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How to become an expert at practising

By now most golfers of a certain age have heard about the 10,000-hour rule, a concept developed from research conducted by psychologist Dr Anders Ericsson who investigated the effect of practise on the individual differences in the acquisition of skill. The notion is that one can attain a world-class level of expertise after 10,000 hours (or approximately 10 years) of deliberate practise.


It has since become clear that simply putting 10,000 hours of practise into an activity does not automatically produce performance at an elite level, i.e. it is not a guarantee of success. There are other factors such as ability, character, injury, coaching, support, and luck that may affect success. However, I think most would agree that the amount of time spent practising, and how we practise has a major influence on skill development.


The key concept of Ericsson’s research is that practise must be deliberate practise. Deliberate practise is defined as being engaged in highly structured activities, where performance is monitored and reviewed, and designed to improve performance while maintaining full concentration. The requirement for concentration sets deliberate practise apart from the typical mindlessness or a casual fun style of practise. Deliberate practise requires effort and attention, and is frequently described as not very enjoyable.


However, it should be mentioned that the specialised 'deliberate' type practice is recommended at the latter stages of learning. The focus for athletes of a younger age should be more on 'play' activities designed for fun, which will allow athletes to explore their physical capacities in various contexts. Training then progresses to a mixture of deliberate practice and deliberate 'play', to finally a specialised stage where deliberate practice takes precedence.


However, it appears the transition to the final stage is difficult for many golfers. If deliberate practise is fundamental to the development of elite performance, then it is important for coaches and golfers to maximise the amount of deliberate practise a golfer partakes in, when they have reached the relevant stage. Golfers need to be more disciplined in how they practise if they want to give themselves the best chance of improvement. To put it simply, a golfer needs to become an expert at practising.


You will see a lot of golfers who spend a considerable amount time practising but do so in an aimless manner with little structure on what they are actually trying to achieve. I don’t think they fully understand what deliberate practise means, and how to apply it. Or perhaps as deliberate practise takes more effort and can be less fun, it puts golfers of this style of practise.


“Most of us instinctively avoid struggle, because it’s uncomfortable. It feels like failure. However, when it comes to developing your talent, struggle isn’t an option – it’s a biological necessity.” Daniel Coyle


Less than 1% of college players will make it on to the PGA Tour. However, when asking a classroom of golf college students, around 75% will believe they can make it to the PGA tour. Because of this over-estimation perhaps young golfers think that if they just spend enough time practising (even if it is aimless) they will have a good chance of making it on tour. I would argue that aimless practise will merely strengthen the status quo as opposed to promoting any new learning or heightened levels of performance.


Recommended characteristics of a training session include:

  • demanding tasks with immediate feedback that will force the golfer to engage in problem solving to stretch their performance.

  • sessions to last no longer than an hour without rest.

  • more morning sessions (this is preferred as the mind is fresher).

  • having many rehearsals between shots (encourages more successful movements).

  • repeatedly performing the same or similar tasks.

  • practising on your own (research has shown that performers who spend more time practising on their own, are more likely to make it to an elite level).

  • reflecting at the end of the session on their performance.

Most importantly the golfer must sustain the appropriate level of concentration and motivation to attend to the task and exert the required effort to improve their performance.


A putting drill we have recently adopted at the golf school was the 3-tee drill (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDH8sOG-BFc for an explanation of the drill). In the morning we would make students complete this drill before they could progress and practise another element of the game, which added pressure and focus to the task. Within approximately 6 weeks of doing this drill, the students had improved their putting statistics by around 2 shots per round. The extra time spent on putting and the deliberate nature of the practise saw a fantastic gain.


Ask yourself what do your practise sessions look like? Are you an expert at practising?


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