There is a difference between a driving range session and a planned driving range session. If you just go to the range and hit the balls with no purpose, you will hardly accomplish anything. This applies to any golf practice, not just at the driving range. You should know how to practice golf effectively to avoid wasting your precious time and get the best results out of it.

In theory, it sounds simple, just hit some balls, do different drills and everything will be fine. The reality is not quite like that, there are some steps to take before deciding what to do. Those steps will take you to practice sessions with a purpose and to progress you can see. That is what tour professionals do, but unlike us common golfers, they have time and whole teams to support them.

Here is how you can do it:

• Identify the Priorities – it all starts with the parts of your game or more precisely parts of your swing you want to improve.
• Set Your Objectives – you know where you are, but you also need to know where you want to be. That will help you to stay motivated and never give up.
• Make a Plan – it is good to have a practice plan you can follow. This will give you structure and help you to stay committed.
• Stick to the Plan – the whole plan will only make sense if you stick to it. If you don’t, there will be no improvement.
• Monitor Your Progress – checkpoints are important to see if the whole plan is working. If you are stuck at a point, something has to be changed.

Identify the Priorities

This is the first step and the most important one. In order to maximize the effects of your practice, you have to know exactly what you want to work on. Every other scenario will most likely be a waste of time and will not lead to the wanted results. Once you decide you want to improve your game, it would be good for you to make an assessment of your current situation.

Identify what part of your game you want to improve next. It could be your long game, your short game, your putting, your full swing, your chipping, your bunker game, your driving, your short irons, your long irons, your wedges, anything.

The best would be to work on that one segment only, in order to make the most of the practice rounds. There are different exercises and drills for each segment of the golf game, so you will not lack diversity when practicing.

Set Your Objectives

Now that you have that one segment of your game you want to work on, it is time to set some objectives. When you start your practice, this will be an ultimate goal where you want to see yourself at the end of the journey. I know what you are thinking, there is no end game in golf, and you are right.

Golfers always want to improve their game, there is no long-term satisfaction. However, setting objectives will help you with motivation to keep practicing. When you reach your objectives, you can always set new ones and start the journey all over again. It will be beneficial if the objectives are realistic, otherwise, you could get really frustrated and eventually give up. Make them achievable and reachable.

Make a Plan

Now you have all you need to make a practice plan. There is a saying you may have heard, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Having a plan will give you structure and also make you do your practice even on the days you are not feeling like doing it. Make a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule of when you are going to be practicing and which drills or exercises you will be doing.

It can be just for a short time or a longer time, depending on what you are working on. There is no golfer out there whose game just magically improved overnight. Golf is a hard game, making a solid plan will help you become a better golfer so you can enjoy the game even more.

Stick to the Plan

This is quite self-explanatory. If you do not follow through on your practice plan you will not see any improvement. You have to be committed in order to achieve results. Golf itself is not the most forgiving sport. In case you do not put any time into it you get punished on the golf course.

There might be some extremely talented golfers out there who play randomly with no practice and can get away with it. Chances are you do not fall into that category (neither do I). Have that result you want to achieve on your mind at all times to motivate you. Put some effort into it and you will be rewarded.

Monitor Your Progress

Everything you do only makes sense if you are keeping track of your progress. This will not only help you to stay motivated but can also be a detection system in case you go off track. It is easy to fall into old habits. As soon as you notice something like that, you can correct it instantly.

Additionally, you can move on to the next level of practice when you notice you mastered the segment you were working on. That way you can be sure you will increase your skill level on the golf course. It could open the door towards something like shot shaping or increased distances. Be aware of your practice and good things will happen.

Enjoy the Results

You might or might not be an aspiring professional golfer who dreams of playing on the PGA or LPGA tours. In either case, you can benefit from a structured practice plan. As the end result, your game will get better and you will be able to enjoy your rounds way more. That means less frustration, better scores, and more fun.

Ultimately you will make the decision on how much time you want to spend improving your game. At the end of the day what matters is it all works out for you. Even if you spend less time on practice make sure that time is well spent. Finally, Make a good plan, stick to it, and get going.

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