How much should you practice? What type of practice should you be getting in? Many amateur golfers have lots of questions surrounding the topic of practice.
As the head golf coach at Tell Me More Golf, with over 50 years of coaching experience, I’m here to help. So let’s talk about practice.
It’s time to get into the hot topic of practice. Practice is often talked about in golf, but it can sometimes be hard to know what you should be doing and how you should be doing it, right?
How Much Golf Practice Do You Need?
Knowing how much to practice can be a tricky thing. Firstly, though, you need to question yourself.
What Are Your Goals?
Before knowing how much practice you need when it comes to golf, you should ask yourself what you want. What are your golfing goals?
Why is this important?
Well, knowing your goal will help you to ensure that you’re practicing the right amount.
If you’re a beginner who enjoys the occasional round and isn’t really bothered about score, then you don’t need to practice that much. On the flipside, if you want to be able to compete against other golfers out on the course, or you’re serious about improving your scores, then you need to put a good amount of time in.
Practice For Consistency
To be good at anything, you need to practice, it really is that simple. Even if you’re very naturally gifted, you still need to practice, otherwise you’ll never get any better and you’ll also find it hard to be consistent.
In golf, consistency is one of the most sought after traits.
A lot of the time, when a golfer says that they want to improve, what they mean is they want to become more consistent.
Consistency comes from regular practice. If you want to improve your scores and become a more consistent player, then realistically, you need to be practicing several times per week, getting in around 5-10 hours of practice each week.
If you want to be a really good player, then you need to practice even more. The best amateur players often dedicate up to 20 hours per week to golf practice.
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Practice vs Playing Golf
When you’re looking to improve, you can class anything as practice. Even if you’re playing a round with your buddies, you can say that you’re practicing. However, there is a difference between simply playing golf and seriously practicing.
What is Practice?
Practicing involves working on different areas. It involves focusing on specific things, working on drills and aiming to improve different aspects of your game that you can then put into place out on the golf course.
The trouble with practicing out on the course is that you’re constantly on the move from one shot to the next and you don’t get the opportunity to zone in on a particular part of your game.
In contrast, if you hit the range, then you can slow everything down, focus on certain clubs, focus on certain shots and really start to sharpen different tools in your golfing armory. The same goes for the putting green, where you can practice different putts, working on things like assessing the pace of different putts and focusing on your rhythm. Out on the course, you’ll never get time to do this.
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How Often Do Pros Practice Golf
The short answer is a lot. Professional players make a living playing golf, and to do that you not only have to be incredibly gifted, but you have to put a lot of work in.
That means practicing most of the time.
When the pros you see on the PGA Tour aren’t playing at a tournament, you better believe that they’re practicing. They even practice extensively before and after rounds during a competition. It is this level of practice that allows them to remain competing at the highest level of the game.
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How Much Golf Practice Is Too Much
As an amateur golfer, you’ll naturally have many other commitments, so it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to spend all of your time practicing golf. This means that it’s unlikely that you’re practicing too much, so this isn’t really something you should worry about.
As touched on above, to seriously improve your game, lower your handicap, and become a much better player, you need to put the hours in.
Realistically, you can’t practice too much, but if you’re worried about spending too much time on your game, then you should work from a base of 5-10 hours per week as a max. If you’re getting in 5-10 hours of quality practice each week, then you should have no problem improving as a player.
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Why am I Not Getting Better at Golf?
There could be many reasons as to why you may not be improving as a golfer, but a lack of practice is certainly right at the top of the list.
I’ve had several students come to me with frustrations over a lack of improvement. Either they’re disappointed that their scores aren’t going down, or they’re frustrated that they continue to make the same errors.
Not Practicing
There are often different reasons for the above problems, but one that I see all too often is a lack of practice. Players want to improve, but they’re not practicing very often.
Unfortunately, golf is hard. Very, very few people can be good at golf without practicing, and the chances are you’re not one of them.
To be a good golfer, you need to work hard at your game. You need to practice. You need to practice regularly. It’s unrealistic to play a few rounds each month and expect to improve.
Poor Practice
Another thing that I’ve witnessed having worked with lots of amateur golfers is poor practice. They tell me that they’ve been practicing regularly, but what they’re actually doing is going to the driving range once per week to aimlessly hit balls, usually far too quickly.
Going to the range and smashing balls with your driver, without taking it seriously or focussing on different areas of your game isn’t likely to make you a better golfer.
You need to carve out time for your practice and take it seriously. Break down your game, decide what you need to work on. Focus on one area at a time, take your time, think about what you’re doing.
Don’t just go to the range and hit a bunch of different clubs until the balls run out then go home.
Pick targets, work on specific shots, keep hitting those shots. Hit the putting green and work on your short game too. Focus on the speed of your putts, practice reading putts, work on perfecting your putting stroke. The same goes for chipping and your game around the green too.
You need to work on different areas of your golf game, as opposed to simply hitting balls aimlessly on the range.
Bad Habits
Many golfers have bad habits, which is something that can also hinder improvement. Maybe they’re failing to put in place some of the fundamentals of the game of golf.
Not getting the fundamentals right can lead to a range of problems, such as failing to square the clubface at impact. This is a bad habit that can lead to poor ball striking.
Bad habits lead us nicely into the final important part of this section, which is seeking help.
Seek Help
Don’t be too proud to ask for help. All amateurs can benefit from the help of a golf instructor or a coach.
In other words, take golf lessons. Learning from someone who knows how to help golfers improve can allow you to make huge strides as a golfer.
Working with such people can help to make sure that you’re doing the right thing. It can help you reach the next level. Your coach/instructor can set you on the right path by putting in place a practice plan, so that going forward, your practice sessions are worthwhile.
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TellMeMoreGolf.com – Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours a week should I practice golf?
This answer varies depending on what you want from golf. If you’re very serious about improving and want to be as good as you possibly can be, then you want to be practicing for 10-20 hours per week.
If you simply want to maintain your current level and keep your rhythm, then 3-5 hours per week should suffice.
Can you practice golf too much?
Yes, but only if you’re not practicing correctly. If what you’re doing during practice isn’t helping, then you can absolutely be doing too much. However, if what you’re working on is worthwhile and you’re practicing in the correct way, then there’s no such thing as too much practice.
How many hours a day should you practice golf?
This depends on how much you want to improve and how consistent you want to be. If you have the time, and you really want to get your game to where it can be, then you should be practicing between two to four hours per day.
Should you practice golf swing everyday?
You can absolutely practice your golf swing everyday, though unless you want to dramatically improve and really take golf seriously, then a few times per week is more than sufficient.
How many golf balls should you hit a day?
You might think hitting as many balls as possible would be the best approach, but it’s better to focus on quality over quantity. On this basis, hitting 50-60 balls on the range a few times per week, focussing on a particular area of your game each time, is the way to go.
Is it better to practice or play golf?
If you’re serious about improving as a golfer, then you need to be doing both. You can’t play without ever practicing and realistically expect to improve, just as you can’t practice without ever playing an actual round, as you need to put what you work on during practice into play out on the course.
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