Make your practice more fun

May 1, 2014 7:11 pm

TIP-make-your-practice-more-funBy Jon Woodroffe

I think as a child I would have been diagnosed with A.D.D. (attention deficit disorder) with regard to my golf practice, I just found it very dull trying to hit the golf ball the same all the time, apart from the fact that I also did not have the ability to hit the ball anything like the same every time. So I used to find my mind wandering off and thinking things like, I wonder how I would hit the golf ball round a tree, or under an overhanging branch, and then I would have a game with myself trying to achieve the goal I had set myself. I guess the education people would say that I engaged in experiential learning, to me it was just saving me from getting bored. But in hindsight this was a great way to make the time I spent practicing both more enjoyable and also more useful for playing golf in the real world. Unless you are super talented and never hit your golf ball in a position where you need to bend it back into play or escape from a dilemma, I think learning how to fade and draw the ball or hit a high or low shot is a must to get better scores.

When you are next at World of Golf, start your practice by hitting a few short irons to get your swing warmed up, then a few longer irons until you feel you are in the groove so to speak. Then picture out on the ball landing area a scenario where you need to shape the ball from right to left, a draw around a tree. The technique is simpler than you might think; this is best done with a 5 or 6 iron. Aim your feet, shoulders hips and mind in the direction you wish the ball to start and aim the clubface where you want the ball to finish, and then swing the golf club along the line that your body is aiming. Picture how a footballer would bend a ball round the wall at a free kick, try it, you have nothing to lose, not even the ball, it is one of ours!!!

Then try the fade, and again the process is the same, aim your feet hips shoulders and mind where you want the ball to start and the clubface where you want the ball to finish and then swing the golf club in the direction your body is aiming, this time this is best done with a long iron or a wood, particularly the driver. Again, nothing to lose, just imagine the flight that you need the golf ball to go in and let your body respond to this vision, you may well surprise yourself with your ability to achieve these shots. If you normally slice or hook, you will obviously find it easier to do the one you normally do by accident, but try hard to practice the other shape, you will be amazed at how it helps you to feel how to hit a straight shot, try it and make your practice at World of Golf both more enjoyable and effective for your golf game.

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