The First Tee with Ryan

Golf is a game of creativity. There are so many different drills that you can use to hone in your skills and abilities. I have a few personal favorites for each part of the game. Having a few favorite drills makes your practice more enjoyable. It also makes your practice more effective.

The first drill worth mentioning is my favorite short game drill: 9 hole chipping course. I mentioned this game in one of my previous blogs, Short Game Clinic. This game is great not only to simulate on course shots, but also to put some pressure on you. By setting a completion score (such as 3 over), it helps force you to get up and down when it matters. Doing this a couple times a week at practice significantly helps my short game.

One of my favorite long game drills is to set up a mental fairway on the driving range. This can be picking two flags and having to keep it in between them, or whatever you would like to use. Before I end most of my range sessions, I do this drill and make myself hit it five times in a row before I can leave. This also helps me develop tournament like pressure.

A final favorite drill of mine I like to call “5 under”. This game is putting related. I set four tees up around a semi-sloped hole, each at 6 feet away. I then use 2 golf balls from each tee. The first putt is for birdie and the second putt is for par. So, if you make both putts from one tee, then you got to 1 under par. Once you hit 2 putts from one tee, rotate to the tee next to you. The drill is over once you get to 5 under par. I personally enjoy this drill because it helps create pressure and emphasizes my short putting.

Putting all three of these drills together is what my ideal practice session looks like. They generally don’t take me too long, but create great pressure for me. Having three or more of these practice sessions a week as a college golfer is generally great preparation for me. When tournaments come around, I work hard on these drills. I am confident that I will go out and perform at my best when I do so.

Thank you for reading! Be sure to check out my other blog posts.