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Practice is overrated, and here’s why

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Let me be the first to say I loved to practice in my younger years. I couldn’t wait for the sun to rise so I could chip and putt, then hit balls all day at the range until there was an opening on the course to play. Now, however, I feel that practice is significantly overrated. In fact, I have come full circle from my past and believe that, at certain levels, it is more harmful than good in many circumstances. Therefore, in this article I would like to explain my thoughts so you too can practice less and score better.

In the old days, before we had technological feedback and data gathering resources, we had to practice all day just to figure out what worked and what didn’t. In fact, it was like a dartboard of fundamentals; you threw a dart, and that was your starting point to fix your ball flight. As time progressed, we had the advent of video and everyone became obsessed with the “look” of their swing and the “proper” positions. We all found a full-length mirror to rehearse over-and-over until we looked better, but did this ever really help our score?

Today, we have the advantages of video, 3D motion analysis, force plates, and Trackman; thus, we have all the tools necessary to instantly figure out the problem and where it is coming from.

Let me give you and example.

Let’s say you are fighting a slice and cannot figure out why; you do feel that the club is getting a touch “behind” you on the way back, but you cannot determine exactly what’s going wrong. If you were to get a lesson now, you would be hooked up on 3D motion analysis, shown on video, and proven by Trackman that you have a slight over rotation of your lead forearm on the backswing, and you’re putting the club in a laid-off position into the backswing causing you to swing from out-to-in a few degrees on the way down. This MRI of events gives you all the answers you need to know in order to improve, with NO inefficiency! Could you imagine if Hogan had access to all this data? He’d have cured his hook years earlier, and he may have won 100 tournaments in the end.

Now, let me put this into perspective in regard to my stance on practice being overrated. I once taught Pete Sampras how to play golf when I lived in California, and I asked him if tennis players worked on mechanics as much as golfers. His reply was that by the time you get to a certain age your mechanics are set and you have to work on the things that matter, such as footwork and timing. And the same thing is true with golfers. Once you get to a certain point as a player, more harm than good comes from standing on the practice range simply “banging” balls.

In fact, now that you can have a technology-driven lesson as in the example above, you can instantly know what piece of the puzzle to work on and, with the help of an instructor, how to accomplish the fix. After you’ve put in some work with a mirror in order to feel the correct positions and movements, your range time should be minimal. Once you have accomplished the new feeling, it’s time to take it to the course and see if it sticks. If not, then you need to do more rehearsals and hit a few more balls, and repeat. The point is to work smarter, reduce inefficiencies and stop mindlessly tinkering or beating balls without purpose.

After you’ve made the necessary golf-swing improvements, your goal should be to continue to learn how to score better and manage your game. Remember, the pencil and the scorecard is all that matters, NOT how your swing looks or how much time you spend on the range.

Tom F. Stickney II, is a specialist in Biomechanics for Golf, Physiology, and 3d Motion Analysis. He has a degree in Exercise and Fitness and has been a Director of Instruction for almost 30 years at resorts and clubs such as- The Four Seasons Punta Mita, BIGHORN Golf Club, The Club at Cordillera, The Promontory Club, and the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. His past and present instructional awards include the following: Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Golf Digest Top 50 International Instructor, Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor, Best in State (Florida, Colorado, and California,) Top 20 Teachers Under 40, Best Young Teachers and many more. Tom is a Trackman University Master/Partner, a distinction held by less than 25 people in the world. Tom is TPI Certified- Level 1, Golf Level 2, Level 2- Power, and Level 2- Fitness and believes that you cannot reach your maximum potential as a player with out some focus on your physiology. You can reach him at tomstickneygolf@gmail.com and he welcomes any questions you may have.

30 Comments

30 Comments

  1. Dan

    Sep 29, 2017 at 7:07 pm

    I guess I’m the only person on here who actually agrees with this.

    I took up golf 18 months ago. Played off 21, usually shooting mid-low 90’s on good days, troubling 3 digits on bad days. Used to go to the range once or twice a week, play full 18 once a week. Watch countless videos from Me and My Golf / Crossfield / Shiels / Finchy and showed no improvement.

    “Paralysis by analysis” is a phrase me and my usual four ball use. 1million swing thoughts. Hands forward, spine straight, ball position, hit down, hit up, in to out, out to in.

    I got a new job, and suddenly had no time to practice. Within about 3 months I’d dropped an average of 9 shots a round. Better ball striking. More GIR, more fairways, more up and downs.

    I’m now playing off 12, and playing to it constantly. Still yet to break 80, but I’m confident within the year i’ll be down to single figures.

    All that, in my opinion, is down to a massive reduction in practice. Beyond warming up I never go to the driving range. I share a bucket with my partners, hit a few chips, a few putts, and I’m done.

    Thoughtless, unstructured, unfocused ball bashing, and I’ve dropped my handicap by 9 shots.

    Granted, every WRX reader besides me hits it 300+ avg carry with a 5 wood off the deck with a slight draw into wind, putts 19 times a round and plays off +3, so I’m sure the game is a lot more complicated at that level.

    I’m just a simple mid handicapper who wants to hit it straight, and get around a course with more pars than bogeys.

  2. MAC

    Sep 26, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    THIS GUY CLEARLY DIDN’T REALIZE THAT I HAD ALL THE ANSWERS 30 YEARS AGO.

  3. Straylight

    Sep 26, 2017 at 5:59 pm

    There is a point here, if not artfully made. Assuming you have access to information, the “fix” is no longer a guessing game and you have a MUCH shorter path to better golf, without the guesswork and the inevitable rat holes. Moreover, there is a lot less bad information out there, particularly as Trackman analysis eliminates myth after myth. I do think repetition is still the best way to train the muscles and nerves to execute properly, however. Once you have the swing you want to groove, banging a few buckets engrains the learnings and vastly improves good contact. Thanks t also improves your ability to apply those nanoscopic changes to the swing that make a good shot great. Good, thought-provoking concept for the article.

  4. Kenny Buckland

    Sep 25, 2017 at 10:37 am

    I think the writer has access to some amazing golf analysis equipment that the masses don’t

  5. larrybud

    Sep 25, 2017 at 9:07 am

    “After you’ve made the necessary golf-swing improvements”

    Yeah, and there’s the rub… Even the pros haven’t done that.

    Everybody will max out their scoring ability eventually, and golf swing improvements will HAVE to be done to get better. In addition, a person’s body is not static. As we get older we’re less flexible, less strong, perhaps injuries have limited certain mobility, therefore a golf swing MUST change.

  6. Andrew Cooper

    Sep 25, 2017 at 8:12 am

    Tom, if you believe this then you’re deluding yourself. No great sportsperson (or musician or performer) hasn’t put the hours in honing their skills, usually from a very early age. The technology available today is brilliant for sure, but that super refined sense of feel and awareness for managing the clubface, swing path, dynamic loft, angle of attack, speed; putting it all together to produce the shot required in every unique situation? That can only be developed through years of repetition and trial and feedback.

  7. henry

    Sep 24, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    **Bad practice is overrated.

  8. DaveyD

    Sep 24, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    The gains I’ve made are due to working hard on my short game, from 100 yds to putting. I don’t see myself ever stopping that based on an opinion.

  9. Chris B

    Sep 24, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    It’s important to get the balance right between practicing and playing,but the best players in the world have always been the ones that work the hardest off the course. Just hitting balls or putting etc with no purpose or not working on anything is pointless. But good structured practice Woking towards a swing change or position change is essential to get better.

  10. Gary

    Sep 24, 2017 at 1:27 pm

    In response to Nack Jickaus, I too tend to play better after some time away.
    However, I do enjoy practicing.

  11. JEC

    Sep 24, 2017 at 10:31 am

    A bad golf swing can equal good scores…..

  12. JEC

    Sep 24, 2017 at 10:30 am

    Practice is overrated…..for those with great hand/eye coordination and natural ability. It still amazes me how the great players of the past ever played the game without Trackman and all the it other high tech gizmos……wait…..they practiced until they figured it out.

  13. cgasucks

    Sep 24, 2017 at 8:57 am

    Good practice makes perfect!

  14. Tim

    Sep 23, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    I will say, I have seen (and played with) guys at my old club who almost never practiced and would still play to a scratch or maybe a 2 handicap. However, these guys still played 4-5 days a week and had spent their younger years chiseling their technique in stone. I’ve also known and know some decent players (+ handicaps & a few on mini tours) and they would all laugh at this article. Sure there is something to be said for mental rehearsals and technology, but there can’t be anyone in golf that would agree with this, can there? Maybe if Bo Jackson had played golf…….

  15. chinchbugs

    Sep 23, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    You know the old adage… “footwork and timing (not practice) make perfect”

  16. Moses

    Sep 23, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    Just about every great golfer would disagree about your theory on practicing.

  17. Donald Trump Rules

    Sep 23, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    I never knew Huffington Post writers also wrote here at Golf WRX.

  18. Donald Trump Rules

    Sep 23, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    You will never get paid to play the game. Practicing is a waste of time. Just go play and have fun.

  19. Joe A

    Sep 23, 2017 at 4:45 pm

    I agree and disagree with this article.

    In terms of the long-game, I would agree that, with the modern tools available, there is a significantly less need to spend hours and hours hitting balls. Having lived through the last 20+ years as a competitive golfer practicing has become less about being on the range and more on the course. Now, I caveat this by saying that different people react differently to instruction and practice. And at different levels of skill, there is even more differentiation. But as someone who has played competitively (formerly on mini-tours and now as an amateur), I find myself in the same position as Mr Stickney says. It’s more about grooving the right feel and then taking it to the course, and less and less about spending a lot of time just hitting ball after ball. Unless I am working on a certain shot or ball-flight, I don’t spend a lot of time hitting full shots. I do my warm up and then work on putting and chipping. And this is the part I disagree with. Short-game and putting have to be practiced as much or more than when I first started playing competitively. It’s what separates good players from great players and average players from good players. And the only way you can become proficient at short-game shots and putting is a lot of practice.

    So while I agree that the current technology, in terms of things like Trackman and current methodology of instruction, is all about optimizing and making for more efficient practice, there is no substitution for getting better at the short game. You can derive a good technique, but technique is only as good as your ability to hit the ball a particular distance with a great deal of consistency. There is no way to gain the feel needed, other than “digging it out of the dirt” and spending the time it takes to gain the mastery necessary to be a better player.

  20. Sean

    Sep 23, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    I find practice to be beneficial. For example, I practice my short game incessantly and as a result have a pretty good short game. I don’t think all the technology in the world would help as much as simply practicing. I agree that once a golfer has a good, fundamental swing, he can direct his attention to other aspects of his game.

  21. Hogan

    Sep 23, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    “The more I practice the luckier I get!”

    • Mr. Replier Guy

      Sep 23, 2017 at 5:33 pm

      It’s hard to understand you, Mr. Hogan. Could you stop rolling over?
      THE…SECRET…IS…IN…THE…DIRT.

  22. gioreeko

    Sep 23, 2017 at 1:35 pm

    Dumbest article ever. Please don’t ever write another article. When I actually devoted time to practicing my short game, my weakest links, my scores dropped by a good ten strokes. Is practicing chipping, pitching and putting not considered practice? There’s more to practicing than merely smacking a bucket of balls. Practice makes perfect..

  23. Guia

    Sep 23, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    Obviously, if you don’t practice correctly and with purpose beating balls is a waste of time.

  24. alfriday

    Sep 23, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    The article equates practice with “standing on the practice range simply ‘beating’ balls” and “mindlessly tinkering or beating balls without purpose.” Interesting definition of practice.

  25. Nack Jicklaus

    Sep 23, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    I tend to have some of my best rounds after I haven’t touched a club for weeks or months. I usually just screw myself up up when I try to practice. The only practice I really do nowadays is to chip in the backyard.

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: Beating the yips into submission

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There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.

And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.

But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.

When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.

Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.

For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!

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Instruction

Looking for a good golf instructor? Use this checklist

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Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.

Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.

If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.

1. Cultural mindset

What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!

It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.

2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling

Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.

3. Learning theory basics

It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.

As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.

So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!

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What Lottie Woad’s stunning debut win teaches every golfer

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Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.

The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).

But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.

Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)

Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.

What Woad did:

• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances

• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins

• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets

• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”

Why most golfers mess this up:

• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”

• Distance becomes more important than accuracy

• They try to be heroic instead of smart

ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.

The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire

Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.

How she responded to pressure:

• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th

• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys

• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th

• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked

What amateurs do wrong:

• Get conservative when they should be aggressive

• Try to force magic when steady play would win

• Panic when someone else makes a move

ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.

Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game

Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.

Her mental approach:

• Focused on her process, not the competition

• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)

• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”

Her physical execution:

• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)

• Methodical iron play

• Steady putting

• Everything effective, nothing spectacular

ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.

Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built

The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”

Her winning mindset:

• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself

• Focused on playing well and contending

• Made winning a byproduct of a good process

• Built confidence through recent experiences:

  • Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
  • Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
  • Each experience prepared her for the next

What this means for you:

• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up

• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine

• Commit to every shot

• Stay present in the moment

ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.

The Real Lesson

Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.

The fundamentals that won:

• Hit more fairways

• Find more greens

• Make the putts you should make

• Stay patient under pressure

That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.

FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.

 

PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.

 

Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!

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