Practice Framework

Adding the idea of spacing into practice is one of the simplest ways to make your range work feel more like the golf course.

Practice quality can suffer if your tendency is to hit a lot of balls, shot after shot with very little time in-between. Doing this removes two key parts of performance, reset and pre-shot routine. On the course, every shot is separated. You think, assess, commit, and then execute. Spacing brings that structure back into practice.

By creating time between shots, you give yourself space to reset your posture, re-centre your intention, and learn from the previous ball before hitting the next one. It also improves focus, because each shot now has a clear start and finish, rather than blending into the next.

Dave Alred uses a simple but powerful framework for this from hos book ‘The Pressure Principle’: 5 sets of 5 balls. Instead of hitting 25 shots in a row, you break them into smaller groups with breaks in between. Each set has a purpose, and each ball carries more intention.

This structure naturally increases pressure, encourages better pre-shot routines, and improves the quality of feedback you get from each shot. It also reduces “mindless reps” and replaces them with more deliberate practice, which is where improvement takes place.