Four Laws of Practice

Golf.com describes 4 main 'laws', as they call it, to perfect your golfing goals. These points are to help any golfer achieve their full potential and strive to improve on their abilities. This article will explain why you should make goals that are specific to you, you should push yourself to the limit, you should practice to make perfect, and you should receive feedback on your work.

1. Deliberate Practice is Highly Personalized

Each golfer has their own work to improve upon. But, how do you know what/how to practice in order to make that actual improvement? Golf suggests that each golfer should intend to have a personalized plan that will take you to your limits. What makes you uncomfortable? What makes you stop in your tracks and think about the next move? The answer to these questions should be laid out in your personalized plan so you can improve on them. Golf uses this example: "If you hit your wedges close from 120 yards, start trying to hit choke-down 7-irons the same distance." Set your mind on the challenge of improving what makes you uncomfortable.

2. Deliberate Practice Should Push You Just Beyond Your Abilities

The title of the second law stated "deliberate practice should push you just beyond your abilities". This doesn't mean jump outside of your comfort zone, it means take small steps until you're able to improve little by little on each of your abilities. you don't want to lose yourself, but rather recognize the improvements you are making and build upon them. Golf writes: "Perhaps you have your 3-wood fade down pat but haven't hit a draw in ages. It's time to work on shaping it right to left. Your new grip and stance will feel hopelessly strange, and you'll hit many terrible shots, but it's what you must do to improve." You will make lots of bad shots, but that is what will show you how to improve.

3. Deliberate Practice must be Repeated at High Volume

We've all heard of those intense stories about sporting legends who went great lengths when training for an event. But as the saying goes, practice makes perfect, right? Repetition is key to perfecting and improving any skill. Golf gave an explanation about muscle memory in regards to repetition: "Myelin is a substance in the brain that builds up around certain circuits, much like insulation around an electrical wire. Performing a motor activity repeatedly sends signals through a highly-specific brain circuit -- say, the "high-3-iron-with-slight-draw" circuit -- that builds myelin, creating what some call muscle memory."

4. Deliberate Practice Requires Continual, Specific Feedback

How do we know if we are improving on our skills? We receive feedback from a professional. When golfing, you can tell what the outcome of the shot is, but you may not know exactly how that outcome came about because we can't see how we are hitting it. We may have an idea, but we aren't accurate on that either. Having a professional is ideal because there are many ways that professional can help with that drive. Whether it be stance, the swing, or some other form, the professional is there to give you feedback and help you improve your skill.