Structuring Practice to
Optimize Golf Skill Learning
Dr. Bob Christina, Professor Emeritus
Assistant Men’s Golf Coach
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
The Pinehurst Golf Academy
Precision Golf School
rchristina@uncg.edu
Why is it Important to Know
About Practice?
“Nobody---but nobody---has
ever become really proficient
at golf without practice,
without a lot of thinking and
then hitting a lot of shots.”
Jack Nicklaus
Why is it Important to Know
About Practice?
• Golf skills cannot be learned
without physical practice
• Some practice conditions facilitate
learning more than others
Three Things Can Happen
When You Practice
• Your skills and play can get
better
• They can stay the same, or
• They can get worse
Why is it Important to Know
About Practice?
“The Way Golf Skills are
Practiced Affects How Well
They are Learned, Retained
and Transferred to Play.”
Why is it Important to Know
About Practice?
“As PGA teachers, you are
responsible for designing
practice conditions that
optimize student learning”
Six Conditions of Effective
Practice
•
•
•
•
•
•
Practice with a Specific Purpose
Practice the Right Things
Practice the Right Way
Practice the Right Amount
Practice with Relevant Feedback
Practice when Motivated
Practice With a Specific Purpose
“The secret to
beneficial practice
is keeping a
definite idea upon
which to work.”
Bobby Jones
Practice With a Specific Purpose
“Whenever I go out
with a bag of balls I
have a very specific
objective in mind…
I have a clear-cut
purpose in mind on
every swing.”
Jack Nicklaus
Practice With a Specific Purpose
“If you practice
hitting balls without a
purpose long
enough, you will start
out doing it right and
eventually find out
how to do it wrong.”
Harvey Penick
Practice With a Specific Purpose
“The most common
practice error is to drift
aimlessly to the range
and start banging balls
at random. This isn’t
practice. This is a
waste of time. The
worst thing you can do
is practice your
mistakes.”
Tony Lema
Where do Students Find Specific
Practice Purposes?
• What the teacher worked on with the student
in the previous lesson(s)
• What the student thinks should be worked on
• What other sources recommend:
– Golf magazines or books
– Instructional DVDs or Golf Channel
– Golf schools
– Playing partners
Practice the Right Things
“Work on the fundamentals
constantly.”
Nick Price
“Every golfer has a fault he falls
back into repeatedly. The trick is
learning what that fault is and how to
correct it.”
Ken Venturi
Practice the Right Things
• Did You Know That The
Driver, Wedge, and Putter
Account for About 75% of
Your Score?
Did You Know That Your Golf Game is
About
43% PUTTING
25% WOOD PLAY
13% CHIPPING
7% SHORT IRONS
5% TROUBLE SHOTS
4% MEDIUM IRONS
3% LONG IRONS
What Are the Right Things?
The golf, mental, and course management
skills and playing strategies that must be
practiced to learn to improve one’s game:
• Skills fundamentals
• Scoring skills
• Weaker skills
• Most frequently used skills
• Green reading skills
• etc
Practice the Right Way
The purpose of practice
determines the right
way to practice
Three Major Purposes of Practice
• Skills development
– Learning
• Skills maintenance
– Retention
• Skills transfer
– Transfer of learning
Two Major Ways of Practicing
• Skills development (learning)
and maintenance (retention)
are achieved through skills
practice
• Skills transfer is achieved
through transfer practice
SKILLS PRACTICE
Elements of Skills Practice for
Skills Development
• Hit balls in practice contexts
• Hit balls repeatedly from good,
level lies with the same club
• Hit balls the same distance to one
target using the same alignment
• Hit balls using drills and training
aids
Elements of Skills Practice for
Skills Development
• Distribute practice (take a break after
several of shots)
• Receive relevant feedback about
swing and/or shot performance
• Reflect on how to improve during
each break based on relevant
feedback
Elements of Skills Practice for
Skills Development
• No practice of pre- and post-shot
routines
• No practice under competitive
pressure
Elements of Skills Practice for
Skills Retention
Same as for skills learning, except:
• Fewer repetitions of each skill are
performed
• Drills or training aids used only to
check for correctness of form and
maintain feeling
Transfer Practice is
Certainly Not New!
How Did James Braid Practice?
• “For practice to
have full value,
make each swing
with the care of a
stroke from a tee
on medal day”
5 Time British Open
Champion 1901-1910
How Did Ben Hogan Practice?
• “WHILE I AM
PRACTICING I AM ALSO
TRYING TO DEVELOP MY
POWERS OF
CONCENTRATION. I
NEVER JUST WALK UP &
HIT THE BALL. I DECIDE
IN ADVANCE HOW I
WANT TO HIT AND
WHERE I WANT IT TO
GO”
How Did Jack Nicklaus Practice?
• “ALL MY LIFE I’VE
TRIED TO HIT PRACTICE
SHOTS WITH GREAT
CARE. I TRY TO HAVE A
CLEAR-CUT PURPOSE
IN MIND ON EVERY
SWING. I ALWAYS
PRACTICE AS I INTEND
TO PLAY”
How Does Luke Donald Practice?
“When I practice my short
game, I try to simulate
real golf. I chip or pitch
to several different
targets, or spread the
balls around and hit to
one target from a bunch
of different spots. I use
it in the practice bunker
and on the putting
green, too.”
CLEARLY, BRAID, HOGAN,
NICKLAUS PRACTICED AND
MICKELSON, WOODS, DONALD
PRACTICE THE WAY THEY PLAY TO
TRANSFER SKILLS FROM THE
RANGE TO COMPETITION ON THE
COURSE
Elements of Transfer Practice
•
•
•
•
Practice Like You Play
Practice on a course
Play a simulated round on the
range or short-game area
Play shots from varied lies
Use different clubs to hit balls to
different targets at different
distances
Elements of Transfer Practice
Practice Like You Play
• Play shots with the same club to
different targets of varied distances
• Play shots with different ball flights
• Play shots using pre- and post-shot
routines
Elements of Transfer Practice
Practice Like You Play
• Use one swing for each shot, regardless
of the outcome
• Use one ball for short game shots and
putting---keep score
• Practice shot accountability under
simulated competitive pressure
Elements of Transfer Practice
Practice Like You Play
• Vary accuracy demands of shots
• Play shots with different clubs selected
at random
• Putt from different distances selected at
random
A QUESTION
“IF YOUR STUDENTS’ GOLF SKILLS
DON’T TRANSFER TO PLAY THE
WAY THEY PRACTICE, WHY NOT
HAVE THEM PRACTICE THE WAY
THEY DO TRANSFER?”
Practice the Right Way
Spacing of Practice
• Frequent, shorter practice
periods benefit learning more
than fewer, longer ones
Practice the Right Way
Where to direct student’s attention
when practicing a swing
• Internal cues
• External cues
Practice the Right Way
• Internal cues:
– Focus attention on the movements or
mechanics that produce the swing
• External cues:
– Focus attention on the effects the
movements have on the environment
such as the clubhead
Where Did Jack Nicklaus Direct His
Attention?
“Some people think about what they’re
mechanically doing through the ball. I
think about what I want the clubhead to
do through the ball to make the ball do
what I want.”
“… I didn’t play by swing mechanics. I
played by feeling things that would make
the mechanics happen.” (Nicklaus 2011)
Examples of External Cues
• Imagine the top half of the putter face
contacting the ball before the bottom
half
• Whisk the shot on its way as though you
were swinging a broom for proper
chipping action
• The club’s acceleration from the top of
the backswing should be gradual, like a
car coming down a roller coaster
Examples of External Cues
• Swing the clubhead along the target line
• Take the clubhead back along the target
line such that the toe is pointing to the
sky when the shaft is parallel to the
ground
• Visualize hitting a fade when hooking or
hitting a draw when slicing
Distance of an External Cue
from the Student
• Any distance if it works
• More experienced (skilled) the
student, the further it can be
away
Concluding Remarks About Internal and
External Cues
• Students can learn and perform using
either internal or external cues
• Often external cues can produce a faster
rate of learning than internal cues
• Often external cues can be used more
easily than internal cues when playing
• Often internal cues are used when
external cues would be more effective
Practice the Right Amount
“I learned a long time
ago that there is a
limit to the number of
shots you can hit
effectively before
losing your
concentration on your
basic objectives.”
Jack Nicklaus
When to Stop Practicing
• Stop practicing when:
– Goals are achieved
– 100% concentration cannot be
sustained
– Lack of progress leads to
frustration and discouragement
– Boredom sets in
– Physical fatigue begins to impair
skill performance
Amount of Practice Effects
High
I
m
p
r
o
v
e
m
e
n
t
Low
•Learning
•Proficiency of Performance
•Retention & Transfer
•Reliability of Performance
Low
Moderate
Amount of Practice
High
“On What Should the
Amount of Practice be
Increased?”
48
“How Can the Amount of
Practice be Increased While
Maintaining the Motivation
to Learn?”
How Much Practice is Needed to
Reach Elite Performance?
AMOUNT OF PRACTICE
NEEDED TO BECOME
AN EXPERT
ABOUT 10,000 HOURS
OR
10 YEARS
Ericsson, et al (1993)
AVERAGE NUMBER OF YEARS 11
MAJOR WINNERS PLAYED
THE GAME BEFORE
THEIR VICTORY
Amount of Practice Needed to
Become a Major Champion
A Test of the 10,000 Hour
Hypothesis: The Dan Plan
•
•
•
•
www.TheDanPlan.com
www.ChristopherSmithGolf.com
Dan is 30 years old; never played golf before
Quit his job as a commercial photographer
on April 5, 2010 to test the 10,000 hour
hypothesis
• Practices 30 plus hours per week
Practice with Relevant
Feedback
• Relevant feedback is essential
information about how students
performed compared to how
they should have performed
Sources of Relevant Feedback
Intrinsic
• Feeling the swing or ball contact
• Hearing the clubface contact the
ball
• Seeing the ball flight, shot, and
divot pattern
Sources of Relevant Feedback
Augmented
• Verbal or non-verbal cues from a
teacher, coach, or playing partner
• Video
• Launch monitor or swing vest
• Drills or training aids
What Relevant Feedback Provides
• A basis for evaluating the correctness
of performance, from which students
can learn to improve or maintain their
level of skill
• Information that can positively or
negatively influence motivation to
learn
How to Administer Relevant
Augmented Feedback in Practice
• Provide augmented feedback more
frequently early in learning and less
as learning progresses
• Encourage each student to learn the
golf swing and shots through guided
discovery by providing augmented
feedback only when needed
Practice When Motivated
Learning
More
Effort
High
Low
Less
Low
Moderate
Motivation Level
High
Practice When Motivated
• Students’ motivation determines
how much effort they expend
toward learning each practice goal
• Thus, the teacher must find ways
to motivate each student
Ways to Motivate Students
• Set specific practice goals that are
meaningful and moderately
challenging
• Work on each goal only as long as
the student can maintain 100%
concentration
• Strive to achieve a variety of goals
in each session
Ways to Motivate Students
• Incorporate variety, friendly
competition, games, play, fun,
humor, and rest breaks
• Use motivating feedback that
compliments the student’s
effort, desirable performances,
and progress
Ways to Motivate Students
• Show enthusiasm for the student’s
learning
• Show empathy and provide
encouragement when the student
struggles with learning
• Have student practice with other
students
THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION