If you’re anything like me, practicing is somewhere near the bottom of my To Do list.  Sure it’s important, but the vast majority of amateur golfers aren’t actually doing much at the range except wearing out their golf glove, and they’d probably be better off spending a night out trying to bust a few moves on Harmony Thomas look-a-likes.  Am I telling you not to practice?  Err…well, despite the fact that most great players say something along the lines of, “the more I practice the better I get”, I actually got better the less I practiced and the more I just played.  (Perhaps that’s why they call me the “The White Tee Wonder” these days). So yeah, I’m telling you (I’m a control freak) there’s not much use practicing unless you know how to use the time effectively.

Why Are You There?
Next time you’re at the range, look down the long line of golfers and count how many players have got the dog bowl out and are letting the big dog eat.  Now count how many players have got their wedge out (not counting those warming up) hitting shots inside 100 yards.  And I know I don’t need to tell you how many shots are played with your driver in a round, and how many shots are played from within 100 yards.  Hitting five buckets of balls with your driver isn’t practicing, that’s just having fun.  If you really want to practice, you’ve got to have some kind of goal in mind, and/or be working on something to improve your game.

When Less is More
You’d think some players think hitting 18 buckets within a one-hour session will somehow increase their chances of winning the lottery.  The only thing that does is makes the driving range owner really happy and makes you smell bad.  Part of the reason why practicing is not much use to most players is that there is no consequence of hitting a bad shot.  There are no hazards, no Out of Bounds, and more importantly, if you throw the club after a bad shot, you have to wait until the next day to go get it.  If you hit fewer balls, you’ll be much more conscious of making every shot count, which leads to my next piece of advice…

Recreate Course Conditions
One of the keys to practicing is to try to simulate what happens out on the golf course.  Laying down a bucket of balls and hitting them all at one target isn’t the way to do that.  Presuming you’re Nigel no-friends and are practicing by yourself, you’ve got to get serious and set yourself some targets.  When I was competing as an amateur, I used to play games with myself and I don’t mean Solitaire.  I’d set myself a goal of making 100 consecutive three-footers and promised I’d never leave the putting green until I’d achieved that goal.  Apart from making your back really sore, this does two things. Firstly, it makes you nervous.  When you get up to about 90, and it’s your 3rd attempt, you’d be surprised at the tension that creeps into your stroke.  The other thing this type of drill does is install confidence.  When you go out on the course and are faced with a 3 footer, you almost feel like you can’t miss. 

Know When To Practice
Part of the reason why our handicap hasn’t gone down in 30 years is that players haven’t discovered that the range is for practice and the golf course is for playing.  I take that back.  The range isn’t for practice when you’re using it to warm up for the round either.  You won’t fix any 30-yard slices 30 minutes before your tee time, and you definitely won’t fix it on the golf course.  Once you learn to play with what the Golf Gods gave you that day and play within your abilities, you’ll become a much better player and shoot lower scores.

On your next visit to the range, put some thought into the above and hopefully you’ll get a whole lot more out of your practice sessions and a lot more enjoyment from playing the game better!

The Solheim Cup is on, but who knows where it's being played? Who can name more than 5 players on each team? Congratulations if you do.  The LPGA has tried to market sex or rather sexiness but is Natalie Gulbis really in the same league as the hotties on the WTA?  Perhaps it's just the fact that seeing sweaty women run around a tennis court is more sexy than watching a 3 footer?  In order for the LPGA to gain popularity, there needs to be a huge influx of hotties, not just a handful of players that are 7 on the hottie scale at best.

The great one shot a course record 63 to win the BMW and take the lead in the FedEx Cup.  Hopefully that will shut up those people who were critical of Tiger for skipping the Barclays.  Can any of the top players really perform at their very best at this time of year and while playing four weeks in a row?  I think not and Tim Finchem and the tour need to find a work-around...

Golfweek reported Tiger Woods has signed a five year deal with Sport drink Gatorade.  Apparently Tiger was having dizzy spells after ending his American Express contract earlier in the year and found Gatorade to be a good source of replenishment for his bank account shrinkage.  Full report when it's all out in the open!

Not me, and not the players.  Last time I posted a link to an outside link my account was disabled but hopefully that was a mistake - Here's the link to support my opinion http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx? page=15101&select=23790 which has been the subject of some abuse in other golf forums!  Tiger and the boys can play whenever they want, they've done enough for golf. It's a good idea in theory (the FedEx Cup) but the worlds best players, (and this is why they are the best players), the season is over after the PGA Championship.