Golf requires mental and physical attributes to successfully play. There is a saying "practice makes perfect", well that is partially true. If you desire perfection, you should choose another game. In golf, there is no such thing as perfection. The correct statement would be perfect practice makes perfect.

Why practice doesn't work

I have seen many golfers go out and hit balls all day striving to hone their game down. However, when they go out and play a round of golf, things did not come out the same as when they practiced. The big question is why?

Most golfers do not practice with a purpose. In order to develop the muscle memory, you need to slow down and watch every ball you hit. You need to hit each ball with a purpose.

Consider hitting only one club at each practice session. Take a break between clubs allowing each club to be a practice session. This will help develop muscle memory for the club, which is the basis for practicing with a purpose.

Purposeful practice works

Golf is divided up in four parts. The first part is your drive, next will be your approach shot, then your chip shot (your short game), and finally your putting.

#1 Drive

Hit ten balls with your driver pausing in between each shot giving your self a mental picture of what you desire before hitting the ball. Consider distance and direction.

Work your way down the driving clubs, from the driver to the three iron, hitting ten balls each, pausing and visualizing each shot. When you finish all the driving clubs, consider which club gave you the most distance and the best accuracy. This club will be your club of choice on you next round of golf you play.

#2 Approach

Now practice using the same technique on your clubs from, 4 iron to 8 iron. The club you hit best will be your club for the approach shot, again note the distance for that club.

#3 Chip Shot/ Short Game

Your short game uses the 9 iron to wedge. These clubs will be from 110 yard in. When practicing, determine which club you hit best for 100 yards, which club can you hit best for 50 yards, and which is best for 25 yards. This will be crucial so practice these shots.

Remember to pause between shots to visualize each shot. Practicing ten shots each will be the easiest to determine which club will have the best percentage of accuracy.

#4 Putting

Use a practice ball that has a line drawn around it so you can see how straight you are hitting the ball. You want the ball to roll straight on every put. Your distance and speed will come to you if you can hit the ball squarely and thus make the ball roll straight.

Putting it all together

Practicing in this manner will give you a chance to improve, if you take that information you gained to the course. Using the information you gained from practice, you can divide up the course you are going to play to fit your best average for the clubs you practice with.

The pros use statistics on every club they hit, so should you. Don't just hit balls, hit balls with a purpose and record your results. This will give you an advantage over the players who don't really know their hitting performance. When you do this, you will only have to use 4 to 6 clubs making golf much easier to play.