Want to make practice more fun? This top instructor has a suggestion
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Adding an element of fun to your practice can help you improve.
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Just $39.99Adding an element of fun to your practice can help you improve.
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For golfers looking to get better, “fun” and “practice” don’t always go hand in hand. Many players approach their improvement goals as tasks that need to be accomplished rather than a process that is, ideally, enjoyable.
So what’s the best way to add a sense of fun to your practice sessions? At the Top 100 Teacher Summit at Cabot Citrus Farms in Florida, longtime GOLF Top 100 Teacher Krista Dunton shared a suggestion.
“I would do more up and down games,” she said. “People practice putting, they practice short game. They never put them together.”
Dunton’s solution? Add some much-needed variety by creating a 9-station game for yourself, where each station is within 40 yards of the hole. Drop a ball at each station and chart your up-and-down progress.
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“You might even have some shots that are par 3,” Dunton said. “It might be a tough shot you’re not always going to get up and down.”
The beauty of Dunton’s suggested game is that you can tailor it to your skill set.
“Maybe they’re all par 3s,” she said. “And you can say, OK, can I at least stay even par? And maybe a couple of them I’m gonna get up and down and try to get under par.”
You can also make the game tougher or easier with the lies you give yourself, but overall, variety is built into the drill, given the different angles and distances at play.
“You can mix it up with a little low bump and run, a little medium pitch shot, maybe a bunker shot, maybe a little softer flop shot,” Dunton said. “The key is to hit some different shots — and you’ve got to put each shot together with the putt.”
Differentiating your practice in this way keeps you engaged and also has the added benefit of keeping your memory short.
“It teaches you to let go of the bad ones instead of trying to do too much repetition,” she said.
Give Dunton’s advice a try during your next practice session to get your short-game in shape for the summer season.
Golf.com Editor
As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.