InstructionWant to break 80? Here’s what to practice Show
Published 6 years agoon Sep 3, 2016By Alistair Davies Reaching a new plateau in golf requires hours of practice, playing and thinking about your game. But all too often, as a full-time coach, players ask me how to improve their scores… but they never ask how to practice more effectively. It’s like they think I have some secret to lowering scores without having to put in the work. Even those who come to take lessons and really care about improving often rush straight from the lesson tee to the course expecting their swing to be fixed. Most of the time, nothing is particularly “broken,” except the way those golfers are practicing. If they’re willing to practice more effectively, however, they can take their newly learned skills from the lesson tee to the course, and actually start seeing better results. First of all, golfers need to have a keen understanding of their game and what needs to improve. I believe this knowledge should come directly from facts. I personally use a stat-tracker on a web-based program called ShotsToHole.com (pictured below), which allows me to look at dispersion from the hole, and then give it a value. For example, Player A hits a 40-yard pitch 5 yards from the hole; that is a Break-80 number (I talk more about Break-80 numbers later in the story). So what we would do with a student is look at their entire game and work out their strengths and weaknesses. We then design an appropriate practice plan. If there are specific changes to be made in the swing, then practice sessions should allow time to work on technique. If technique is decidedly sound, then practice should be mostly of a performance nature. Regardless of the type of practice — technical or performance-oriented — I believe that golfers should change clubs and targets at least once in every 10 range balls. This allows our minds and bodies the best opportunity of ingraining a new movement or thought pattern. Remember, practice needs to be…
Credit: Matt Bridge Golf Measurement practice for me is the best form to help produce better scores on the course. For this, we would set up a game that gives us a score, and that score would be set at the optimal challenge point to maintain motivation and provide failure, which are both keys to the learning process. So, for example, if the player wants to break 80, we would pick four key areas on which to concentrate. Break-80 Numbers3-5 foot putts: Score needed is 37 percent success rate to break 80, or about 4-out of-10 putts. Every putt should be hit on a different line. 20-40 yard pitch: Proximity needed is 5.3 yards or 15 feet. So let’s aim for a 6-foot proximity and see how many attempts it take to get five balls in that area. Every ball should be hit from a different angle. 140-160 yard iron shot: Proximity is 15.9 yards. So select a 5-yard wide target and see how many shots it takes to hit five balls in that gap. Driving: Proximity is 37.9 yards: So let’s go for a 20-yard fairway and try to hit it 60 percent of the time on the range, ideally a different target each shot. All shots are to be hit with your full pre-shot routine, and all results to be recorded and measured against previous tests. You can then play the same tasks on the course and see how the results compare. Remember, the key to reaching your goals is not just hard work and beating balls, but practicing with pre-defined purposes. Your Reaction?
Related Topics:practice Up Next The basics of putting and how to improve your stroke Don't Miss Increase distance with anti-rotation exercises Alistair Davies Find him on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/user/adaviesgolf Advanced Fellow of the PGA Head Golf Professional The Marriott Forest of Arden The Golfing Machine Authorised Instructor TPI Certified Fitness Golf Instructor PGA Swing Lecturer PGA Swing Examiner PGA Qualified in 1999, Achieving 3rd position Trainee of the Year Roles Former Academy Coach Wales South West Squad Performance Director Midland Performance Golf Academy Coach to GB & I Squad Member Head Coach to Birmingham University Teams Coach to Solihull College AASE England programme Coached Numerous County Squads including Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Derby. Philosophy I am a highly self-motivated full time coach committed to improve players of all standards. Through continually developing my skills and knowledge I am considered one of the leading coaches and have been recently voted in Golf Worlds top 100 coaches. Having excellent communication skills enables me to be able to deliver first class tuition to all levels of golfers and this is reflected in my achievements from my players and personal accolades. 22 Comments 22 Comments
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This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. You may likeInstructionKelley: How to easily find your ideal impact positionPublished 2 months agoon Oct 17, 2022By Kelvin KelleyIf you look at any sport, the greats seem to do more with less. Whether it be a swimmer gliding through the water or a quarterback throwing a pass, they make it look it easy and effortless. In golf, there are a variety of distinct swing patterns to get into a dynamic impact position. I believe in efficiency to find that impact position for effortless power and center contact. Efficiency is defined as “the ability to produce something with a minimum amount of effort.” This can easily apply to the golf swing. It all starts with the address position. The closer we can set up to an impact position, the less we have to do to get back there. Think of it like throwing a ball. If your body is already in a throwing position, you can simply make the throw without repositioning your body for accuracy. This throwing motion is also similar to an efficient direction of turn in the golf swing. Once you set up to the ball with your impact angles, if you retain your angles in the backswing, the downswing is just a more leveraged or dynamic version of your backswing. If you can take the club back correctly, the takeaway at hip-high level will mirror that position in the downswing (the desired pre-impact position). In the picture below, the body has become slightly more dynamic in the downswing due to speed, but the body levels have not changed from the takeaway position. This stays true for halfway back in the backswing and halfway down in the downswing. Note how the body has never had to reposition or “recover” to find impact. At the top of the swing, you will notice how the body has coiled around its original spine angle. There was no left-side bend or “titling” of the body. All the original address position angles were retained. From this position, the arms can simply return back down with speed, pulling the body through. The key to an efficient swing lies in the setup. Luckily for players working on their swing, this is the easiest part to work on and control. If you can learn to start in an efficient position, all you need to do is hold the angles you started with. This is a simple and effective way to swing the golf club. www.kelleygolf.com Twitter: KKelley_golf Your Reaction?
Continue Reading InstructionWedge Guy: Short iron challenges — and a little insight (hopefully!)Published 3 months agoon Sep 14, 2022By Terry KoehlerIn my experience, almost all golfers could benefit from better short iron play. The ability to hit it closer to where you are looking with your 8-, 9- and P-irons will do more for your scoring than most anything else you can do. So, why is it that so many golfers just don’t hit the quality shots with these clubs that they do and should expect? I chose this topic in response to an email from Phillip S., who wrote: “I’m hitting straight and consistent most of the time but I’ve got a big problem between my 8-iron and everything else below. I can hit my 8-iron 140-145 fairly consistently every time. I hit my 9-iron somewhere between 110-135. My pitching wedge is a mystery….it varies between 85 -125 yards. No matter how “hard” I swing, I can’t seem to hit my short irons consistent distances. It’s maddening to hit a great drive followed by a pitching wedge short of the green from 110 yards away. What am I doing wrong? Well, Phillip, don’t feel alone, because this is one of the most common golf issues I observe. It seems that the lion’s share of technology applied to golf clubs is focused on the long stuff, with drivers and hybrids getting the press. But I firmly believe that the short irons in nearly all “game improvement” designs are ill-suited for precise distance control, hitting shots on the optimum trajectory or knocking flags down. I’ve written about this a number of times, so a little trip back in Wedge Guy history should be enlightening. But here are some facts of golf club performance as applied to short iron play: Fact #1. Short irons are much more similar to wedges than your middle irons. But almost all iron sets feature a consistent back design for cosmetic appeal on the store racks. And while that deep cavity and perimeter weight distribution certainly help you hit higher and more consistent shots with your 3- or 4- through 7-iron, as the loft gets in the 40-degree range and higher, that weight distribution is not your friend. Regardless of your skill level, short irons should be designed much more similar to wedges than to your middle irons. Fact #2. As loft increases, perimeter weighting is less effective. Missed shots off of higher lofted clubs have less directional deviation than off of lower-lofted clubs. This is proven time and again on “Iron Byron” robotic testers. Fact #3. It takes mass behind the ball to deliver consistent distances. Even on dead center hits, cavity back, thin-face irons do not deliver tack-driver distance control like a blade design. In my post of a couple of years ago, “The Round Club Mindset,” I urged readers to borrow blade-style short irons from a friend or assistant pro and watch the difference in trajectories and shotmaking. Do it! You will be surprised, enlightened, and most likely pleased with the results. Fact #4. The 4.5-degree difference between irons is part of the problem. The industry has built irons around this formula forever, but every golfer who knows his distances can tell you that the full swing distance gap gets larger as the iron number increases, i.e. your gap between your 8- and 9-iron is probably larger than that between your 4- and 5-iron. Could there be some club tweaking called for here? Fact #5. Your irons do not have to “match.” If you find through experimentation that you get better results with the blade style short irons, get some and have your whole set re-shafted to match, along with lengths and lie angles. These are the keys to true “matching” anyway. So, Phillip, without knowing your swing or what brand of irons you play, I’m betting that the solution to your problems lies in these facts. Oh, and one more thing – regardless of short iron design, the harder you swing, the higher and shorter the shot will tend to go. That’s because it becomes harder and harder to stay ahead of the club through impact. Keep short iron shots at 80-85 percent power, lead with your left side and watch everything improve. Your Reaction?
Continue Reading InstructionClement: Easily find your perfect backswing plane with this drillPublished 3 months agoon Sep 1, 2022By Shawn ClementWhen you get on one of these, magic will happen! You can’t come too far inside or outside in the backswing, and you can’t have arms too deep or shallow at the top of the backswing nor can you be too laid off or across the line either! SEAMLESS!! Your Reaction?
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How hard is it to break 80 in golf?Only between 2% – 5% of golfers in the world can break 80. If you learn how to break 80 in golf you can safely say that you're amongst the greats. But striving to break 80 is a difficult goal. It is hard to accomplish – but not impossible.
How long does it take the average golfer to break 80?It will take the average golfer 10 to 15 years of diligent practice to break 80. Golfers not aiming to go pro are more likely to be able to break 80 than break 70. Regular golfers can break 80 by getting experience golfing for years, hiring a good trainer and doing the correct practice for years.
How many putts does it take to break 80?How many putts per round to break 80? You need between 28 and 32 putts to break 80. If you hit 6 greens in regulation and get up and down on 6 holes, you can potentially use between 28 and 32 putts to break 80.
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How much should I practice to break 80 in golf?
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