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Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you play smarter and better golf.
It’s been John Rahm’s amazing PGA Tour season so far.
Not only did the world’s second-ranked player win the Masters in April (earning his first green jacket and second major title), but he finished Top 10 in nine tournaments Also, which helps him make a lot of money in the process.
There are a number of reasons why Ram is having such a strong season, but perhaps the biggest is his willingness to get down to business. This means a lot of practice and a lot of information to draw upon when he’s on the golf course.
Unlike many golfers, though, Ram’s focused training routine is a little different—he measures his success in time spent practicing, rather than just finishing. This allows him to put in 100% effort.
So how does it work? Take a look below to see how Ram describes his process.
John Ramm’s training routine includes timed challenges
Most amateur golfers usually have the same type of drill, which tends to focus on goal completion.
For example, you might want to hit five consecutive putts on the green, or focus on getting three straight drives into the middle of the fairway, before moving on to a different drill. This is a good way to challenge ourselves by adding some pressure to the situation.
Ram is a little different, however. He says he finds no benefit in practicing doing a number of different strokes in succession.
“I personally don’t find it very productive when I go and do a workout, or I have to be here until I’m done with it, and do X amount of strokes, X amount of this and that,” he said. “Because I don’t feel like I’m giving 100% all the time, right?”
Instead, the 28-year-old Spaniard is focusing on his timing to complete certain exercises. This helps him stay focused and allows him to redouble his efforts.
“I think it was basketball coach John Wooden who said he always liked to have a set amount of time from start to finish, so he would give every player 100% instead of keeping energy. So a lot of those games that I set up are timed.
“It can be eight minutes, it can be up to 20 minutes. If I don’t get it done, I won’t get it done — and it’s very similar to what we do in real life on almost anything.”
This kind of mindset helps Ram accept failure, which is essential in golf to improve every aspect of your game. It reminds him that things won’t be perfect all the time.
“You can try as hard as you want, but you’re not always going to have a chance at success, and that’s what golf is,” he said. “So it’s easier to give my all in a 10-minute workout and then change to the next one. Because if you’re doing badly, you need to let it go and go to the next one and try to make it happen.”
So, instead of practicing shooting only until he scores five in a row, he instead sets aside the time he needs to complete certain drills. This allows him to work on different parts of his game – but he admits that even he doesn’t always complete a drill; which he agreed to.
“It’s not all my training, but I can do two or three matches per aspect of the game which, in total, is basically an hour to two hours. Sometimes I get it done in the first few minutes and it’s done; sometimes I don’t.”
“It’s just a way for me to put 100% of my attention and focus on getting something done in that moment, and spreading it out in different sectors,” he adds. “When you do other types of work, sometimes, you need repetition.”
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