John Hamarik's Tips of The Trades - Advice from a PGA Pro.

How to Practice

First and foremost, take lessons. You have to have confidence in the coach and feel comfortable, or you are probably wasting your money. As a final note, teaching golf has a lot of different 'schools of thought', worry less about trying to understand them all and more about finding one that worries about you.

When you go to range, go with a reason, have a plan of action on what it is you want to achieve. To many golfers don't practice, instead they mechanically pound 75 to 100 balls at a driving range, usually looking to hit the driver over the fence.

When you practice, practice all of the golf swing. Every shot should be approached as if it were on the course. Practice as much on your setup as your swing. Your focus should be on building a strong foundation from which you can swing. As an example:

1. First, ask yourself:
   Where is the target?
   What is the distance?
   What is my club selection?
2. Now, stand behind the ball and take a practice swing, visualize the shot, feel the swing.
3. Take one last look at the target, step-up, align yourself, '...take dead aim...' and swing. Remember to use a full follow through.

Driving Ranges are named wrong, instead they should all be renamed to Golf Practice Facilities. Every other sport refers to their practice areas as "practice fields", not the 'long bomb field' or 'home run field'. Golfers should go the range to practice.

Practice from green to tee, play from tee to green. Why? Well lets breakdown a round of golf and see where we spend most of our time. As an example, an 18 Hole course consisting of: 4 Par fives (475 to 530 yds), 4 Par threes (130 to 165 yds), 10 Par fours (330 to 410 yds). This means that if we shot par we would probably use the following clubs:

Clubs:	Total Played:	Percentage
Driver	14	19.5%
Fairway Wood	4	5.5%
5-PW	18	25%
Putter	36	50%
TOTAL	72	100%

Note: 75% of the golf shots are approach or putting, yet ask yourself, what percentage do you practice these. If you don't like your answer, consider a change.

If you are a high handicapper and want to drop 10 strokes in two weeks (sounds like a diet program), leave your driver in the trunk, practice 50% putting, 25% approach shots and 25% chipping.

Putting: Emphasize long putts and lagging, finish putting by putting 5 balls from 4 to 6 feet around the cup and putt until you make all 5. Do not put all 5 from the same spot.
Chipping: Practice chipping by placing groups of three (3) balls at different locations around the green. From each location chip to a different target/distance. Concentrate on distance and lag. For each chip, practice your set-up routine for chipping. Do not hit over and over again to the same target.
Approach: Practice approach shots by finding several targets at 50, 75, 100, 125, and 150 yards. Grab 25 to 30 balls and work your way around the targets. Focus on your set-up routine, swinging through the ball to the target, creating a smooth tempo. Alternate the targets. Find your weakness and concentrate on alternating this target more often in the rotation. Identify the best club for you at each distance.