- 5 hours ago
Transform your golf practice from mindless ball-hitting to a structured, effective routine. PGA Pro Alex Elliott shares expert advice on avoiding the top seven practice mistakes, ensuring every minute you spend on the range translates to lower scores on the course.
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00:03Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to West Hill and this
00:07video in which we're looking at the 7 biggest practice mistakes. We're going to take a look
00:11at everything from building fundamentals, how you practice under pressure, what you
00:16do with the final ball of a session, look at those mistakes that people regularly make
00:21and how to avoid them. In this video we are joined by Alex Elliott, he's a PGA professional,
00:26he's going to provide all the advice you need to make sure that your valuable time spent
00:30on the range is spent in the best way possible. Guys, if you're new to the Golf Monthly channel
00:34please do hit the subscribe button to make sure that you don't miss any of our videos,
00:37hit the like button if you like what you're watching, but let's head over, meet Alex and
00:42find out what the 7 biggest practice mistakes are.
00:54Okay, so the first one on our list relates to the way in which you kind of assess how
01:00you're practicing, in particular Alex, it's about where to video your swing from. It's
01:06one of the points that you came up with, where should you be videoing from and where shouldn't
01:09you be videoing from? For me, for example, if you get an online lesson it's really important
01:14that you get the camera angles from the right place. For one, coach is probably going to
01:18want it from down the line and from face on. And even if this is you just videoing your
01:22swing to do some self-analysis, it's really important because getting it from a different
01:26perspective will make your swing look slightly different.
01:29Okay. So my go-to angles are at 90 degrees, face on.
01:33Okay. And what do you see from that angle? What are the things that people should be looking
01:36at from that angle? I guess from that angle the kind of general things would be swaying,
01:39which is a lot of people would be looking at in their swing. So swaying off, sliding through,
01:44width of the backswing, club face through impact, hands ahead of the ball.
01:47But if you're slightly off the angle, it might look as if your ball position is too far back,
01:51like you're way ahead of the ball through impact when actually you're not whatever it might be.
01:56So actually you need to keep an eye on those things.
01:58Definitely. And then you could actually start critiquing things in your own game that don't
02:02need critiquing. And then you can go off the boil and actually think, well, why is it going off the
02:06boil?
02:06And you could actually think, because you've got the camera in the wrong angle,
02:10this is one of the reasons why you've gone off the boil a little bit.
02:13Which you don't need any more help in playing bad golf. I certainly don't.
02:16Definitely. And then what about down the line?
02:18Down the line, for me, this is where everybody wants to get the videos from.
02:22Yes. We all look at it from the classic over-the-top move.
02:24Am I into it? Am I shallow in the club? For me, really nice and simple.
02:28You can get a tripod, very inexpensive, getting off most online retail stores,
02:32and a holder for your iPad, a holder for your camera phone.
02:35Why? Okay. So here's sometimes I have been known to do this in the past.
02:41Going to the driving range, putting my phone down on the floor,
02:44sort of propped up against the wall, filming myself from ground level.
02:49But that's not good.
02:50No, just again, from the same point of view from looking at it from face on,
02:54it's going to look like a slightly different move.
02:55If you took it down at kind of ground level, I kind of guess you're looking at more of what
03:00the club's doing at impact.
03:02Right. Because you're going to see a lot more of what's happening at ground level.
03:05Whereas you're not going to see necessarily as well what's happening at the top of the swing.
03:07Exactly. And from that perspective, being down there, it could look like the club's coming slightly over the top.
03:12If you had it a little bit to the right, a little bit to the left.
03:14It's going to look like it's two different swings, even though it could be the same swing.
03:18So where exactly should it be then, Alex?
03:20Really nice and simple. A lot of time, you're in a bay, you've kind of got right angles if you're
03:24on a driving range.
03:25I like to have it at hand level. So hand level left to right and hand level up and down.
03:31Because that's going to give you a good perspective of what the overall swing is doing.
03:35Okay, fine.
03:35And if you get a tripod, one, it's steady. Two, you can get the same height every single time.
03:40And again, going back to constants, repetitiveness, this is all we're searching for in our golf swing.
03:45Yeah.
03:45So why not do it when we're actually analysing our swing as well?
03:48Okay, fine. Fine. Okay.
03:49I'll...
03:49Right, I've got you on camera here.
03:51Yeah.
03:51No pressure.
03:52Yeah.
03:54I've got to remember where I'm aiming.
04:06Okay, number six on our list relates to not warming up properly.
04:10Alex, I know this, for everyone watching this, it's not the most exciting topic, is it?
04:13Warming up.
04:14No, definitely not.
04:15But it is important, isn't it?
04:16And we're not going to talk about exactly how to warm up because we've produced video content on that in
04:20the past.
04:21You'll be able to find that on the YouTube channel.
04:23But Alex, talk about what the mistakes are that people make and why you really need to avoid them.
04:28I think we're all so self-critical about what our ball is doing.
04:31So if we're working on a certain thing and we're, say for example, we're trying to draw it with our
04:35coach, which is a common thing everybody tries to work on.
04:37We got on the range and we expect the first ball to be a draw.
04:40And we almost become so self-critical and so kind of predetermined about what the ball flight is doing at
04:45the start.
04:46That can certainly ruin our range session.
04:48Okay, yeah.
04:49So even going out there and saying, right, the first 10 balls and putting 10 balls to the side and
04:53saying, right, this week on this practice session, I'm going to use my odds.
04:56I'm just going to hit a few away, not worry about ball flight and almost kind of detach myself from
05:01ball flight.
05:02And then say after those 10 balls, that's when I start looking at my swing.
05:05And are you starting off slowly and building up pace or you've already done your stretching before that.
05:10So you should be starting at full pace.
05:12I mean, I would always start with pitching wedge or kind of one of my wedges build up through to
05:16seven iron.
05:17So, for example, today, I'd start with a pitching wedge, then probably go eight iron, six iron, four iron, and
05:22maybe then one driver and then back down to kind of hitting the lower irons just while I warm up.
05:27But ultimately, if we can just get tuned in to just getting a bit of contact on the ball.
05:31Yes.
05:32And the ball going down the range, not in specifically towards the target yet.
05:36Yeah.
05:36We don't attach ourselves to bad images, bad history.
05:39And then when we get into the session, we can set the tone of the session when we're actually warmed
05:43up and working on our particular things.
05:45Yeah.
05:45Yeah.
05:45So you can end up starting off on a fairly negative point, which can then affect the whole thing.
05:50Right.
05:50Alex, hit one for us so everyone can see how they hit.
05:53Not hit many.
05:54So this is good.
05:55A good.
05:56This is actually a true reflection.
06:01We're not worried about where it went.
06:02It may have gone straight towards the target, but Alex, we're not worried about where it went.
06:05So there you have it.
06:06If you are heading to the range any time soon, make sure that you do a little bit of warming
06:10up before you start working on your swing first.
06:12Because if you don't, you could ingrain a few faults and a sort of negative attitude towards what's going on
06:19that could affect you in the long run.
06:24Okay.
06:24So number five on our list is something that we all do from time to time.
06:27When we go to the range, you hit one shot, you look at it, you walk off the mat, you
06:31come back on, you hit another one, and you've not really thought too hard about your alignment.
06:36Alex, why is that such a big problem?
06:39For me, there's really two main reasons.
06:41Firstly, just a good habit of getting square alignment.
06:44You get on the golf course and you've got your alignment on the range good.
06:47Hopefully then you transition that to the course.
06:49So for example, if I was aiming straight down at this yellow flag here, if I didn't have a reference
06:54to where I was aiming and I built a habit of aiming a little bit to the right every time.
06:58Which we do.
06:59I mean, people do.
06:59I mean, even the pros do it.
07:00Yeah.
07:01Exactly.
07:02And then you take that to the course, well, then you could start missing it to the right.
07:05Or vice versa, you could actually make compensations in your swing of working a little bit left.
07:10Yes.
07:11So you could adapt to where you're aiming and you could swing it to adapt to where you're aiming.
07:15So I really think square alignment is number one important for just general alignment to target.
07:21But my second biggest point is, it's reference to ball flight.
07:24Okay.
07:25If you've not kind of got a reference to where you're aiming or alignment sticks down on the ground, and
07:29we'll show you that in a second, you could start predicting a ball flight and actually see a ball flight
07:33that travels right to left.
07:35But that's a ball flight that could start left of target and move further left.
07:38It's a pull hook.
07:39Exactly.
07:40Like if we look at the definition of a draw, it's a ball that starts the right of target and
07:44comes onto target.
07:45Yes.
07:45So if we know what target we're aiming at, we know what our actual ball flight is.
07:49Yeah.
07:49So we got on the course, we know what we've got coming out of our locker this week.
07:52Yeah.
07:52Okay.
07:53Well then that begs the, how do you do it?
07:56Okay.
07:56Obviously a lot of you out there I'm sure will have alignment sticks.
07:58If you don't, don't worry.
08:00Use your golf clubs.
08:00They do exactly the same job.
08:02Same.
08:02So how would you set up?
08:03Really nice and simple.
08:04I kind of like call it the train tracks.
08:06I can use two, three alignment sticks.
08:08Firstly, I would always set my ball to target line out and I always like to put this in front.
08:12So if we go straight down towards this yellow flag here, make sure the ball's on that.
08:19Secondly, then we're going to put our feet line.
08:21And for an ideal scenario, this is someone who's just aligning to a target.
08:25If you were drawing it, you'd move your feet line slightly to the right, slightly to the left.
08:28But just to have a baseline to what target you're going at, I like them to have my feet running
08:33parallel to this.
08:34So I'd have two parallel lines, one for my ball to target line, which I like to have in front,
08:38because I really think that gives you a good visual and something to take to the course.
08:42It's almost like a shot tracer pointing where you want it to go and then get into a good habit
08:46of having these feet running parallel.
08:48Okay.
08:49And then the last one as a midpoint reference to check that your shoulders are aligned.
08:54Yeah, exactly.
08:54Shoulders aligned.
08:54Where are my hands?
08:56Have I got a reference?
08:57My hands look too far ahead, too far back.
08:59And ultimately, I think golf's easier if you think of it in straight lines.
09:03Yeah.
09:03If we write, okay, this is my target.
09:05I'm trying to aim towards that rather than the guesswork of going, where am I?
09:10Yes.
09:11So there you have it.
09:11If you're going to the range, you're probably doing so because you want to get better at golf.
09:16And if you want to get better, you have to lay these foundations.
09:19They will make a big difference to the quality of your alignment and your swing as well.
09:32Slightly out of a heel, but it'll do.
09:36Alex, this next one is one I'm definitely guilty of.
09:39My favourite club in the bag is definitely my driver.
09:41And when I go to the range, I probably hit more shots with this club than I do any other
09:44club, partly because I'm trying to enjoy my range time.
09:47But maybe that's not the best way to improve.
09:49No, I think a lot of people, whether that be driver, favourite club is seven iron notoriously for some people.
09:55And you get into a rhythm of just searching for your favourite club and practicing with your favourite club.
09:59So we get to the course.
10:00So, for example, you like driver.
10:02Yeah.
10:02You get to say a six iron that you told me you don't like as much.
10:06You get in a situation where, well, oh, I don't know about this one because I don't actually hit any
10:10shots with it.
10:11Practice with it.
10:12Yeah.
10:12And I think the best and simplest way to do this with each session.
10:15Right.
10:16Okay.
10:16I'm going to hit my odds this session, so my odd irons, and then I'm going to go and hit
10:19my evens.
10:20And then ultimately we're spreading our wear one across our club.
10:24So our equipment lasts a bit longer.
10:26Yeah.
10:26You're going to hit your seven iron that gets absolutely battered where the rest of the golf clubs are okay.
10:29I'm guilty of doing the seven iron too much.
10:32So I just think ultimately the more you can practice like you do on the course, you're going to be
10:37in a better situation.
10:38Yes.
10:38And we know we don't follow a seven iron with a seven iron with a seven iron very often.
10:42We might be a seven iron, might then be a five iron, might be a four iron.
10:45Right.
10:46So you're mixing up the length of the shaft, you're changing ball positions.
10:49Exactly.
10:49Like those subtle changes that you're having to make out on the golf course.
10:52Definitely.
10:52So question then, Alex, a lot of people watching this, they will have problems specifically with a certain club.
10:58And I suspect a lot of people will find that it will be with their three wood or maybe like
11:03their three iron or four iron is a club that they, whenever they have to pull it out, they do
11:07so with a bit of dread.
11:08What's the tactic to improve those areas?
11:10For one, pull it out on the range.
11:13I really think if you were to pull that club out, I wouldn't leave it to the end of the
11:16session.
11:17I would use it in the kind of middle of your practice session.
11:19So once you warmed up, once you've hit a few shots, you've gone into a bit of rhythm and say,
11:23right, for these next 10 shots, I'm going to hit my four iron, for example.
11:27A lot of people don't like long irons.
11:28They try and get it into the air and find a way of hitting it because on the golf course,
11:33there's no pictures.
11:34All we need to have is an ability to, okay, with the long irons, especially for your club golfer, we're
11:39not expected to get it that close.
11:41It's sort of that kind of medium gap where, okay, we've got to get it near the green and then
11:45give us a chance of getting up and down.
11:46Getting up and down.
11:46If we hit the green, fantastic.
11:48Because it's a big thing.
11:49I think if you get into the range and you get your seven iron, you're always hitting it all for
11:52you, Neil, who likes the driver, and you're seeing the driver go down the range.
11:56Mentally, you're like, oh yeah, I've seen this one go.
11:58You get the new six iron out.
12:00You've not seen that go as much.
12:01Yeah.
12:02Straight away, mentally, you're on the back foot.
12:04Yes.
12:04And you're set up, naturally, you're in a dress position.
12:07You're kind of ready to hit driver.
12:08Then you stand over a six iron and it all feels a bit alien, a bit different.
12:12Right.
12:13So there you have it.
12:13Really simple stuff.
12:14If you are heading to the range, practice with a vast majority of clubs in the bag.
12:19Don't just stick to your favourite one.
12:25Okay, so the next one relates to pressure.
12:26A lot of people out there, Alex, will know that they probably should incorporate a bit of pressure into their
12:31practice.
12:32The question I've got for you is, can you really replicate the pressure that you feel on the golf course
12:37and can it help?
12:39I guess you can never really fully replicate it, but you can definitely go a long way to making a
12:44scenario which replicates it as close as you can on the range.
12:47Okay.
12:47So the best way I do it is if you get your iPhone or your smartphone out and you've got
12:52a note speed on your phone,
12:53and say we're on driver at the end of our session, we're going to have 10 golf balls, we're going
12:57to set a fairway,
12:58and we're going to have 10 shots written down on our phone.
13:01And I want us to have a tick if we hit the fairway.
13:04Okay.
13:04Left, right.
13:05And almost set a benchmark, okay, where I am this session.
13:08Okay, now I've got to beat that every single time.
13:11And don't cheat.
13:12Yeah.
13:12The temptation to cheat will be there, but try not to.
13:14So Alex, in this situation, where are the two, what's the fairway?
13:18I'm going to pick, you can see the kind of orangey tree on the right.
13:21I'm going to use the left edge of that one.
13:22Yeah.
13:23And then the same on the left.
13:24We've got kind of two trees here.
13:25It's quite a tight fairway.
13:27Practice hard.
13:27Is that not tight?
13:28Well, I'd be giving myself much more leeway for room than that.
13:31Go on then, Alex, hit one for us and then tell us what you'd then be writing down.
13:34Yeah.
13:35Another point though, if you set a smaller fairway than we get on the golf course, it's then going
13:39to feel a little bit easier as well.
13:40Well, that's true, but my worry would be that I would have no confidence when I got to the golf
13:43course,
13:43because I'd feel like I'd missed all the fairways before going out to play.
13:46Positivity here.
13:47That's what we want.
13:47Yeah.
13:48That's what I'm lacking.
13:49So I'll go through my fall routine as well with each shot.
13:55Right.
13:56Shot number one.
14:07Oh, it's depressingly straight down the middle there, Alex.
14:09What are you writing down there in your notepad?
14:11You just put a big tick next to it.
14:13And we've got the emojis on our phone and I think it's good.
14:15You put the big green tick, put whatever you've got on your phone because going forward mentally,
14:20if you can start seeing repetitiveness, okay, well, I've hit that fairway, I've hit that
14:23fairway, you'll not only build confidence, but you'll probably also develop a stock shot
14:27as well.
14:27Yes.
14:28And having a stock shot is so powerful.
14:30You know, a move that you can make that you know you can get the ball.
14:32Exactly.
14:32Now, question for you then, Alex.
14:34I know this is something that a lot of mental game coaches sort of talk about.
14:38Are you, when you're out on the golf course and you're under pressure, are you kind of,
14:42is there any part of you that's sort of picturing this sort of scenario on the range?
14:45Definitely.
14:46Definitely.
14:46I think whatever you can do, if, for example, you're coming down the last and you're on
14:51to beat your handicap by two shots, we all get a little bit nervous.
14:55We know we're going to lower our handicap now.
14:56You can go back to scenarios and actually, no, I had a tight affair on that range.
15:01I hit it.
15:02So you've got that belief that you can go forward and carry that to the course.
15:05So there you have it.
15:06I mean, golf without question is one of the most mentally demanding sports you can play.
15:10You can prepare for it on the range if you put a little bit of this into play.
15:17Okay, Alex.
15:18Next one.
15:19Machine gun practice.
15:20Something that I've definitely been guilty of in my time.
15:25What's the fault?
15:26What do you see people doing?
15:27If you were to walk down the range, like a local driving range, you'd see someone hit
15:31it, pull another ball, hit it, pull another ball.
15:33And especially if they're struggling with their game on a club that they don't like.
15:37Yes.
15:37Pull.
15:38Hit.
15:38Pull.
15:39Hit.
15:40Where's that gone?
15:41Disgusted.
15:41Pull another one in.
15:42Have another go.
15:43Exactly.
15:43And you don't really take into account what you're doing in your swing.
15:46You're searching for a different feeling every single time.
15:49And I think it then almost becomes a little bit of guesswork to actually, how do I get
15:53the ball for me to be the best possible way?
15:55Yes.
15:56So if we're someone who takes lessons or even if we're not someone who takes lessons,
15:59just taking a little bit of time in between each shot.
16:02One, it replicates what happens on the course.
16:04We've sometimes got five, 10 minute break on a par five, waiting on the tee.
16:08We haven't got that ability to go, oh, I've got another one to go here.
16:11Oh, okay.
16:12That wasn't good.
16:12Right.
16:13Okay.
16:13Reload.
16:13I got a second go here.
16:14We know we only have one go on the course.
16:17Yes.
16:18Of course.
16:18Yeah.
16:18So I kind of come up with a thing.
16:20And this is something that I do.
16:21A lot of people that come for a lesson is a five ball set.
16:23I call it.
16:23Okay.
16:24Three balls, which could be something what you've decided with your coach you want to work on.
16:29So say, for example, you were working on a little bit of club face control in a certain drill.
16:33You'd spend these three golf balls working on that area of the game.
16:36Okay.
16:36And then not really worrying about ball flight too much.
16:39Still having a target to go to.
16:41And then the final two, this is where ultimately I big believe in these two.
16:46We're not tuned in enough when we practice, especially if we're someone who pulls a ball,
16:51hits, pulls a ball, hits into actually performance on the course.
16:54So these two would be change of club, change of target, and trying to replicate going through your full routine
17:00of what happens on the course on the range.
17:03And are you trying to then, with those two balls, trying to lose all kind of technical thoughts of what
17:07you've been working on?
17:08Or are you still thinking about that stuff?
17:10I guess that's a person to person basis.
17:13Personally, I try to get people to have one, possibly two swing thoughts, absolute max.
17:18Definitely going more towards losing the swing thoughts than to having them.
17:22And almost trying to say, right, okay, this is the swing thought I had.
17:25I'm now going to try and hit a draw shot.
17:27I'm now going to try and hit a fade shot.
17:28Being definitely more tuned into the ball flight.
17:30So in the sense of a shot, I'm going to try and hit instead of a specific swing thought, which
17:34would be the other three.
17:35And I always say to everybody as well, machine gun practice, you could get 100 balls and do them in
17:4020 minutes.
17:41Yes.
17:41I say to all the people that I kind of help out.
17:44I say, well, go and get 50 and spend the same time you're hitting 50 as you were 100 or
17:49even longer just by setting them out in five ball sets.
17:52Yes.
17:53You take your time, you know what you're working on, and you're actually getting some real time feedback that's going
17:58to help you out on the course.
17:59And you can pay attention to things like your alignment and your posture and all of those good things that
18:03make a big difference to your game.
18:04Exactly.
18:05So if you are heading to the range, avoid the temptation of pulling a ball, hitting it, pulling another one,
18:09hitting it.
18:10It can actually do more harm than good.
18:25Well, that's my last ball of the session, Alex, and I've hit a bit of a slice there.
18:30What's the mistake?
18:32What you said to me, you said people have a last ball syndrome when they practice.
18:37What is it?
18:38And what's the mistake?
18:39We've only got one ball now, one chance to hit a good shot.
18:42And say, for example, we had 75 balls in our practice session.
18:44We're now on the 75th.
18:45I really believe that people determine their practice session on what that golf ball does.
18:50So if we had 74 good shots and we hit one bad one to finish, they remember that one.
18:55Well, that's true, but we're often told when it comes to practice that your last ball needs to be you're
19:01replicating the first tee shot.
19:03So if you're warming up to go out and play, often the tour players will say the last shot I
19:06hit will be the first shot I hit on the golf course.
19:09Is that not a good theory to have?
19:11Does that put too much pressure on that final ball?
19:13I guess if you perform well and it goes on the range, it's a good thing to do.
19:17But I don't want you to feel that that's going to determine how good your practice was.
19:21I think if we look at it realistically, a lot of people have probably one practice session a week and
19:25then go and play at the weekend.
19:26And they always lose thought of the 74 good shots or the 50 good shots and go,
19:32Blimey Neck, my last shot on Wednesday was a big slice off to the right.
19:37And all they're picturing now on the first tee is the ball doing this.
19:39Yeah.
19:40So again, this is kind of a double edged sword. If it goes well, it's great.
19:43It's fantastic. But what I would say is don't put yourself in a situation where it's the be all and
19:48end all.
19:48OK, well, so if you are heading to the range, try not to put too much of an emphasis on
19:53what happens with your final shot.
19:56So there you have it. Those were the seven biggest practice mistakes.
20:00Guys, I hope you've enjoyed the video. If you have, please do hit the like button and also leave some
20:05comments below.
20:05Was there anything that we were missing from our list? Things that you see when you head to the driving
20:10range?
20:10We'd be really interested to hear your thoughts. We'll get Alex on if there's any questions you have to answer
20:15them
20:15to make sure that you do get the most from your valuable practice time.
20:18Guys, thank you for watching. We'll see you next time.
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