Situational Practice
Today’s the day.
You’ve spent about an hour almost daily trying to figure out what is possibly wrong with your swing and why you are underperforming in your game.
You have practiced properly and you believe you could strongly win today’s great game.
The trouble is there might be some problems waiting for you along the way.
If you’re playing a game and you’re trying to take your technical knowledge expecting it to work as is when you were training, you might be in for a bit of a surprise.
It’s harder to think when you’re already playing in the course. At this point, only the target and your swing’s auto-manifestation matters.
So what is Shawn Humphries doing?
The coach is practicing a game of par 5, a realistic approach to any hole. If he was training for technique, he would hit 16 drivers in a row to ensure that his par 5 accuracy is spot-on. But would that do him very well during a realistic scenario?
If you say not at all, then you’re right.
If you were to play a par 3 game, you won’t be mentally prepared to handle the situation. Your technique fumbles and you hope for one single stroke to hit the green or even a birdie if you’re ambitious.
The best way is to switch it up. Visualize the par 5 and switch techniques that you use as you go along. Don’t worry about how many swings you’ve been taking. Instead, visualize your target, take the shot.
Now, to make sure you hit the ball right when you’re not thinking straight (which you should be during a real tournament game), you must do block practice.
Mix up a game of par 5, 4 and even 3.
Then perform block practice. This is when you want to master a certain technical skill that you could use during a game.
Now, do random practice while switching up par 5, 4 and 3 targets. Use different types of techniques. This creates a better type of realistic setting.
Remember, the mind does not know the difference between real and imagined. And when you get a great shot doing this practice, you have done it like it really matters.
Keep practicing!
