Virginia Golfer September / October 2014 | Page 18

Your Game

Your swing thought for the day
should fit on a Post-it note.
Take the guesswork out of alignment
during practice sessions by laying a
club down on your foot line.

SEPARATE PRACTICE FROM
PREPARATION
There’s a big difference between honing
your game and getting ready for a round.
During practice sessions, you’re on the range
to work on something specific to your game
and perhaps learn a new technique.
Not so with preparation. Prior to getting
ready for a round, I try to avoid cluttering my
conscience with mechanical thoughts. I might
have one or two small little tidbits that I keep
in mind, but I could keep my swing thoughts
on a small Post-it note when I’m warming
up. During the State Open, my Post-it swing
thought was to swing my arms. My goal
during a pre-round session is to work on the
basic fundamentals of grip, aim, ball position
and routine. I also want to loosen up my golf
muscles and get a general sense of the swing
I brought to the course that day. A good rule
of thumb is that you want your last shot on
the practice range to be close to the opening
shot you want to hit on the first tee.
Practice is an entirely different ball game.
My best advice to amateurs who go to the
course to practice is to always, always, always
lay a club down on your foot line or opposite the golf ball to give you a sense of what
proper alignment looks and feels like. A high
majority of amateurs I play with during proams aim to the right of their target, leading
to compensatory moves during their swing.
Also, during practice sessions, limit
yourself to one, or at the most, two swing
thoughts. People who study learning tell
us that it takes 100 perfect repetitions for
30 straight days to ingrain a new technique.
It’s a safe bet you don’t have that kind
of time. But if you’re really trying to make
an effort to learn something new, I suggest
working on one new move (and none others)
at least three times a week for 15 minutes
for a month either on the range or in your
backyard. One final thought: If you’re at a
practice area trying to learn something new,
go to the far end of the range with your back
to other golfers. It’s easy to get off track by
watching other players between shots.

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VIRGINIA GOLFER | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

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