Perfect Practice Makes Perfect ©

By Betsy Shoenfelt, Ph.D.
 
 

Yes, you do need to practice. Even Tiger Woods stated "All the trophies and all the championships in the world don’t change the fact that today I have to practice." To answer the question, "How do I get maximum benefit from my practice?" requires a bit of background.

When learning a motor skill, we progress through 3 stages: the verbal, procedural, and autonomous stages. In the first, early stage of learning we "talk" ourselves through the skill; it requires our full attention; and we often work from instructions or examples. As we practice, the repetition moves us to the procedural stage where we go from knowing "what to do" to knowing "how to do it." Performance becomes more fluid and error free and the verbalization drops out. With continued practice, the skill becomes automated and we do not have to think about performance. In fact, at the autonomous stage thinking about execution interferes with performance. When repetition/practice has resulted in automated performance, the skill is performed more efficiently, more quickly, and more accurately (provided our practice has been accurate). Skills at the automated level are less susceptible to the effects of stress and fatigue. Hence, we want to practice accurate strokes until our golf skills (e.g., driving, pitching, chipping, putting, etc.) are automated to the point that an accurate swing is the response we perform even under stressful conditions.

What are the implications of the 3 stages of learning for practice? New golfers start out in the verbal stage and talk themselves through each swing. Practice and repetition will move the new golfer to the procedural stage where they can perform without the "talk." New golfers need to practice consistently until each skill is automated.

Skilled golfers should practice under a variety of conditions (not just off the flat practice area). Unless all of your game shots land on the fairway or green, practice from a variety of lies; hit from the rough; hit different clubs in various order. This increases the generalizability of your automated stroke to different lies and course conditions. Adapting to changing conditions becomes automated.

Automaticity explains why it is hard to break bad habits – they have been repeated until they became our dominant, automated response. Automaticity is also why we often see an initial drop in performance when changing a stroke - we are fighting the old but strong, automated stroke while moving back to the verbal or procedural stage to learn the new, corrected stroke. Practice/repetition is the way to automate the new, corrected skill.

Guidelines to make your practice more effective follow. (1) Plan what you want to accomplish at each practice session. (2) Keep a record of your practice performance (e.g., fairways hit, greens in regulation, etc.). Supplement these stats with comments about what went well and what needs more work. (3) Use your stats to set goals for future practice sessions. (4) Practice like you play. Putt with one ball and putt it in. Chip and putt to different targets. Use your shot routine during practice. (5) Work with a pro to ensure that you are practicing proper technique and execution. Work on the weak part of your game and work to maintain your strengths. Remember, it is not simply "practice that makes perfect," but "perfect practice that makes perfect."
 

© Dr. Betsy Shoenfelt, a Professor of Psychology at Western Kentucky University, is a Certified Sport Psychology Consultant, a Member of the United States Olympic Committee Registry of Sport Psychologists, and a member of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Executive Women’s Golf Association.

Sport Psychology