No matter how much athletic ability or natural talent you have, you still have to practice to become good. Practicing fine-tunes your skills, develops consistency, and builds confidence. It also improves your balance, rhythm, and timing. Look at VJ Singh. One of the world’s best golfers, he practices tirelessly. Many on the tour consider him its iron- man. If you’re serious about reducing your golf handicap, you’ll practice hard, too.

But practicing has its challenges. Time is one. Productivity is another. Boredom is a third. Then there’s the challenge of taking what you practice to the course. It’s not uncommon to hear students taking golf lessons complain of being unable to transfer what they do in practice to the course. That’s a major challenge. You must overcome its challenges to make practice pay off. Below are some golf tips on how to do that.

Planning Is A Key

Most of us are extremely busy. Between our jobs and our families, there’s not much time to practice. To make practice pay off big time, we must get the most from each session. The best way of doing that is to plan your practices. Planning focuses your efforts and directs your activities. Both are key when time is a factor. Your plan doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, it can be quite simple. Just make sure you have one.

Also, make sure plan should include objectives for each session. Quantifiable objectives work best. Try to make them course related as well, like cutting down putts per round. And make sure your plan addresses your weaknesses. We all like hitting bombs in practice. But if you hit your irons poorly, you must spend time practicing them, too. Finally, balance your sessions as much as you can, but plan to spend more time on your short game than anything else. Improving it drives down golf handicaps quickly.

Make Practice Fun

Overcoming boredom is among the biggest challenges in practice. It’s a drag doing the same drills over and over again, no matter how effective they are. Vary your practice sessions as much as you possible. Have three or four drills to improve putting and switch off between them every couple of sessions. Also, try working on different aspects of your game at different sessions. Work one session on your short game. Work the next session on your iron play. Change it up. Keep your mind engaged.

Another way to alleviate boredom is by playing games with yourself or with someone else. Use your imagination to invent games. Challenge your foursome your foursome for a drink or just for bragging rights to a putting contest. Better yet, challenge yourself to beat yourself. Tell yourself you’re going to hit five shots to the red flag. Then see how many you hit. Keep track of how many times you do it. Do this over a few months, and then see what your average is.

Work on Realistic Situations

One of the biggest challenges in practicing is translating what you work on to the course. Many golfers complain that they do well in practice, but when it comes to real-life, they fail to make the transition. One way to do that is to practice on grass whenever you can. It’s nice to hit off the mats at the practice range, but it’s not the same as hitting on grass. Hitting on grass also lets you check your divots, which can tell you a lot about how you’re hitting the ball. And practice the way you play. Practice a wedge shot, and then follow it up with a putt, just like you’d do on the course.

Also, work in some realistic game situations in practice sessions. Try chipping over a wading pool in your bag to practice hitting over an obstacle on the course. Vijay Singh hits half his practice shots under game conditions. First, he hits a couple of balls with each club. Then he places himself in a key situation and practices executing the right shot. The more of “realistic” drills you program into your practice sessions, the easier it is to make the transition to the course.

You have to practice to improve your game and develop consistency. But practicing has its challenges—like boredom and time limitations. Learn to dispel these challenges and you’ll make your practice sessions really pay off. That in turn will help you cut your golf handicap down to single digits.

Jack Moorehouse
http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/making-practice-pay-off-1017537.html

Perfect training tool for keeping short game in tune at home or office, Regulation size hole, Professional golf green, 0.25Hx12.6Wx72.84D

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What are the most important considerations when a builder is setting up a golf course driving range?

Ideally a driving range should be a golf learning center. This can include a putting green, some practice bunkers, possibly a place for some indoor lessons.

The nicer your practice facility, the better positioned you will be at attracting new members, especially if you are a private club. It really is a benefit and an asset. If we can do something more than just a driving range, it will serve the golf course well.

What are the kinds of things you look at when setting up an exceptional driving range?

In this day and age, with the developments of technology, we often have to set up the range to be about 330 yards long because people are simply driving the ball that much farther these days.

So we start with a driving range, then we like to set up an area at the back of the tee where we can set up mats. This is helpful because sometimes you may need to work on the driving area and you might want the turf to be able to recuperate.

We also like to see a good putting area that is about 10,000 – 15,000 square feet.

We also encourage some sort of short game facility. That could be another practice green that would have some chipping areas, some practice bunkers, something that you could hit something 20 – 60 yards.

We generally try to provide some sort of a facility that would allow you to practice all aspects of the game, including: Driving, chipping, putting and sand shots.

I’m sure safety has to be an important consideration when you are setting these up?

Orientation is obviously important and you have to be able to have the space to set it up right. We generally would not want to have a driving range that would have a golf hole or the clubhouse or houses on the right side of the range, the slice side of the hole. So we always try to separate that a little bit.

What about driving range nets?

When ever possible, we try to put the practice facility where we don’t have to put nets. It’s a little more expensive so if we can set up a range by just using the land, it’s much better.

What about how the range stalls are set up and the design of actual facility?

There’s some common sense issues like circulation on and around the teeing area, things that we do about radiusing the tee (pointing the tee a little left of center), looking at the overall orientation, the prevailing winds, the rising or the setting sun. Ideally we would like to set the range up to the northeast – we don’t like it pointing directly to the east or the west.

We also like to set up some target greens down the range so that there is something interesting for people to aim for.

What about considerations for the actual landing area? There can be problems with the golf balls getting beat up if the surface of the driving range is not in good condition. Problems like rocky surfaces, poor drainage, etc.

This is really a function of turf quality and maintenance and proper construction. You want to make sure that rocks and debris are removed before you put the seed in the ground. You need to also make sure that you have a quality stand of grass out there. Irrigation, fertilizer, maintenance and drainage are all important to make sure you have good healthy turf.

Any other considerations that a developer should consider when they are developing a driving range?

I think if people are thinking about a practice facility they should find themselves an architect, someone who can work them through the process of developing more than just a driving range, something that includes a practice facility. I would encourage them to get detailed plans and work out all the details of drainage and safety issues.

You can see the complete golf course design article as well as the mP3 audio interview at Golf Course Designers Herfort Norby

Colin Goehring
http://www.articlesbase.com/ask-an-expert-articles/golf-course-driving-range-design-127547.html

Office golfers pay attention! Your short game needs help, doesn’t it? Why let your job stop you from practicing your putting? Now you can golf all day in your office instead of working. This executive golf putting cup is ready for putting practice or

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The GEMS Set is based directly on input received by women golfers, instructors and expert designers for women new to the game or the occasional high-handicapper. As a result Callaway Golf engineers have built a technologically advanced set of clubs women said they want and need. Comprised of eight clubs that utilize the latest Callaway Golf game-improvement technologies, the set provides the optimal configuration for a womans game and has been designed for maximum playability. Each club features weighting that promotes a draw ball flight and higher trajectories to help keep the ball in the air for increased distance. Driver and Fairway Wood – Draw-biased all-titanium driver and stainless steel fairway wood help reduce fades and slices for more fairways hit. Hybrid and i-brids – Increased offset helps square the clubface at impact and super wide sole design improves turf interaction so the clubs slide smoothly over varying surfaces. Chipper and Putter – Short-game tools that will help get the ball to the hole. The chipper minimizes spin and promotes smooth roll on approach shots from just off the green. The alignment putter makes lining up putts easier and more accurate. Lightweight Stand Bag – The soft colors will appeal to women of varying tastes and the lightweight design makes it easier to carry around the course.

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When I began playing in high school,noticed many friends had much better ball striking ability compared to me but had same experience playing as me. They werent any good (105-110?),but struck ball decent with driver and irons. I couldnt hit it 10 feet with irons. This lead me to more many hours at putting and chipping/pitching green where I knew I’d at least hit ball.

I know everybody is different, but for average bogey golfer ,how many out of 10, 150 yard 5 iron shots hit the green? Is this the bread and butter for a average player? or at least a shot where they rarely chunk or top?

I have been in mid 80′s for a year with so/so ball striking,so curious where I measure up/or is my short game just that good(3 putt maybe 1 hole for dbogey per round,most chips/flops go to at least 3 feet)

you can get your answer with the experience guy who is playing golf from high school.if u r a average bogey golfer then practice of shots make u good player.

A new golf season is just starting. Here are a few tips to improve your golf score and your enjoyment of playing.

Set goals for the new season. Take a few minutes a decide how much you would like to improve your golf score. Be realistic if you’ve never broken 100 it probably will be too much of a stretch to become a scratch golfer in just one season. You could however set a goal of consistently playing in the low 90′s. Practice really does make perfect. If you can’t get out to the course to play an entire round, at least go to the driving range a couple of times a week.

Make sure your golf equipment is ready. Inventory your equipment and make any repairs or additions that are necessary. You may have forgotten that unfortunate incident last September when you heaved your 5-iron into the lake after a nasty shank. Sometimes we forget how long we have been using the same clubs. The grips might be worn or the grooves damaged. Check out the latest advancements in club technologies. If your clubs are marked “cleek” or “mashie niblick” you might consider an upgrade to the 21st century, or at least take your clubs to Antiques Roadshow for a quick appraisal. You might get a pleasant surprise.

A change in attitude. Golfers often talk themselves into playing badly, right from the first drive of the new year. If all you can think about is how you always slice the ball on a particular hole, then that’s exactly what you’ll do. Forget about all the bad golf you played last year. Start fresh, with a clean mental slate. Golf pros train themselves to visualize the perfect outcome for each shot. We can all do that, on a modest basis. For most of us, thinking we’ll shoot 65 at Pebble Beach isn’t visualization, it’s hallucination.

Be realistic in what you can expect from yourself. Recognize that your short game is a challenge for you and then practice to change it.

A change in golf buddies. Consider expanding your sphere of friends this year. If you belong to a club, invite one of the members you’ve never played with before to join your foursome. Meeting new friends on the course can make the conversation during the round more stimulating, and may even have benefits down the line in the form of new business contacts. Another benefit is that new golf buddies won’t expect you to make the same old mistakes you always make.

A change in golf venues. Most of us aren’t aware of all the great courses within easy driving distance of our homes. We tend to play the same familiar layouts all the time. Do an online search for courses in your region that offer discount greens fees. You’ll save money and also be able to enjoy a fresh challenge and new scenery.

A fresh outlook, revamped clubs, new golfing buddies, and challenges new courses can make this the most enjoyable and best golf season you’ve ever had.

Brian Hill
http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/improve-your-golf-score-5-tips-747585.html

I can drive the ball around 200-220 consistently but i end up getting in the high 100′s – how can i fix my short game – it usually takes me 3-4 putts.
I do not know where to practise – there is no where in my backyard to practise – where can i practise

Get a 5 gallon bucket and a bunch of balls….either find some grass or I used to hit of my Moms door mat…..at practice chipping into the bucket…….

I go to high school and am on the school team. I play of a 5 and am looking to become a scratch golfer. I can play on monday, wednesday, friday, saturday and sunday. I currently play 2 rounds of golf a week along with an hour of short game practice. I spend a lot of time playing competitively with friends. I am wondering what a good conclusive practice regime would be that could include occasional lessons.

My main weakness is driving and apart from that shots are lost purely on overall consistency. My strengths are chipping, ball striking and short putts.

Thanks, all replies are welcome, especially from those with personal experience.

I’m also in high school and I’m the number one player on our team. I play to a 2.5 index.

Last year I was a 5.5 index and I was spending almost 3 hours a day at the practice range. That’s not the way you want to go if you want to improve. It sounds like you could use a little time at the range if your driving isn’t at the level you would like it to be, but no more than one hour a day. Work on alignment with a club on the ground between you and the ball, set-up parallel left of your target. If your driving doesn’t improve, consider taking lessons and find a coach/instructor that really understands your swing.

Also, if you have a good short game and are a good putter, you probably don’t need to practice those two parts of your game too much. You could cut some of your short game time to work on oyur long game. Practice your weaknesses, not your strengths.

This is some good advice I heard from my swing coach – "If you’re playing well, then play. If you’re not playing well, practice."

If you’re on a hot streak and playing really well, you don’t need to practice as much.