Tip #43: Meaningful Practice

The key to mastering both the basics and subtleties of shotmaking is practice. At some tournaments, people will come by and watch me practice, and I'll look to them like a complete hacker.

On the range, play the course in your mind, intentionally shaping shots to fit each hole.

First I'll hit a big slice, then, with the very next ball, a big hook. Then I'll hit one way up in the air, and without changing clubs I'll hit a low screamer. I'm simply practicing my shotmaking.

In my mind, this is the most enjoyable practice of all. And one of the nicest things is it's good training for your visualization and mental discipline as well. What I like to do is pretend I'm playing a particular golf course, and using one club, such as a 4-iron, I try to hit the shots that the course calls for.

If the first hole is a dogleg left, I'll try to hit a draw. If the hole normally plays into the wind, I'll try to hit a low second shot. Then I'll play the second hole, hitting a high downwind drive.

I'll pretend that the flagstick on that hole is on the back left of the green, and I'll play a draw that will seek out the pin. I'll hit each of these shots with the 4-iron, hitting to a wide open practice range. It's the ultimate test of your ability both to imagine shots and to play them.

The other great way to practice your shotmaking is to take a bag of golf balls and toss them into some of the worst places possible -- into fairway bunkers, behind trees, from difficult lies. Then try to get the balls out of those positions in at least two different ways.

If, for instance, you're blocked by a tree, try to hit a high shot over it as well as a draw or fade around it. This type of practice is, after all, the real thing. It also forces you to develop your imagination. Knowing how to hit these shots is of comparatively little value if you can't recognize the opportunities to play them.

So get used to your talent at bending the ball and test the limits of that talent. Once you know what you can and can't do from various lies, you'll "see" shots you've never seen before.

It's the combination of talent and vision that will enable you to play aggressively from almost any lie.

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