The biggest mistake people make in practice is using Block Practice over Random Practice. Block Practice is the process of hitting the same shot or putt over and over again. People love Block Practice because it is easy. There is very little thought and the average rate of success is high because you do it repeatedly. Unfortunately, this leads to the Illusion of Learning. The Illusion of Learning occurs when you feel more confident from Block Practice due to how easy it is, but it does not transfer to long term results.
THE ULTIMATE TEST OF LEARNING IS HOW YOU PLAY ON THE GOLF COURSE!
Random Practice is exactly how it sounds. You hit random shots with different clubs and targets. My favorite form of this is to imagine your favorite golf course and hit shots like you are playing the course. Perfect example is Wanaki Golf Course. The first hole is 440 yards from the blue tees. If you go through your process and hit a good drive with a slight fade, you would hit your next shot from the distance you would expect to have in on your second shot.
What are the positives of both?
Block Practice is great for making a swing change or working on something specific in your swing. Depending on your skill level you may only do block practice. If you are just starting out and have never hit a golf ball or hit very few in your life you will want to start with block practice hitting 7 iron over and over again to build the swing and understand the movement. Better players will still use Block Practice when making a swing change. They are allowed to focus on the swing change over and over without worrying about the results.
Random Practice teaches you to play golf. Using Random Practice golfers learn to implement a swing change with all of their clubs in multiple situations. Random Practice forces players to go through their process (Pre-shot routine) before every shot. This added level of challenge will teach golfers to perform on the golf course, not just be a “Range Player.”
How do you take this to the range?
I like to see students start out with a bucket of balls and a warm up. For this example I will use a bucket of 100 balls to make math easy! You can take these baseline numbers and implement them for however many golf balls or how much time you have in your practice session. Begin with some active stretching (See my article under Golf Fitness) then some practice and warm up swings.
With your first 20-30 golf balls (20-30% of your practice) you will use Block Practice to implement and work on swing changes. If you are working on alignment and ball position with your driver you may use alignment sticks to check your ball position in set up. Block Practice may go longer or shorter than the allotted time depending on what you are working on. When you finish Block Practice you should have a feel for the golf swing and what you are working on.
The next 50-60 golf balls (A majority of your practice) will be used for Random Practice. Start hitting your driver and go through your process on every shot. After you hit a driver in play hit a 7 iron like you would on Number 1 at Wanaki. Then pull a Wedge or 4 Iron. The key to Random Practice is to go through your process on every shot and challenge yourself.
If you were following along you realize the math does not add to 100% in the above example. This is because you are not done with practice! The final step of practice is to test your retention. The best way to do this is to play a game.
By playing a game you add more of a challenge and can “win your way” off the course or driving range. Always check online for updated games as I am constantly updating the games and drills! Keep track of your practice sessions (what you worked on, what feeling you had, and how you did in the games). When you keep track you will be able to pick off where you left off and constantly push yourself to be better!
