Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

Slats,

I like that FFS (that's if I have undestood it correctly).

Come on ladies!!!! Agree to disagree.

Practice the right things. Have a regime. Be flexible. Always finish a practice session on a positive note.

Have a nice day

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

Practice is not compulsory. It does not make it any less effective. We should use the technique that works for each of us. But without practice, any technique won't work to its full potential. I know that for a fact.

The debate on semantics is necessary, unfortunately. It stems from the lack of substance of the arguments I outlined (the right things to practice, perfect practice makes perfect, etc). I read the argument over and over. It always fails to convince me. Perhaps it's a lack of substance of the arguments or a lack of discussion skills of the arguer. It makes no difference in the end, the argument still fails to convince me.

Perhaps I should swing like Hogan but I don't see why I should if I can still send the ball to the target by swinging any way I want with sufficient practice. Even if I were to swing like Hogan, I will need just as much practice to produce the same desired result.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

What are the right things to practice? How do I know it's the right things? Is it sufficient to look at the result I'm producing to determine if I'm practicing the right things? Or is there some other form of quality control involved?

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

Hi Martin,

All I know is, when it comes to my long game I only practice what coach wants me to practice. I focus on nothing else.

I also work on my short game - those shots that have let me down during the round.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

Ok, seeing as you said debating semantics was necesary......

My alteration to your statement:

"......without practice, any technique IS PRESUMABLY LESS LIKELY TO work CONSISTENTLY to its full potential...." It will work sporadically, however...

I'm sure there are a few "gifted" (or talented if you prefer) players out there who without ever having practiced their golf swing still manage to hit it to their intended target... (assuming of course that they ACTUALLY have targets in mind...)

That said, how do you suggest I practice my golf game if my ONLY target is to enjoy myself whilst playing, without regard to my actual ability...???


Cheers

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

Then I'd suggest that you eliminate whatever you don't enjoy and emphasize what you do enjoy. I'd suggest essentially the same thing to somebody who would want to improve his ability.

I refuse to believe in any gift people might possess. Instead, I prefer to think of predispositions towards an activity based on previous activities or interests. For instance, I train for strength since march. I'm now able to control the club much more precisely than before this training. Had I started playing golf after a lengthy period of strength training, I presume that I would have had the same advantage I now have because of that training. Thus, it would've appeared that I had a gift for controlling the club the way I do now. I have a predisposition to control the club properly because of my strength training.


Which brings me to another point I did not address in my original text. I think that the great majority of people who play golf are simply not strong enough to control the club properly if what I see on the range and the course is any indication. I've come to this conclusion after I noticed a significant improvement in my ability to control the club following my strength training. I don't mean strength for power, I mean strength for control. The strength needed to control the club properly lies mainly in the forearms and the hands. After having trained with weights that weigh several times what a club weighs when I swing it, the club now feels very light when I swing it. I need only to apply little force to control the club as well or better than I was able to before strength training.

With greater strength comes the ability to apply more control. With more control comes the ability to execute with greater precision. Put practice in the mix and I get good results.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

At least we can understand what Martin is saying! No one has suggested they cannot understand his argument, it has been made perfectly clear, there has only been discussion on whether others agree with his theories or methodology. Sorry you did not grasp that.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

I think what Martin is saying is " Theres more then one way to skin a cat".
That is what I gathered out of his first post.Get the ball in the cup in as few of strokes as possible. I believe he has good intentions when posting his threads of helping people achieve there golfing goals, just as everyone else who posts.Being of a "first grade mentality" I could have used more pictures in his post but I got what I could out of it.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

Weird, to me it looks like he is saying "this is how I skin my cat, it is superior to how you skin yours and I am not going to debate the merits of my method as it is correct and anyone who does it better is wasting their time......

....and I am going to chime in with the same cat skinning method in as many threads as I can and steadfastly refuse that there is more than one way to skin a cat".

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

An appropriate allegory is, there are many ways to handle the knife, but without practice, we can hardly cut anything. And ultimately, we want to skin the cat properly, not merely use the knife properly. If I wanted to convince you that my technique is better, then I would try that. Instead, I try to demonstrate that there is not just one technique that is appropriate, not just one method that works. And ultimately, the method is not what's important, it's the practice of that method that makes the method effective and successful. It's what the method is intended to produce that's important. I think it was clear from the start. If you want me to bring further clarification, ask.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

I train for strength. I keep a log of each workout to keep track of my progress from one workout to the next and over longer periods of time. It occured to me that keeping a log of practice sessions would be good for the same reason.

An example.

My typical session is to hit 500 balls with one club or more. Always hit to a target. Do a drill for a few balls. This takes me about 5 hours. I would log how many balls I hit and which club I used and how long the session took so that I could plan to use a different club for the next session. I may not remember which club I practiced last session so keeping a log would help me improve with those clubs I haven't used during previous sessions. I could also take note of mistakes during a game so that I work them out during the next session. Then I would log my progress with that work. Etc.

You could log other things such as distance achieved with each club or that you worked on a specific technique or something like that. Looking back at previous performance helps progress and plan with future performance.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

Hi Martin,

Something that seems to be missing from you is having fun and enjoying yourself, it all sounds rather clinical. I am honestly not being sarcastic here, that's the way it all sounds, rather matter of fact.

Now! I did see that video you posted of your swing some time ago, I won't get into your swing but you did seems to be fooling around in that video, I do hope that you are able to get out a bit with some mates and enjoy your game.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

The subject is practice, not playing. Practice is boring, as a matter of fact. It can be made exciting especially for team games to encourage players to practice more or at least as much as they should.

I was thinking of something that may be related to practice being boring or unpopular. It occurred to me that repetition is used as a form of punishment. Punishment is to impose something unpleasant to a person in response to unwanted behavior. It means that for those who have been punished that way, practice is a punishment. Even as an adult who can reason, some may still think practice is a bad thing. Just like punishment was a bad thing. Bart Simpson comes to mind. Imagine filling a page with this: "When I grow up, I will never repeat anything. When I grow up, I will never repeat anything."

I don't know why repetition is used as punishment. Perhaps it comes from the fact that repetition itself is thought of as unpleasant. But I don't think that's that true reason. Instead, I think it comes from the laziness of teachers who can't think of a better way to punish or think that this kind of punishment will "drill some sense into that kid's brain". Well, I know some people who are now compelled to never practice anything and thus condemned to remain mediocre.

I can't help but think that only two kinds of people practice: The talented and the punished. Sarcasm aside, I think that those who have been punished with repetition may have tried to convince themselves that practice is a bad thing in every way possible. "Don't practice, you'll learn bad habits." "Practice is boring, we don't learn anything from it." "Practice is permanent, anything you learn, you'll get stuck with."

If we can think of other ways to convince ourselves that practice is a bad thing, perhaps it's time to think of our underlying reasons for doing so. See if those reasons are truly reasonable.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

I don't find practice boring at all. I enjoy it, for the most part. Yes, it can be frustrating when it fails to bring improvement, but for the most part I like the challenge. I'd practice more but the cost and distance are an obstacle. I refuse to practice from mats; they distort everything. The only range with decent turf is about a half hour away. It's $9 for 85 balls. Sometimes people who don't have time to finish leave extras.

To me, practice doesn't feel like punishment at all.

Re: Practice: Purpose and Method

Practice creates confidence.