Tip #21

Don't Practice Strengths

by Dr. Richard C. Myers

There are a number of errors of practice which lead to in-efficiency. A common one occurs when a golfer practices the very shot with which he has the greatest skill.

How could such an apparently obvious mistake be prevalent? Here are a few reasons:

• Because a golfer can make a given shot, he derives more pleasure from practicing it than a shot which continually causes him anguish.
  

• He may not have the courage to make a public display of his weak shots.
  

• The good shot he is practicing may have been a weak shot at one time, and he has allowed a good idea to become a somewhat unreasonable fixed idea through simple habit.
  

• Poor form can force a golfer to practice strengths excessively and incorrectly. It is possible for a person to get good results by excessive practice of a weak technique. I saw an example of this by a player who was very successful in using lofted clubs close to the green, when a less lofted club should have been used. He did very well with his shot, he attained this by excessive practice which could have been better apportioned to his putting, which was only fair. Practice alone is insufficient. It is vital that you undertake a ceaseless quest for good form, and get it as early in his your instruction as you can. Sensei Mark Anthony teaches good form in all of his training videos.
  

• Do on make the error of not understanding the law of diminishing returns. This simply means that it can be dangerous to try to become too good with any given club. There comes a point in every shot at which additional practice does not produce an equivalent improvement in the score.  A example of this application is the following: The problem to be solved is that when you are off the green you are taking three and four to get down instead of two. There are several solutions. With the first, you can practice putting until you learn to get down in one. With the second, you can practice chipping until you are so accurate that it always leaves a" gimme". The third is the most efficient, would be to practice chipping and putting together until you could reasonably be expected to go down in tow. The first tow solutions would require excessive practice. 
  

• Another common error, which we have indicated previously by implication, is that a person is not practicing his true weakness. They may be practicing what is only apparently a weakness. To establish the weakness with the first priority on his item, it is necessary for him to analyze his records.