to most people. In the case at hand, the phrase "perfect practice" is often interpreted to mean that the student should repeat the idealized move every time, over and over, until it is engrained in "muscle memory". Some people recommend doing it super slowly, if necessary. 10,000 is frequently cited as the number of required repetitions. Others, like Dave Pelz, have said 20,000 times. Every professional golf lesson I've every had has followed this general methodology. If I understand where Adam Young is going, he's saying that this is exactly wrong. The student should be broadening experience, not narrowing it. He applying contemporary learning theory to build off concepts I first encountered in "The Inner Game of Golf" 30 or so years ago. The idea that a golf swing is something to be discovered, not dictated, is far more consistent with my personal history than the traditional 'repetition of perfection' approach. This strikes me as not being a small distinction.

[ballpilot]

Love practicing so called 'imperfections', it's perfect in every way. Folks think slicing is bad, it's not, unless it's a surprise. Keep on chooglin'

[ballpilot]

Wrong to learn by Adam Young sounds terrific on the surface. Don't know much about him, or his work.

10,000 to 20,000 repetitions for learning to find mastery sounds like gibberish from someone not very well connected with reality, on drugs, or both.

 

[robrey85]

This is a good opportunity for me to put my potential practice routine down on paper.

I haven't had a consistent practice routine for awhile but I am moving to the 4a to 12p shift next week and am planning to practice/play after work 2-4 times a week with the new schedule. Previously, when I was practicing consistently I liked to play games while practicing. To me, that seems the most effective way to incorporate perfect practice with having fun and keeping it most like the course. I just wish I had more buddies to play these games with, hah.10-40 - You have one ball, play eighteen holes with a different putt each time. Start with a ten footer, then a forty footer and rotate. One putting is worth a -1, two putt is 0 and three putt+ is +1, adding any additional strokes as well. The idea is to simulate short and long putts while maintaining your pre-shot routine like you're on the course. Three to five under is a good score. My best is a -5 with 0 three putts.Ten - You have one ball, putt ten footers until you reach the score of 10. Each putt has to be a different hole and a different line. Putting the ball short of the hole is -1, passed the hole is 0, making the putt is 1 and three putting is -3. The idea for this game is that by putting the ball passed the hole, you're always giving your ball a chance to go home. Another great game for practicing ten footers.30-40-50-60 - Setup a tee box and then a tee at thirty, forty, fifty and sixty feet out. You have three balls.

For short game I never really had a practice routine. I would just try to get up and down from different places around the short game practice area, putting everything out and switching up my targets. Thinking about this now, I am going to do some research and see what kind of games I can incorporate into my practice.

For my long game I always just focused on swing thoughts and new feelings I was trying to incorporate into my golf swing with an occasional mental game of golfing on the range. I'd play the course in my head on the range hitting my tee shot, then my approach, wedge/short game shot if I hit a bad approach, etc...

After my last lesson the other day, I am going to be focusing on execution of shot shapes instead of trying to get my arms and hips to do X or whatever. Internal vs external focus.