A question that I often get asked is how much time should you spend playing on the course and how much time should you spend on the practice range? My schedule over the past fewmonths is a great example of having to consider how much time I devote to one or the other.
Over the last three months I have played 3 events. In December I travelled to Mauritius to play the season ending European Legends Tour Championship. From Perth is it around a 7 hour direct flight, which compared to a lot of the travel I did during 2024 almost felt like playing at home. As you can imagine it is a beautiful place to visit and is a nice way to end the season.
After the festive season, the next tournament was on the Challenger Australasia Tour at Royal Fremantle in early January. People often have dreams about travelling the world playing golf for a living but believe me the ultimate dream is being able to stay in your own bed and play golf for a living. I hadn’t picked up the clubs since Mauritius so the game was a little rusty and my results weren’t quite what I had hoped for. Should I have practiced on the range a bit more, or played some more rounds of golf?
Mid February was first event of the year on European Legends Tour in Marbella, Spain. A long way to go for one week but the weather was beautiful for this time of year with temperatures in the high teens, lots of sunshine and very little wind. The first tournament of the season always provides an opportunity to gauge what parts of your game are going well and what parts need working on.
Reflecting on my schedule over the last three months, I can now ask myself the same questions that many of you that I coach ask…………. did I practice on the range enough? Did I play enough rounds of golf?
It is definitely a balancing act and one that is slightly different for everyone. Both practicing and playing have advantages and complement each other when you are trying to improve your scores and handicap. Of course, you are likely to play more than you practice as part of the fun of golf is playing with your friends. But if you’re serious about improving your scoring then you must practice on the range as well………… even if its just an hour a week.
The advantages of practicing on the range:
• You get to hit a lot of shots focusing on strengths and weaknesses. This will help you to get that “feeling” right by hitting the same club over and over again.
• Work on fundamentals and techniques such as grip, posture and ball position.
• It builds confidence. The more balls you hit the higher the likelihood that you will start to hit good shots more consistently.
The advantages of playing are:
• You become more adaptable to variables such as wind, negotiating trees, or course elevation changes.
• You become more adaptable to different terrain such as sidehill lies, rough, different texture of sand in bunkers.
• You will develop course management strategies – something you can only develop by playing.
• Playing adds realism and pressure as there are consequences for hitting poor shots.
The bottom line, range practice allows you to hit a high volume of shots, but it lacks the realism and consequences you find on the course. The ultimate aim of practice is to build confidence and become mentally strong. Personally, I think it is better to play more than practice. Only by playing can I identify areas of my game that need work so that I can more efficiently and effectively use my time on the practice range.
Finding that perfect combination for you might take a bit of experimentation. One week practice twice and play once. The next week practice once and play twice. You can discover what works best for you. The key to improvement is that you MUST do both.
Whether you are starting out, or you are a seasoned player, book a lesson at michaellonggolf.com and we can put a plan together to shoot lower scores.
