Here at SSG, performance practice is defined as the ability to hit a shot or a series of shots within set standards to show and compare improvements. This can be broken down into the most fundamental element of performance: ball-then-ground contact. Being able to make contact in the correct location is a skill that requires exceptional hand-eye coordination and can be performed with multiple different attack angles, club paths, and face angles.
A drill that works on this skill is a personal favorite, the Tee drill. This drill involves placing a tee perpendicular to the target line in front of the ball, target side of the ball, about 3 inches (as shown right). Set up to the ball and keep your eyes on the tee. Then swing the club, only focusing on hitting the tee, and let the ball get in the way of the golf club.
Whenever you work on a specific ball flight, it also counts as performance practice; however, your form can influence your ability to achieve that particular ball flight. An example of this is by placing barriers on either side of the golf ball to aid in a certain club path or face impact location. The point of this drill is to focus on your skill in missing the barriers and curving the ball a certain amount or face location.
Drills that directly influence your ability to implement a specific course management strategy are also considered performance practice. For example, a drill like Leap Frog directly impacts your course management strategy by requiring you to hit it farther and farther with every shot. This helps develop a better feel for the game and is essential for creating an effective strategy to manage environmental factors and course layouts.
All of the drills and examples above require a dedicated amount of independent time to translate into lower scores. As mentioned before, this is different from form practice. During performance practice, your focus needs to be on what your ball flight does or how well you manipulate your form for a particular shot. Purposely manipulating your form for a shot is a skill and should only be done with the purpose of that shot only. Form practice is to change your form permanently, not just for a one-time shot. Knowing what drills are for performance training is necessary to make dramatic changes in lowering scores.
In the coming weeks, I’ll share the best performance drills and what standards you should use for your game.
Leave a Reply