A key feature of every successful golfer's routine is practice but far too many novice golfers simply do not know what to practice or how to go about it.
Many golfers are dedicated to their chosen sport and will practice for hours on end,
however a astonishingly high number of golfers really do not know exactly they ought to practice. If you do not believe me then just spend a little bit of time observing golfers on the driving range and observe how many you can spot who appear to be trying to get rid of golf balls as quickly as they can and with as much muscle power as they can muster.
The secret to playing golf lies simply in your ability to correctly swing the club and, while this is not the only skill that you need, mastering this one will take you 80 percent of the way to becoming a successful golfer. However, the difficulty is that the golf swing is a very complex thing and controlling it first means understanding it, together with all of its component parts.
Put in its simplest terms mastering the golf swing needs not only physical strength but also considerable mental agility and the key lies in developing a natural swing by adding a great deal of thought into your practice sessions, without of course going too far and weighting your practice session too much in favor of thought.
Successful golfers are individuals who understand that golf is not only a physical but also a mental game and who can get both into the correct balance. All too many golfers alas either view the game as being only a physical pursuit in which strength wins through or treat it as an almost exclusively mental exercise putting in much too much thought and not enough physical effort.
For the novice the answer lies in taking professional advice and learning not only how to play the game but, more importantly, how to practice golf. Furthermore, what you ought to practice and how you should go about it should be decided largely by your skill and experience as you work up from being a beginner through to an intermediate and perhaps to a professional golfer. For instance, if you are just starting out then you should not be practicing the finer techniques of the game which you see the professionals engaging in but should be focusing your attention on getting the elements of your swing right before you do anything else.
Whilst this article clearly cannot go into detail about exactly what you should be practicing, here is a little bit of advice about what you ought to be including in every practice session.
1. Before you begin you have to know exactly what you wish to practice and set yourself a clear goal.
2. Begin each practice session with a number of short, soft iron shots and gradually work your way up through your set of clubs until you arrive at your driver. Do not try puting real power into your shots until you are happy that your swing is smooth and has a fluid rhythm.
3. regardless of what you are practicing, concentrate on attaining a fluid rhythm as this is the secret to proper coordination and therefore timing.
4. Make sure that you have a target to aim at to help you to build your self confidence. It is one thing to concentrate on lengthening your distance but increasing your distance without accuracy only provides you with a false sense of security. Once out on the course it will not be much good if you can drive the distance necessary but finish up in a bunker or out of bounds because you are unable to also get your ball to go in the direction you need it to.
5. Finally, remember that, while direction and distance will always be important goals in any practice session, you need to also learn to attain a proper sense of balance and so do not concentrate so much on achieving the best distance with accuracy that you neglect to test out different positions as you practice your swing to achieve your best position for that perfect sense of balance.
