Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
1
Contents 1.0 Why practice?
2.0 Time for a more systematic approach
2.1 Golf State of Mind (GSoM) Colors
3.0 Where do you start?
4.0 Set yourself a goal
5.0 Types of Practice
5.1 Block practice
5.2 Random practice
5.3 Competitive skills practice
6.0 Long Game Competitive Skills Practice
6.1 “Down the middle” driving drill
6.2 The narrowing fairway driving drill
6.3 Three fairways driving challenge
6.4 Increasing arousal further
6.5 Shot routine practice
6.6 Course strategy practice: The “Good Miss” drill
6.7 Course strategy practice: narrow your focus
7.0 Long Game Random Practice
7.1 Same club to different distances using only tempo
7.2 Same club, 4 distances for improving distance control
7.3 Same target 3 clubs
7.4 Rating your swing by tempo
7.5 Distance control drill
2
7.6 Rhythm, Tempo and Balance practice
7.7 Building a shot library and practicing the “Nine Shots”
7.8 “Just hit it” drill
7.9 Alternating between PW and driver
7.10 Tension free grip drill
7.11 Distance control (use 3 wedges for 9 different distances)
8.0 Short Game Competitive Skills Practice
8.1 Up and down drill
8.2 “Beat 15”
8.3 Hole out drill
8.4 Bunker drill
8.5 Slam dunk drill
8.6 Chip and run drill
8.7 The “Par 18” game
8.8 20 ball drill
9.0 Short Game Random Practice Drills
9.1 Get it to the hole drill
9.2 Proximity to the hole drill
9.3 Club selection drill
9.4 The penny drill
9.5 Box drill
9.6 Old umbrella drill
9.7 Outcome and process visualization
9.8 The “look and react” drill
3
10.0 Putting Competitive Skills Drills
10.1 Pull back drill
10.2 A great feel drill
10.3 In a line - short putting drill
10.4 Phil Mickelson’s Circle (short putts)
10.5 N-S-E-W (short putts)
10.6 Putting - repetition and routine
10.7 Lag putting drill
10.8 Box drill for lag putting
10.9 Tornado drill
10.10 Makes drill
10.11 The 3, 4, 5 drill
10.12 The 80 putts drill
10.13 Extended clock drill
10.14 Drawbacks
11.0 Putting Random Skills Drill
11.1 Putt to the fringe to warm up distance control
11.2 Putt to a tee
11.3 Practice your routine
11.4 The sound of success
11.5 Putting with your right-hand
11.6 Chalk line drill
11.7 Keeping your head still
11.8 Tiger’s right hand drill
11.9 Getting the ball beyond the hole.
4
11.10 Putting while looking at the hole
11.11 Guess the distance drill
11.12 Green reading distance drill
11.13 Alignment drill
11.14 Visualization practice
11.15 Improving balance
5
1.0 Why practice?
Time is precious. It needs to be used as wisely as possible, and this
includes the time you spend practicing. If you’re like the majority of the
golfers, you visit the practice range with no real plan and no way to
determine whether what you are doing is taking you closer to your goals.
It’s time to change this.
2.0 Time for a more systematic approach
Practicing by hitting one ball after another on the driving range, without
any real purpose is meaningless and uninspiring. For my students,
practice is focused, challenging and simulates the scenarios you get
faced with on the course. It’s Effective Practice.
Effective Practice is about ingraining movements and thought processes
to memory, which can be recalled in future situations. It’s about creating
habits, so you can unconsciously and automatically perform them on
demand, especially under pressure.
I like to start a meeting with a new student with a simple question:
What do you want to get out of golf? Do you want to become as good as
you can be?
2.1 Golf State of Mind (GSoM) Colors
GSoM Colors – how can you make your short game practice more
challenging, more effective and yes, more fun?
6
We have come up with a simple and yet massively impactive idea to
help to improve your analysis of your practice to help you to build in
challenge and consequences, as well as increasing the fun factor.
Traditionally and whatever our standard as a player, we have used white
balls. We think that by simply moving to using colored balls and using
our tried and tested practice drills, we can help you make your practice
sessions significantly more meaningful.
We have worked with both players and PGA professionals to test GSoM
Colors with our practice drills and we are really confident that this can
help everyone get more from their practice sessions AND you can try it
with your putting drills as well!
You will see where we have suggested using the GSoM Colors concept,
but don’t just use our ideas, come up with your own and send them into
me at [email protected] and I’ll include them on our
Facebook page.
3.0 Where do you start?
If you had 1 or 2 hours to practice today, what would you do? Your
answer to this questions would give me a good insight into your “Golf
I.Q.” The trouble is, most golfers like to practice what they are already
good at, not what needs to get better.
In order to practice most effectively, it’s important to know where your
game is, right now and where you would like it to go. You need to ask
yourself some important questions.
What do you need to work on and how should you distribute your time?
7
Like a business that wants to increase profit margins, you need to make
use of data to formulate a strategy and a plan. It’s hard to do this if you
don’t have data on your past performances.
If you don’t currently keep stats, there are many great tools to choose
from. We particularly recommend www.gamegolf.com and we work in
partnership with them on helping players get the most from using their
data to improve their game.
The more data you have, the more you clearly you’ll be able to define
your goals, and allocate your time to achieve them. E.g. If you’re hitting
75% of fairways but your putting average is 36 or worse, then you
should (obviously) be spending way more time practicing putting than
you should practicing your driving.
How much time can you practice?
Firstly, think about how much time you can realistically dedicate to your
weekly practice. Let’s say for simplicity, it’s 10 hours. If putting is the
most important thing for you to improve, then you might dedicate 5 to
putting and spend equal time out of the remaining 5 hours on the on the
short and long game.
4.0 Set yourself a goal
Firstly, what would you like your scoring average to be, one year from
now? Let’s work back from that.
E.g. if you are currently a 16 handicap and you would like to get to a 9
handicap, you’ll need to figure out what the scoring profile of a 9
handicap is. www.gamegolf.com can do this for you. How many
8
fairways on average do they hit? How many fairways and green?
Scrambling? Putts per green in regulation?
Now you know this, where are you furthest away? This is the place to
start. Let’s set a specific, measurable 90 day goal for this area of the
game. E.g. If the weakest area of your game is driving <30%, you might
want to set a goal of reaching 40% of fairways in 3 months.
Why set goals?
Goals are what keeps us focused and motivated. When we set short-term
cycles, like the 90 goal and you are successful in achieving that goal, it’s
a confidence boost. The more goals you achieve, the more you increase
your confidence.
I have my students share their long and short-term goals with me and we
check in each week, so they are accountable to more than just
themselves.
During each practice session, no matter what you are practicing, I
recommend dividing it into the following types of practice.
5.0 Types of Practice
One of the biggest mistakes a golfer can make is to spend the bulk of
their practice time trying to groove a perfect “machine-like” swing in the
hope that it will work automatically on the course. If this is all you’re
doing during your practice, then it’s not time well spent.
The range and the course are very different places…
On the course, you’ve got lots of external factors that you don’t have on
the range, such as the need for strategy, your score, other players etc.
If you don’t practice for the course, you can’t expect to perform there.
9
This is why most Tour players use the “⅓ rule” when practicing.
What this does is make sure your valuable practice time is divided as
follows:
● ⅓ Technique (block practice)
● ⅓ Rhythm and Motion (random skills practice)
● ⅓ Pressure conditions (Competitive Skills Practice)
5.1 Block Practice This is the most common way for golfers to practice. It’s when you hit
the same shot over and over again, until your bucket of balls is empty.
The purpose of this type of practice would be to ingrain a particular
movement, so it becomes habitual and unconscious.
The trap that most golfers fall into with repeated block practice is “the
illusion of competence”. When you hit ball after ball at the same target,
your body quickly learns how to play the shot. With most of golfers
being “ego golfers” vs “mastery golfers”, the massage to the ego is
enjoyable, so we continue on and give ourselves a pat on the back for
cracking how to play the game of golf. We finish the session thinking
we are better players. The reality is very different. Not much has been
learned without the “random skills” component. There’s a big difference
between having good technique and having skill.
UCLA Professor Emeritus Richard Schmidt PhD and expert on motor
learning says:
“In blocked practice, because the task and goal are exactly the same on
each attempt, the learner simply uses the solution generated on early
trials in performing the next shot. Hence, blocked practice eliminates the
10
learner’s need to ‘solve’ the problem on every trial and the need to
practice the decision-making required during a typical round of golf.”
5.2 Random Practice Random practice is where you require your body and mind to adjust to
different scenarios for a set period of time. On the golf course, you very
rarely hit the same shot twice. Your brain has to solve different problems
and make new decisions every few minutes. So wouldn’t it make sense
to practice this? The more mental processing required, the more
effective and long-term the learning is.
An example of this would be the “9 shots” where you hit every possible
ball flight to different targets. You keep randomizing the target and
forcing yourself to adapt. You get to put these different shots and feel
for distance in your “muscle memory” for unconscious access on the
course.
There are many other drills, which we’ll get to later.
5.3 Competitive Skills Practice The more you can simulate the pressure you feel on the golf course the
easier it will become to handle it and succeed when you’re playing in
competition.
For at least a 1/3 of your practice, every shot should count, just as it does
on the golf course. Competitive skills practice is about creating
consequences for missing a target, so you can learn how to control your
body and mind under pressure.
11
Check out the graph below:
The name of the game in competition is to keep yourself in that
“Optimal” level of arousal and performance during play. You don’t want
to be too relaxed and you don’t want to be too excited or stressed.
Typically, when you’re playing in competition, being too relaxed isn’t a
problem, it’s being able to quieten everything down and not getting too
anxious that’s the challenge.
What happens when you are too aroused?
If you’ve read my Mental Game Training program, you’ll know the
causes of nervousness on the golf course and what the physiological
12
effects are. Fear of any number of things can cause tension, loss of focus
and loss of your motor skills.
It’s important that you use the stress handling techniques in the “Playing
Fearless Golf” section of the program. Practicing use of these techniques
and being able to focus on the target and not let your arousal state
exceed the optimal performance state can be practiced, and this is what
you do in the Competitive skills section.
For each of the Competitive Skills drills, try to keep a log of your scores.
This way you’ll have a target to beat next time. You might set yourself
the goal of beating a specific target before you can move onto something
else or finish practice.
Here are some consequences you can use for not being able to
successfully complete a drill:
1. Pushups
2. Running around the practice area
3. Betting with teammates
4. Hole at least one bunker shot
5. Not leave the practice area until a score is reached
6. Hole 10 consecutive 6ft putts
As you can see there are many options. The consequence will vary from
individual to individual depending on their ability level and tolerance for
the penalties!
This book is structured into Long Game Practice, Short Game and
Putting (as you might expect), with suggestions for Random and
Competitive Skills Practice in each section.
13
6.0 Long Game Competitive Skills Practice
6.1 “Down the middle” driving drill Use 2 targets (about 20 yards apart) on the driving range to mark off an
imaginary fairway. One side of the fairway is trouble, like water or O.B.
and the other side is less punishing. On odd numbered holes the trouble
can be on the left and on even numbered it’s on the right. If you hit
trouble, your score is a double bogey and other side of fairway is a
bogey. Down the middle is a par. Play 9 holes and try to score no more
than +5.
6.2 The Narrowing Fairway Driving Drill Another variation on this drill is to start off with an imaginary fairway
that’s 50 yards apart (a very wide fairway). Try to get at least 7 out of 10
drives down this fairway. The next level of this game is to hit 7 out of 10
drives down a 40 yard wide fairway. Continue on through the levels
until you are at a 10 yard fairway. If you’re consistently hitting 7 out of
10 balls down a 10 yard wide fairway, the course will be a breeze!
6.3 Three Fairways Driving Challenge For this drill, you’ll need to create 3 imaginary fairways on the driving
range. With your driver:
1. Attempt to hit 3 balls (consecutively) down the first fairway.
2. If the first step is complete, attempt to hit 3 balls down the second
fairway
3. If you successfully complete step 2, attempt 3 balls down the third
fairway.
14
6.4 Increasing arousal further
A good way to increase arousal even further and practice a better
response to stress is to increase your heart rate. The first sign of
nervousness is an increased heart rate, so if you can keep control of that,
you’re going to have an easier time staying calm.
Graeme McDowell will sometimes run for a couple of minutes on the
spot to get his heart rate up to simulate course conditions while he
practices. Try it. If you can learn how to regain your composure and hit
good shots in practice, you’ll be able to do it when you have real nerves
on the course.
6.5 Shot Routine Practice During your competitive skills practice, you want to simulate the course
as much as possible, which includes going through your shot routine. In
addition to the key steps like analysis, visualization, feel, getting set up
correctly etc, work on your “cues”, those things that you can add to get
you in the right frame of mind for hitting a great shot. These include,
your “trigger” which starts your routine, your “performance statement”,
your swing cue (e.g. a set number of looks at the target before swinging)
and your acceptance trigger. If you can’t remember exactly what these
are and what they do, please refer to my Mental Game Training
program.
6.6 Course Strategy Practice: The “Good Miss” Drill Aim of the game: You learn how to play smart. If a pin is cut on the left
side of the green with trouble to the left, it’s clearly too aggressive to
aim at the pin. Learn a conservative aggressive strategy and avoid
mistakes by making “good misses”.
15
On the range, pick 2 targets about 30 yards wide and at least 150 yards
away and imagine the area between them is the green. Then imagine that
one side of the green is the trouble - bunkers, water or trees. Try to keep
the ball on the green but on the opposite side of the trouble.
Hit 6 balls and try to make them all good misses (hitting the “right” side
of green that you are picturing).
Use the following scoring system:
Hitting the side of the green opposite of trouble: + 3 pts
Hitting the trouble: -2 pts
Missing the green: -1 pts
Hitting all 6 on the correct side of the green will give you a
perfect 18.
6.7 Course strategy practice: narrow your focus Aim of the game: develop a better course strategy by hitting the “right”
side
Generally speaking, the smaller your target the better - the more your
body can respond to the images the mind is seeing.
On a Par 4: From the tee, notice where the pin is cut on the green and
therefore determine the best side of the fairway to aim at. E.g. if the pin
is cut on the right half of the green, then the left half of the fairway is
going to be the optimal side. Try to hit your ball to the chosen side and
grade yourself. Give yourself a point for hitting the correct side and 0 for
not hitting it. Total up the number of fairways and the number of
“correct sides” hit and work out your percentage which you can try and
beat each time.
16
7.0 Long Game Random Practice
7.1 Same club to different distances using only tempo This is another good one to remind you the importance of tempo. With
an 8-iron, hit a full shot to your regular 8 iron distance i.e. this could be
150 yards. With your next shot, hit a 7 iron with a full swing to the same
target. Next hit a 6 iron and finish with a 5 iron, all to the 8 iron distance
with a full swing.
7.2 Same club, 4 distances for improving distance control Try hitting the same club to targets of different distances. For example,
take your 5-iron and try to hit it first to the 200 (if you hit it that far),
then 175, 150, 125 and finishing on the 100. Unless you’re playing links
golf, you probably won’t get the opportunity to hit these shots on the
course, but it’s a great drill for improving feel. To get as good as you can
be involves a lot of feel for shots (being able to shave off or add yards to
the same club to get the ball as close as possible).
7.3 Same target 3 clubs To spice up driving range practice, pick various targets (e.g. the 50, 100,
150 markers) and hit 3 different clubs to each target, say your 8-iron, 5-
iron and 3-iron. This is a great way to learn how to hit different shots
with different clubs and work on your creativity.
7.4 Rating your swing by tempo This time, we’re going to find your optimal swing speed. We all have
our own natural tempo that fits our swing. For this drill, make really fast
swings and really slow swings and notice the difference it makes to your
ball striking. Work to find your optimal speed that produces the best
combination of control and distance.
17
Never swing with more than 75% effort. This was one of the gems that
Nick Faldo stuck to throughout this career after being taught it by his
junior coach Ian Connelly. Good rhythm is what gets the ball going, not
hitting it as hard as you can.
7.5 Distance control drill This one’s for the golf course (practice it for 9 holes) as it requires you
guessing the distance of a shot. Having a feel for distance is a huge
factor in joining the elite golfers. Not every shot is a full swing. There’s
typically 15 yards between each of your clubs, so being able to calibrate
these “in between” distances, can get you closer to the hole and save
several shots per round.
For 5 holes of the 9, try guessing the yardage of your approach shots,
before you actually find out, to see how good your perception of
distance is. For the other 4 holes, play each approach shot, without
finding out the distance and you should see some improvement with
your distance control.
7.6 Rhythm, Tempo and Balance practice Watch any tour player and they all have a very smooth rhythm and
tempo (speed) which helps them maintain their balance and maximize
distance and control. These drills are designed to have you swinging at
your optimal tempo and rhythm for you, especially under pressure.
7.7 Building a Shot library and practicing the “Nine Shots” A main goal of random practice is to put different shot to your
unconscious memory.
When Tiger was working with Hank Haney he would have him hit a
high fade, a regular fade and a low fade and then do the same hitting a
18
straight shot and draws, making a total of 9 different shots. You can pick
a different target for each shot, making it even harder.
HEIGHT SHAPE
1. High Straight
2. Medium Straight
3. Low Straight
4. High Draw
5. Medium Draw
6. Low Draw
7. High Fade
8. Medium Fade
9. Low Fade
To practice this, you need to change your ball position, the aim of your
feet and most importantly use your visualization and feel, synchronize
the release of the club with the shot you see.
E.g. With a 7-iron, try hitting 3 shots, one with the ball in the center of
your stance, one from the middle and one opposite your front heel. See
what happens. Always have a target in mind. Next change the open and
closed degree of your stance. Use the same swing, but see and feel how
different shape look and feel. Notice and remember those feelings. Try
to vary the shot shape and club you use as much as possible.
19
Eventually, you’ll develop a “shot library” which is like a DVD in a
player’s brain where you can instantly recall a type of shot you need and
hit.
Hopefully through this practice, you’ll discover a “go-to” shot – under
pressure that you feel most comfortable hitting. This could be a 10 yard
fade or high draw, whatever it is, when you’re under pressure it will be
good to have it in the “shot library”.
7.8 “Just hit it” drill This drill is intended to have you moving quickly through a shot without
pausing. Pausing over a shot can cause tension and allow time for doubt
to creep in.
Take 5 balls and put them down in the line, so you can hit all 5 in quick
succession, without thinking. Then just do exactly that and practice the
habit of just hitting without thinking.
7.9 Alternating between PW and driver The longer the club, the harder most players swing. But the golf swing
doesn’t work this way. To hit it further, you need to be tension free and
smooth, not fast and tight. To lower your tempo with the longer clubs,
alternate them with the shorter clubs during your practice sessions. E.g.
switch between your driver and PW for 20 shots and you’ll start to
notice that you’ll slow down your driver swing.
7.10 Tension free grip drill Tension is the biggest inhibitor to tempo and this usually starts with the
grip pressure, which works its way up the arms and into the chest and
shoulders.
20
During this drill I want you to grip your club at different grip pressures
and see what it does to the quality of your shots. Start by gripping the
club really tight (constantly throughout the swing) at a 10/10 and then
move to a 7 or 8 out of 10, then to a 5 and then to a 3-4 and then to a 2-3
of 10. You should find that 2-3 out of 10 is the best grip pressure and
allow the club to naturally rotate through impact.
7.11 Distance Control Drill Being able to control distance with your wedges is how you’re really
going to be able to take your game to the next level. The pros know the
difference between a 75 yard shot and an 80 yard shot and you should
learn the same. The difference between hitting the ball 5 yards too far or
too short can make the difference between a birdie and a par. This one is
best practiced on the course as it’s hard to know on the driving range
exactly how far the ball flies, so try to get out very early in the morning
and try it.
1. Take 3 wedges PW, SW and LW, which I’m assuming you know
exactly how far each one goes when you hit it purely.
2. We’re going to use an imaginary clock-face for this drill. With
each club, hit 3 balls, one with a full swing, the next with a 10
O’clock swing (meaning your arm is like the hour hand in the 10
o’clock position) and another at 9 o’clock. See how far each one
flies and work on consistently getting your arm into those clock
positions. What you’re doing is creating a very powerful tool for
scoring.
Imaging being 65 yards away and knowing “that’s my 9 o’clock SW”
and being able to hit it exactly that distance. You’ll see the difference on
the scorecard.
21
8.0 Short Game Competitive Skills Practice
Here’s the place to use the GSoM Colors idea. Using different colored
practice balls can really help sharpen the effectiveness of your practice
in both your short game and your putting.
We have included some ideas and suggestions as to how to best use the
GSoM Colors concept, however, you can still get a lot from using your
traditional practice and range balls.
With all these drills, drop the balls down, don’t improve your lie.
Playing from not-so-good lies is practice in itself as that’s what you’re
going to get on the golf course!
8.1 Up and down drill Randomly throw 10 balls to different spots within 10-20 yards of the
green. See how many out of 10 you can get up and down.
8.2 “Beat 15” Aim of the game: focus and pressure on your short game to build
confidence
1. Pick 3 spots around the green of varying difficulty and play 3 balls
from each spot. This is a great drill to use GSoM Colors. Use
different colored balls at the three spots. This will help your
visualisation after you have played your 9 shots. Use whatever
club you like to start with and you can then repeat the drill using a
different club from each of the three spots. The different colored
balls then allow better analysis and visualisation when using
different clubs in this drill.
2. Use the following scoring system and try to beat 15:
Over 6 ft – 0 pts
22
Within 6ft – 1 point
Within 3ft – 3 points
In the hole – 5 points
8.3 Hole out drill Aim of the game: dialing in on the hole.
1. You’re going to move around the green to 6 locations, hitting 3
balls from each spot (each shot will be about 20-30 feet from the
hole).
2. At the end you’ll have a total of 18 shots - total your hole outs and
make that the target for the next go round.
8.4 Bunker Drill Aim of the game: to sharpen and get your bunker play under pressure
a. From a greenside bunker find a hole that is roughly 10 yards away.
Take 5 balls, drop them in the sand and score each as follows:
Over 6 ft – 0 pts
Within 6ft – 1 point
Within 3ft – 3 points
In the hole – 5 points
Keep your score and try to beat it each time. Repeat from bunkers that
are different distances from the hole.
You can use GSoM Colors here as well. Sometimes it can be difficult to
judge which ball resulted from which shot. After playing 5 different
colored balls, you can improve your analysis of each of the shots just
23
through the visual image of where the balls lie. How do you know which
colored ball you have played in what order?
Here’s a couple of ideas: go alphabetically e.g. blue ball, green, orange,
pink and yellow, or add numbers to your balls - we recommend Golfdotz
transfers (order through www.golfdotz.com). They are strong, durable
and clear. We are also working with them on producing key swing
words on transfers - as triggers for players to switch onto before making
key shots.
8.5 Slam Dunk Drill Aim of the game: To Focus on Your Landing Spot for chip shots
a. Take your most lofted club and pick a spot 5 yards away from the
hole. The goal here is to fly the ball into the hole without it hitting
the green first
b. After each shot, move a pace back until you’ve hit 5 shots (your
last one is from 10 yards away). Use GSoM Colors and by using
different balls at each distance, you will be able to maximise the
effect of the visualisation of your range of shots to help your
overall assessment of your practice
c. Total up your hole-outs and make this your target for next time
8.6 Chip and Run Drill Aim of the game: sharpen your chip and run skills
a. From just off the green, pick 3 hole locations: 40, 50 and 60ft
b. From the same spot use the GSoM Colors concept and hit 3 balls
of the same color to each location and assess the spread of balls to
help analyse your performance
24
c. Use this scoring table to total up your score and make that your
target
Holed it 3 points
0-3 ft 2 points
3-6 ft 1 point
6+ ft 0 points
8.7 The “Par 18” game Aim of the game: to put your short game under pressure
1. You have 9 different locations around a practice green, giving
yourself 3 easy, 3 medium and 3 difficult shots. Follow the GSoM
Colors idea and use different colored balls for the easy, medium
and difficult shots to help your assessment of this range of shots
2. Consider each a par 2 making a total of “par 18”
3. Keep your score with every practice session and try to beat it
8.8 The 20 ball drill Take 20 balls and drop them around the practice green from different
lies and positions.
For each shot, you go through your routine just as you would on the golf
course and imagine you are playing in a competition on whatever golf
course you normally play (or perhaps where your next competition may
be).
If the ball comes to rest outside of gimme range (2ft), go through your
pre-putt routine, just as you would on the course or in a competition and
try to hole the putt.
25
When you’ve made the up and down, move onto the next ball and try to
make all 20. This exercise might take 40-50 minutes to perform, but it
makes practice very meaningful.
If you are practising with a partner, play the GSoM Colors challenge -
each of you use different colored balls - to help raise the competitive
element of this practice. The colored balls can help in your assessment
of both players.
9.0 Short Game Random Practice Drills
9.1 Get it to the hole drill Getting your ball to the hole, and giving it a chance of going in is
important in the short game. More players come up short than they do
long of the hole. At least when you go long, you can see the line of the
putt coming back.
1. Take 5 balls and choose 5 random targets on the practice green
(about 15-20 yards away).
2. Hit each ball to the 5 targets
You can use GSoM Colors to make this even more competitive by
practising this drill a number of times, using different colored balls on
each occasion to give you a better visualisation of your results
Scoring system:
In the hole: 15 points
Beyond the hole within 3ft: 10 points
Beyond the hole within 6ft: 5 points
For every foot you are short, remove that from your score i.e. 5 ft short,
remove 5 points.
26
9.2 Proximity to hole drill Hit 5 balls to 5 targets, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 yards
Estimate the distance each ball was from the target and total them up.
Scoring system:
<20 = Outstanding
<30 = Good
<40 = Average
9.2.1 Dial in your distance 1. Take 5 targets and 5 balls
2. Each ball has to finish within 1 club length of each hole
3. Repeat until you achieve this
An alternative (easier) version of this is to hit 5 consecutive balls within
a club length of 1 target.
9.3 Club selection drill This is a drill that I like to have weekend golfers do as it proves that on
average you’ll get a lot closer with a lower lofted club, than your 56 or
60 which they typically choose from anywhere around the green.
Find a spot around the green (about 3-5 yards off the green) and hit to a
pin that’s 10-15 yards away.
1. Hit 5 balls with your 60 degree wedge
2. Hit 5 balls with a 7 or 8 iron and see which set of balls you get
closer (obviously your landing spot will be closer to the edge of the
green and it will roll a lot more).
Try using this drill with GSoM Colors and using different colored balls
with your 60 degree wedge and then your 7 or 8 iron.
27
You can repeat with other combinations of clubs,
9.3.1 Master the Scoring Zone This drill is about mastering the 30-75 yard range (1/2 or ¾ shot range)
Hit 10 balls from various distances in this range and see how long to get
all 10 in the “one-putt” range of less than 10 feet.
9.4 The penny drill Aim of the game: to consistently get the penny off the ground and into
the air to improve your ball striking
This is a simple but very effective drill to improve your ball striking on
the short shots. On the driving range, try to strike pennies off the mat
with a sand wedge and see how high you can get it to fly. This will
encourage you to hit down on the golf ball and focus hard on the back of
the ball.
9.5 Box drill Push 4 tees in the ground forming a box around the hole of about 2’x2’.
From 3 positions around the green (about 10 yards from the hole), hit 2
balls from each spot, each time trying to get the ball into the box.
Attempt to get all 6 balls in the box with consecutive shots.
9.6 Old umbrella drill This is a great one as it doesn’t require a putting green. Place a golf
umbrella (open) in the ground and move to a spot 5 yards away and hit 2
balls into the umbrella with a 56 or 60 degree wedge. Next move 10
yards away and hit another 2 balls. Lastly, move to 15 yards away and
hit 2 balls. Try to get all 6 balls into the umbrella consecutively and if
you miss one start over.
28
9.7 Outcome and process visualization Visualization is EXTREMELY important in the short game and putting.
You need to be meticulous about seeing how the ball will fly (out of the
lie you have) to the target with a clear landing spot. You can take this
one step further and actually imagine what you look like when you’re
playing a shot – like imagining yourself on TV. This can really help
make that same move in reality.
Using colored balls within the GSoM Colors practice drills can also
help to develop your visualization, with the colors heightening your
awareness and senses.
9.8 The “Look and React” drill This drill is exactly what the title suggests. You’re far better off letting
your subconscious play a shot and “reacting” to the image of it, than
giving yourself technical instruction.
1. Place 10 balls down and have 10 different targets in mind
2. With each shot, simply “look” and “react”. This is similar to the
“just hit it drill”. Say to yourself as you look up and see the target
“LOOK” and then as you start your swing “REACT”.
Hopefully saying this will have you forgetting about what your body is
going and just trust yourself to hit it.
10.0 Putting Competitive Skills Drills
10.1 Pull back drill
1. Start 15ft from the hole and try to hole it
29
2. If you hole it, move onto the next hole which is another 15ft putt (9 holes in total)
3. If you miss it (and for any putt you miss), move the ball back from where it finished by one club length
4. Consider each hole and par 2 and total your score (Par = 18) 5. Try to beat your best score each time
10.2 A great feel drill
1. Take 3 balls and drop them approximately 10 ft from a hole (so you don’t have the same putt each time) using different colored balls can help emphasize your performance here, so try the GSoM Colors idea.
2. Go through your putting routine of reading the putt, visualizing the line, feeling the stroke and addressing the ball
3. When you are about to start your back-stroke, close your eyes, then putt
4. Before opening your eyes, make a call on where the putt finished. E.g. short-right, long-left or holed it!
5. When you open your eyes and see where the ball has come to rest, grade yourself on how close you were to the putt you felt. E.g. If you missed long-left and you called it:
Long-left = 2 points
Short-left, Long-right = 1
Short right = 0 points
If you holed it and you called it, give yourself 3 points.
If you holed it and you called a miss, give yourself 2 points.
6. Next pick a hole 15ft away and then repeat for a 20ft putt so you have
a total of nine holes. Total up your score and make it a target to beat before you can leave the putting green after your next practice session
10.3 In a line short putting drill
Half of all putts are within 6ft. It’s very important to become very
confident in this area.
30
1. Place 5 balls at 3-4-5-6-7ft from the hole forming a straight line 2. Start by putting the ball at 3ft and work your way back to 7ft 3. If you miss, start over and try to make all 5 putts Think about using the GSoM Colors concept to help your assessment of your five putts. Use either numbered balls, using Golfdotz transfers (available through our website) or use colored balls in an alphabetical order e.g. blue, green, orange, pink and orange.
10.4 Phil Mickelson’s circle (short putts)
Aim of the game: building confidence with short putts
1. Place 10 balls from 2-3ft in a circle around the hole 2. If you miss one start over 3. Initially set your target as 50 and then try for 75 and 100. Those last
few putts will really put you practicing under pressure!
10.5 N-S-E-W (short putts)
Aim of the game: to improve confidence of 3-4-5 footers
1. Put 3 tees in the ground at 3-4-5ft from the hole 2. Repeat this so you have 4 lines from the hole at N-S-E-W, so you
have 12 putts 3. Work your way round from 3ft to 5ft and if you miss one, start over.
Try to make all 12 putts in a row You can use GSoM Colors here and the next two exercises to add some color here by using different colored balls at each compass point
10.6 Putting - repetition and routine
Aim of the game: making the routine automated and just knocking them in
1. Place 4 balls 3 ft from a hole in a N-S-E-W position. 2. The goal is to make 4 putts in a row, but each time go through your
FULL routine with every putt just as you would on the course
31
10.7 Lag putting drill
Aim of the game: put your lag putting under pressure
1. Pace off 50, 40, 30 and 20ft from the hole (not all on the same line) 2. Hit 3 putts from each location, making a total of 12 putts 3. Use the scoring system below and aim to beat your best score each
time: Holed-putt = 3 points
0-3 feet = 2 points
3-6 feet = 1 point
>6 feet = 0 points
10.8 Box drill (for lag putting)
1. Place tees around the hole forming a box of 6 ft by 4 feet. Next, place balls at 5-10-15-20-25 feet and 2 balls
2. Hit 2 balls from each spot and they have to land in the box, (GSoM Colors works really on this drill to highlight your performance). If they don’t land in the box, start over
3. For a further test, try this with one hand
10.9 Tornado drill
1. Put tees down at 2ft, 3ft, 4ft, 5ft, 6ft, 7ft and 8ft consecutively around the hole.
2. Make 1 putt from each tee in a row. If you miss, start over from the beginning.
10.10 Makes drill
1. Putt 18 balls from 10-25 feet. Focus on making putts
2. Keep track of your total score with every hole being a Par 2 (so measure your score against a total par of 36)
32
10.11 The 3, 4, 5 drill
1. Putt 6 balls from 3ft, 4 balls from 4ft, and 2 balls from 5 feet. If you miss, start over until you make your last 5 foot putt.
2. This drill can also be done in reverse
10.12 The 80 putts drill
1. Putt 30 3-footers, 25 4-footers, 10 5-footers, 10 6-footers, and 5 10-footers
2. Keep track of how many one putts you have and make that your target to beat
10.13 Extended clock drill
1. Picture the hole as the center of the clock
2. From the 12 o'clock position make 12 putts from 2 feet
3. From the 9 o'clock position make 9 putts from 3 feet
4. From the 6 o'clock position make 6 putts from 4 feet
5. From the 3 o'clock position make 3 putts from 5 feet
6. You must make all the putts in a row or start over. Try to make 30 putts in a row
10.14 Drawbacks
1. Play 18 holes using different length putts
2. You must draw back every putt a putter length, unless you make it
3. Keep score and try to limit the number of 3 putts
11.0 Putting Random Skills Drill
11.1 Putt to the fringe to warm up distance control 1. Take 5 balls and place them 10-15-20-25-30ft from the fringe and
putt to it, trying to get them as close as possible. The idea behind this
33
drill is to get you to warm up your distance control without putting to a hole, which might cause you to start thinking about how well you’re putting.
2. With each ball, try to hit the next one about 1 ft to the right of the previous, so you start to introduce a target. Use GSoM Colors and colored balls to help improve your visualization on this drill.
11.2 Putt to a tee Put tees in the green at 10-20-30ft away from the fringe and putt those balls you just hit, back to the tees. Why use tees? This will sharpen your vision by aiming at small targets and also if you get it in or around the tee you’ll feel like you made it (again, you don’t want to experience missing).
11.3 Practice your routine Hit 5 putts to tees at 5-10-15-20-25 feet (I putt to each) and each time, go through your full routine.
11.4 The sound of success This time, with a hole, hit 10 consecutive 2ft putts (on a flat part of the green). You want to reinforce the sound of the ball hitting the bottom of the cup. At this point, you can consider yourself to be properly warmed up. Too many golfers use the time before a round to give themselves a lesson, experience 3-putts, and end up killing their confidence. You will now be walking to the first tee with confidence, having not missed a single putt and your visualization and feel will be properly warmed up.
11.5 Putting with your right-hand
On long putts, distance control is very important and (for a right hander) that’s largely determined by the right hand.
34
To start any practice session or pre-round warm up, try putting with just your right hand. This will give you a feel for the pace, promote a smooth stroke and get your distance control working.
11.6 Chalk line drill
1. Make a chalk line on the putting green
2. Make sure the putt is very straight
3. Try to roll the ball on the line the whole time
4. It is also good to check alignment
11.7 Keeping your head still
This drill is designed to help you keep your head still throughout each
putt
1. Place a ball marker or penny on the green where you’re going to putt
from. Place the ball on top of it and putt
2. When the ball has been hit, make sure you are looking directly at the
coin
11.8 Tiger’s right hand drill
Tiger Woods wants his right hand to be more dominant in the stroke, so he frequently practices with only that hand on the putter. Whatever your preference, practicing with just one hand is a great way to unlock the feel and flow of a pure putting stroke. Here’s a good drill for you to find out which hand is more dominant in controlling the putter through impact. 1. Take the putter in one hand (right or left) and make a few strokes.
Notice the feeling of each stroke. At first it might feel jerky and unnatural, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it and the strokes will become smoother
2. Allow a little wrist-break. There needs to be some flow to it to develop feel and soft touch. Tension free stroke will produce the best results
35
3. Putt 6 balls with your left hand from 10-12 ft 4. Putt 6 balls with your right hand from 10-12 ft 5. Rate your performance with each hand for this range (one will have a
better feel) 6. From these putts, you’ll start to get a clear idea of which side is the
better putting side and let this side have more control.
11.9 Getting the ball beyond the hole
1. Place the flag 2 ft behind hole
2. If the ball goes in, great, but if not you want to get it between the hole and the flag
11.10 Putting while looking at the hole
This is a great one for focusing more on using your eyes, and less on what your body is doing. Players with the Yips have said that it helps. It really connects you with the target (imagine throwing a basketball looking at the ball and your hands). Jordan Spieth currently does it during putts less than 5ft.
1. Go through your routine and get aligned and set up properly to the ball
2. Then simply look at the hole throughout the stroke
11.11 Guess the distance drill
You don’t need a ball for this one.
1. Stand 15-20 feet from a hole and pay special attention to how far away you are from the hole
2. Hold your putter at the putter head end and close your eyes
3. Now walk out towards the hole and try to put your put your putter on the green where you think the hole is
Most golfers underestimate the distance they are away from the hole and come up short.
36
11.12 Green reading distance drill
1. Stand in the center of the putt between the ball and hole (about 4-5ft from the actual line)
2. Imagine how long it will take the ball to reach the hole 3. Next make an imaginary stroke of the ball to the hole where the speed
of the stroke is the time it will take to get the ball to the hole
11.13 Alignment drill
1. Place a coin where your alignment “spot” would be 6-12 inches in
front of ball
2. Put the ball, and make the focus rolling the ball over your “spot”
3. Repeat this 20 times.
11.14 Visualization practice
1. Practice of seeing the line in a single color, like yellow, red or white
(you choose)
2. Practice not thinking about your stroke at all, just engaging with the
line and the target
3. Use your “quiet eye” technique by focusing your eyes up and down
the line to the hole
11.15 Improving balance
Improve your balance by putting on one leg.
1. Hit 3 balls (from 3-4ft) standing on your left
2. Hit 3 balls standing on your right.
Thanks for reading my book!
I hope you’ve been able to make your practice more purposeful, fun and
effective in changing your game for the better. If you’d like some help
37
putting a practice plan together, or if you have any questions about my
coaching, please email me at [email protected]
