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In this concept video, we're going to talk about the specifics of how to

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practice or how to structure a practice session.

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So here I've got my small bucket of golf balls. Let's just say that there are

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50 golf balls in here. I don't really know for sure, but 50 golf balls. How do

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I want to divide up those golf balls?

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Am I just going to hit and react and hit again and hit again and hit again?

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Not if I want to maximize my time. If you have tons of time, you can probably

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get away with having a lot of that.

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But if you're pressed for time like I am when I practice, you got to make sure

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that you're maximizing it.

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So let's say of these 50 golf balls, I'm going to divide it up.

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Let's say 15 golf balls or 20 golf balls for mechanics, and then 30 golf balls

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for the second half.

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Okay, so here's the overall structure of what I like to see with a practice

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session.

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There are different types of practices. There's something called block training

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. There's something called random training, and then there's

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games or putting your skills to the test.

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You want to practice each of them, regardless of what level you're at. Now, if

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you're a beginner,

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you're probably going to spend more of the time in the blocked practice, and I

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'll outline that a little bit easier.

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But you're going to spend more of the time in the blocked practice, and if you

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're more advanced,

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you should spend much less time in the blocked practice.

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If you're very advanced, maybe 90% is going to be random practice and skills

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acquisition or skills training.

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Okay, so what do I mean by these? Block practice is mechanics. So let's say for

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argument's sake, since I just have my station here,

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I'm working on my path.

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So I might have a station built here where I've got a visual of my target line,

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and then I put two golf balls.

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So I'm working on the gate drill.

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Right, so I might take my swing, hit the golf ball,

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just kind of look at the gate, make sure that I stayed within it. This is

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mechanical practice. I'm working on physical technique.

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This is blocked practice, yeah, blocked practice, mechanics.

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This should only be the first part. The purpose of mechanical practice is to

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serve as a cause-and-effect

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corrector. So if I hit a shot, my brain wants to know the cause-and-effect.

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Block practice is a great way for me to test it.

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So, okay, I stayed within the gate. I hit the ball solidly. Very good.

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Everything's confirmed.

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So let's say I did

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15 balls of my 50 with block practice.

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What's random practice? Well, random practice is

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processing the whole decision-making that goes into hitting a golf ball when

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you're on the course. So,

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now, in random practice, I don't get any training aids. So alignment sticks

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gone.

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I'm going to go through my normal decision-making process. I'm going to

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visualize the shot. I'm going to interpret the situation.

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I'm going to take practice swings if I need to. I'm going to get in the right

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state of mind.

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And then I'm going to go into executing. Now, my job in execution is to

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pay attention to staying in the moment.

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So my job is to look for distractions. Like I get over the wall and I'm like,

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this is never going to work.

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Okay, I have to back over because I really have to work on my pre-shot routine

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because those thoughts have to be trained out of coming in,

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coming into the scenario.

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Once I hit my shot, right, so I hit my shot and now I'm going to do my post-

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shot routine. Did I hit it solid?

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Kind of.

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Did I lose focus at any point?

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Yes, I did. You know, I kind of lost track here during this phase. The club

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didn't feel right.

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I just make a note of that. I don't try to correct it at this point.

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And then the last point is, was there something that I missed, you know, when I

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was going through my thought process? Was the lie different?

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I can use the ball flight to evaluate that. Any of that area will help me with

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my pre- and my post-shot routine.

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The last thing would be games. So now I want to hit shots with consequences, or

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with pressure, with a reward.

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So let's say I'm playing the nine-shot ball, or in the nine-shot drill, and I'm

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trying to get all nine shots. Low hook, low slice, low straight,

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medium, high of those three, as quickly as I can, right?

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So my goal is to get through it in nine shots if I can, or if it takes me 30

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shots,

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my goal is to get through it as quickly as I can. So now there's a consequence.

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If I start having trouble hitting the low hook,

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I'm going to feel a little bit of pressure because I know that I have to get

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through this.

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So the way that you want to structure your practice is just

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no more than a third unless you're a real beginner on mechanics, and then at

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least two thirds allocated to random practice,

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which is just hitting shots with different clubs, different targets, different

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distances, different trajectories,

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everything changes, even every shot, and then third is games where I have a

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known outcome,

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and I have a deliberate shot that I'm trying to hit, and if I don't do it right

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, I get penalized, or if I do it right,

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I get rewarded.

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This helps get you in the right kind of player state of mind, and helps you

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transfer your mechanical practice from the range to the course.