Good evening all,

Currently a 26 handicap, 2021 was the first year I played golf regularly in over a decade, and I'm definitely loving being back! Although I did improve some this year(started around a 30 handicap) I'm hoping to continue that progress into the next few years, with a long term(3-5 years) goal of getting to a single digit handicap. I chose a goal of single digit because to me, it's a respectable handicap that's still realistic with my busy life(married with 3 young kids and another on the way, getting snipped soon I promise, HAHA)

Anyway, enough about my background, on to my question. Are there certain golf skills that have to be practiced year round, or can some be "force fed" to a degree in the months leading up to a major event/nice weather season or whatever?

The best example of this that I know of is many years(and many pounds) ago, I used to race in triathlons. A significant amount of swim and bike fitness could be had in a relatively short period of time(2-3 months) but running had to be a long term project, basically year round. So my year of training would be constant running, with lots of swim and bike peppered in a few months before race season.

To me, golf is also 3 skills, ball striking(any full swing related shots) short game(putting, chipping, pitching) and course management(picking the right club, right target, laying up vs going for it, etc). I also view ball striking as a long term project, with short game being something that you can obtain in a short period of time(aka lots of putting and chipping in the weeks/months leading up to golf season) and course management is just something that comes with time and experience.

So yeah, incase it's not already obvious, I spend a lot of time thinking about golf and coming up with theories in my head... Not sure if they are even close to accurate, but I would love any feedback, or hell, just tell me what your year long practice sessions look like and if they are different at different times of the year?

Sorry for the super long post, thanks in advance!

The best laid plans of mice and men...

My practice plan is sure to result in tons of tap in bogeys and average 3 blow up holes per round! (Sample size = me Lol)

My theory is that 99% of the people I play with(played as single 97% of last 2 seasons) suck at short game. As is fitting among people that struggle with the short game, they would much rather see you butcher a hole with bad short game shots compared with bad tee shots, bad approaches, and bad recoveries. Basically nobody wants to watch you(me, experience speaking) lay the sod over 4 shots as you crawl your way from tee to fringe before you sink the bogey. Lol. Bonus points for enthusiastic animation when u sink it.

I have only read 2 golf books. Ben hogans 5 lessons. And golf is not a game of perfect by rotella.

The former is the golf swing in most simple terms while being comprehensive(in terms of which body part does what during the swing) and the latter is a roadmap to greatness. I forgot most of it all. Some key things I remember from rotellas book:

It starts with unconscious incompetence(ball 1) Then conscious incompetence(makes us wish to improve, I'm currently stuck here). Then conscious competence. Then unconscious competence(the zone).

"Train it and trust it"

"Conservative plan, cocky swing" (wrong vocab I believe but idk)

"Create the shot. Dont manufacture the shot" is paraphrased.

"Pick the smallest target possible"

These tenets create the outline for what looks like a very effective plan for improving at the game of golf.

My first year back in golf 2020 after 10 years no golf was 100% experimental. I only tried to hit straight shots on the course if the situation was perfect for it. I had hopes of scoring well of course, but to me good scores will come naturally if I practice correctly and continuously improve. I played all 2020 with this mindset.

Played a few winter rounds, and after a few spring rounds in 2021, I felt I had built enough trust in where the ball was going with each club to the effect that I had the confidence to honestly say to myself that I could hit a stock shot somewhat reliably. I went out and shot 80 or 81 on a par 71 course next round with the new strategy.

Like most average golfers, I rarely practice short game. Thus I cant comment on how much off season work is required to maintain a decent short game. I would imagine that more is better.

In my experience ball striking is the part of the game most new players struggle with most.

I don't know that I'd spend a lot of time on putting for example, if I am still hitting a bunch of chunks, topped shots, shanks, OB drives, etc. A "bad" putt from an absolute beginner is likely not that much worse than an average putt by your typical 12hc hacker, whereas a bad iron shot can be far worse than average.

Not to say short game isn't important to your score, of course it is... but 30hc'ers need to be able to hit the ball solid and get the ball from tee to green, before spending much time working on chipping and putting. IMO it would be like practicing finger picking on the guitar before you can strum any basic chords. Ball striking is the fundamental that the rest builds on.

I will say that pitching and chipping are forms of ball striking, so practicing chipping or half swings can be beneficial to improving your contact with the full swing also.

I 100% agree with Revots here, Short game ball striking can really improve your overall ball striking.

I play with 20+ handicappers and the thing I notice most is the inability to have any control of the club face or to actually feel where it is. Like they'll tee off and have actually no idea where its going to go. On top of this they NEVER pick a target they just hit it up there, They always play to the flag as well and mostly under club a ton rarely you see them fire one over the green.

As a guitar player of 25 years I can totally relate to this analogy. And the other bolded statement really resonates with me as well, and as someone who often plays with a lower handicapper, this is so true.. we're both usually 2 putting from... say 10-12 feet.. his second putt might be shorter(tap in vs my 2-3 footer), but we're both making the 2nd putt 95% or more).

Great stuff, thanks so much everyone! I should also mentioned that ball striking is certainly my favorite part of golf, so it's not hard to convince me to continue working diligently on it. I also have tried to "play smarter" as well, picking smart targets and aiming for the back of the greens and stuff like that.

I keep coming back for the thrill of well struck irons that seem like they might just go right in without having to putt.

Yep, the feeling of a perfectly struck, flush, buttery crisp iron is among the greatest feelings that exist IMHO..

Yeah, you might be on to something there :

The Impact Zone: Mastering Golf's Moment of Truth by Bobby Clampett