Now you know WHAT to practice, the question then becomes HOW to practice it? This is one of the biggest benefits of the Online Academy, because unlike a normal in person session, the coaching doesn’t stop once the hour is up, you’ll have the feedback, support and resources you need along the way to achieve your goal and make lasting changes.
I’m going to share 6 Keys below to incorporate into every practice session that can help to accelerate your progress.
1. Dynamic Warm Up
The golf swing needs some joints to be stable and some joints to be mobile, a good dynamic warm up will focus on both.
2. A Plan
Write down the technical drills, skill drills and challenges you’re going to work on before you head to the range.
3. Structure
Start your practice session focusing on the technical elements (you might even completely detach from the outcome here) towards the end, simulate game mode as best you can.
4. Feedback
Probably the most important element, this could be the ball flight, video analysis, launch monitors, 3D Software, statistics or training aids. Differentiating between feel and real is the biggest challenge, feedback is the answer.
5. Mindset
This can propel you forward or hold you back…don’t check for for results from swing to swing or session to session, but instead review your progress monthly, quarterly and yearly. In the Online Academy we check in on technique weekly or every 28 days and if your goal is score specific we review your statistics quarterly or every 8-10 rounds (whichever comes first). This allows time for progress to occur and trends to develop.
6. Reflection
Use your notes app and write down what feels, drills and concepts resonated and worked the best. This information is gold for your coach if you’re working with one, but you’ll also end up with a library of tools and concepts built for you and your game.
Structuring a Basket of Balls
“I encourage repetitive training in sets of 5 or 6 maximum, with a short break to reset before starting the next set. The process of resetting improves the depth of learning, providing time to take stock and reflect and nudges the situation closer to match behavior, one shot, one opportunity.”
Dave Alred-The Pressure Principal.
This quote by Dave Alred is from his book ‘The Pressure Principle’, its a great resource that covers what the pursuit of getting better in any sport looks like and how to deal with the inevitable challenges on that journey.
One of the key ideas is structuring your practice into sets of 5 with small breaks in between.
Instead of heading to the range to hit a basket of balls, head to the range to hit 10 sets of 5 balls.
Breaking it up into sets will help maintain focus of the task at hand and build the ‘spacing’ in between repetitions.
Every Practice Session should have…
1.Practice Plan
This is the one to two specific drills for your swing that are most effective for creating the change and result you’re looking.
2.Feedback Tool
Feedback to measure the quality of the repetition, most importantly your tripod and camera phone for video feedback.
The Online Academy helps you dial in these two areas by learning how to record and analyse your swing to ensure progress!
Visit HERE for more info on how to get started today.
Check out the Step-by-Step courses HERE.
That’s it for now! If you’ve found the article helpful please share with a friend who may find it useful too.
Enjoy the practice!
Phil
