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It’s officially a prime season, and the biggest names in golf are working to make sure their matches hit the peak in time. Of course, everyone would love it if they could give their best all the time, but that simply cannot be achieved. Because of this, most players try to make their matches peak for a few weeks a year, usually in the main seasons.
This is not to say that players don’t always strive to improve. Professional golfers eat, sleep, and breathe the game, and spend the majority of their waking hours perfecting their craft. But there are a variety of ways to do this, and everyone’s plan looks different.
Some players are range mice, hitting balls hour after hour to improve their swings. Others prefer to practice on the course, putting themselves into live situations that test every aspect of their game. Each method has its advantages, and it is important to find what works for you.
Before embarking on an exercise plan, consider this: exercise swinging and exercise scoring Two different things. As the saying goes, sports are called golf, not golf swinging.
This does not mean that it is not important to drill a swing in the range. Being technically sound is very important to achieving a consistent swing. But if you start to think about your swing technique a lot on the course, it could be doing more harm than good. You want to find the right balance between technical drills on the range and scoring based on feel on the course to improve your game.
Consider the philosophy of women’s golf star Nelly Korda. The No. 2-ranked player in the world arrives at the Chevron Championships this week in search of her second major title, and as she gets closer to the competition, she’s decompressing her training regimen.
“Just like the simple drills I then bring to the golf course where I don’t think about my swing,” Korda said. “I think more about my shot execution, which is why I tend to try to work on my swing at the beginning of the week and then play a lot more at the end. Then I get into a situation where I don’t golf.”
Having proper technique is key to making powerful swings, but you can’t let the search for the “right” swing get in the way of making the “wanted” swing. The scorecard doesn’t care whether you’re over the top or expanded early on the downswing. The range is the place to work on these imperfections, but the course is for shooting the lowest possible scores.
Take a page out of Korda’s book if you want to improve the balance between range and course. Use simple drills and swing check points when you practice, and when you get to the field, get out of your own way and get the ball into the hole.