The 5 Best Ways to Practice Your Game (That Actually Work for Weekend Golfers)

I'm not totally sure why this happens, but I've watched countless weekend golfers spend hours at the range without seeing their scores drop even a single stroke. Between work and kids, we don't have endless time to practice like the pros. But here's what I've discovered after 25 years of Saturday morning golf: smart practice beats long practice every single time.

Every weekend golfer who wants to improve their own game knows the frustration. You hit a bucket of balls, feel good about your swing, then show up for your weekend round and shoot the same score you always do. Your buddies are watching, you want to impress your buddies with something different, but nothing seems to stick.

The truth? Most practice routines are designed for golfers with unlimited time and access. But fellow weekend golfers need something different. We need practice methods that actually translate to the course, don't require fancy equipment or expensive lessons, and fit into the limited time we have between rounds. This is how you finally master your practice sessions and start shooting lower scores.

Why Most Golf Practice Fails Weekend Golfers

According to research from Columbia Business School professor Mark Broadie, roughly 60-65% of all your strokes come from 100 yards and in. Yet most weekend golfers spend 80% of their practice time bombing drivers and hitting full iron shots. I'm guilty of this too - it's way more fun to launch a drive 250 yards than it is to chip balls onto a green for an hour.

But here's the reality: short game practice is where weekend golfers can make the fastest improvements. Dave Pelz, the legendary short game coach who worked with Phil Mickelson for over 20 years, spent his entire career proving this with data. As a former NASA physicist, Pelz studied thousands of golfers and found that putting alone accounts for approximately 43% of your total strokes during a round.

The average golfer takes 34 putts per round compared to 29 for PGA Tour players, according to Game Golf tracking data. That's five strokes you're giving away on the greens alone. Five strokes! Just imagine what your buddies would say if you suddenly started making five more putts per round.

Smart weekend golfers who live by the manifesto understand that improving your own game means practicing what actually matters on the course. Not what looks impressive on the range.

I'm not totally sure why we resist short game practice so much, but playing once a week has taught me that the golfers who spend time around the greens are the ones who consistently beat their buddies.

Practice Method #1: The 20/20/20 Session for Weekend Warriors

This is the practice routine that completely changed my game. Instead of aimlessly hitting balls for an hour, divide your practice into three focused 20-minute blocks. This method was popularized by several top teaching pros and works perfectly for weekend golfers with limited time.

Block 1: Putting (0-20 minutes) Start with putts inside 10 feet, especially the dreaded 3-6 footers that Dave Pelz calls the "distance of fear." Here's what works: place five balls in a circle around the hole from 5 feet. You can't leave until you make all five in a row. Miss one? Start over.

Phil Mickelson famously made 100 consecutive 3-footers before every competitive round. Now, I'm not suggesting that level of commitment (we have jobs and families), but even making 10-15 in a row builds the confidence you need when you're standing over that par-saving putt with your buddies watching.

Pro tip from the PGA: always practice putting drills that simulate pressure. Competition against yourself or a friend makes practice transfer to the course way better than just randomly rolling balls.

Block 2: Wedges and Short Game (20-40 minutes) This is where most weekend golfers can drop 3-5 strokes immediately. Work on shots from 30-75 yards - the awkward distances that kill your momentum during a round. According to Pelz's research, over 60% of all shots take place from 100 yards and in, yet most golfers spend less than 20% of their practice time here.

Set up targets at 30, 50, and 75 yards. Hit five balls to each distance with different clubs. The key isn't distance - it's distance control. Can you land your 50-yard pitch within 10 feet of the target consistently?

Also practice the basic chip shot with your most reliable chipping technique. One club, one technique that you can trust when you're short-sided and your playing partner is shaking his head.

Block 3: Full Swing Focus (40-60 minutes) Only after you've worked your short game do you move to full swings. But here's the difference: don't just beat balls. Pick a specific club and work on a specific shot shape or distance. Hit five 7-irons trying to land them within 15 yards of each other.

Between shots, use your full pre-shot routine. This is crucial. On the course, you only get one swing per shot. Rapid-fire range sessions don't translate because they don't simulate actual golf.

From what I've noticed, Saturday morning golf gets a lot better when you practice this way during the week.

Practice Method #2: At-Home Practice That Actually Works

Not sure if this makes sense, but some of my best practice happens in my living room. Fellow weekend golfers don't need a fancy golf simulator or unlimited range time to improve. You just need 15-20 minutes and a few simple tools.

Putting Mat Practice (10 minutes daily) Get a quality putting mat for home practice and use it every single day. The key isn't just rolling random putts - it's focused drills. Try this: place a tee 3 feet past the cup. Every putt has to die in the 3-foot zone past the hole. This teaches you the perfect speed that Dave Pelz proved gives putts the best chance of dropping.

I started doing this while watching TV at night. After a few weeks, Dave asked what I changed about my lag putting. Turns out, that 17-inch-past speed that Pelz discovered isn't just theory - it actually works.

Chipping Into a Target (10 minutes) You don't need a green. A laundry basket, a hula hoop, even a towel on the floor works fine. Practice your basic chipping motion with foam balls or almost-golf balls (the ones that won't break windows).

The goal isn't perfect contact - it's developing feel for different length swings. Can you land a foam ball in the basket from 10 feet with a half swing? What about a three-quarter swing? Building this feel at home translates directly to the course.

Swing Maintenance (10-15 minutes) Legendary coach Hank Haney said, "The best way to create a great base for improvement is to make 100 practice swings with an iron every day. You don't need a ball, and you can do them in your living room in front of the TV."

I was skeptical until I tried it. Take a 7-iron and make smooth swings focusing on tempo and balance. No ball to hit means you can focus purely on the motion. After a couple weeks, your swing consistency improves noticeably.

The beauty of home practice is zero travel time, zero cost, and you can do it in your pajamas if you want. Smart weekend golfers who want to improve their own game find creative ways to practice between rounds.

It might just be my swing, but between work and kids, these home sessions kept my game sharp way better than occasional range trips.

Practice Method #3: Stat-Based Practice (Practice What YOU Need)

Here's where weekend golfers who live by the manifesto get smart. Instead of practicing random things, track your stats for 3-5 rounds and discover where YOU actually lose strokes. This is the method that helped thousands of golfers drop their handicaps quickly.

Start simple. After each round, track these key stats:

• Fairways hit
• Greens in regulation
• Up-and-downs (when you chip it close and make the putt)
• Putts per round
• Penalty strokes

You don't need fancy golf tracking apps (though they help). A simple notebook works fine. The legendary teaching pro Rick Shiels says, "You can't fix what you don't measure."

After 3-5 rounds, patterns emerge. Maybe you're consistently three-putting from 30+ feet. Or you're leaving approach shots 20 yards short. Or you're chunking chips from just off the green. Whatever it is, that's what you practice.

According to strokes gained analytics (the system developed by Mark Broadie that revolutionized how pros practice), focused improvement in your weakest area drops your scores fastest. If putting is costing you 5 strokes per round, spending all your practice time on driving is wasting time.

I tracked my stats for a month and discovered I was losing 2-3 strokes per round on awkward 40-60 yard pitches. Once I knew this, I spent 80% of my practice time on those exact shots. Within six weeks, those shots went from disasters to reliable stroke-savers. Jim started asking what I'd changed.

Smart stat tracking isn't complicated. It's just honest. And weekend golfers who want to improve their own game need honesty more than another driver swing tip.

What seems to work is identifying your biggest weakness, then attacking it relentlessly for 4-6 weeks. That's how you finally earn the right to brag to your buddies about real improvement.

My guess is most weekend golfers never track stats, which is exactly why they shoot the same score year after year.

Practice Method #4: Deliberate On-Course Practice

Could be luck, but the fastest improvements I've ever seen came from golfers who practiced ON the course, not just at the range. This is the method top teaching professionals recommend but almost nobody actually does.

Here's how it works: Play 9 holes by yourself (usually cheaper and faster) with 2-3 balls. When you hit an approach shot, drop two more balls and try the shot again. When you miss a green, chip all three balls and putt them all out.

This is what the legendary golfer and teacher Harvey Penick called "learning how the game is actually played." Range practice is artificial. Flat lies, perfect grass, no consequences. The course has slopes, different lies, real pressure situations.

PGA coaches consistently rank on-course practice as one of the most effective ways to improve, yet according to Golf Digest surveys, less than 10% of amateurs ever do it. Why? Because it feels weird to play by yourself with multiple balls.

But I'm telling you - try it once. You'll learn more about your short game in one 9-hole practice session than in five range sessions. You'll discover which lies give you trouble, which clubs you trust under pressure, and which shots you've been practicing wrong.

Plus, you can work on course management - the art of playing smart golf, not just hitting good shots. Can you think your way around that tricky par 4? Should you lay up or go for it? These decisions matter way more than most weekend golfers realize.

The key is making it realistic. Use your full pre-shot routine. Keep score (even if you're hitting multiple balls, track what your first ball would have scored). Create pressure by setting goals - "I need to get up and down from 3 of these 5 greenside bunkers."

Fellow weekend golfers understand that course knowledge beats perfect swing mechanics almost every time. This is how you finally master the mental side of the game.

In my experience, after sitting at a desk all week, spending 2 hours on-course practicing beats any range session.

Practice Method #5: The Competitive Practice Routine

This one's controversial, but it completely transformed how I practice. Instead of hitting ball after ball without consequences, create games and competitions that simulate real pressure. This is the secret weapon of tour pros that weekend golfers almost never use.

The Par 18 Drill Drop a ball just off the green in nine different spots around the practice area. Each location is a "hole" with a par of 2 (chip and one putt). Keep score just like a real round. Can you shoot even par or better?

This drill, recommended by countless short game coaches, builds pressure because you're tracking a score. Miss a chip? Now you need an up-and-down on the next hole to get back to par. This is exactly the pressure you face during your Saturday round.

When I started doing this, I discovered my chipping was way worse under pressure than I thought. Making 50 practice chips in a row is easy. Making 9 chips when you're tracking a score and need to save par? That's different. That's real golf.

Putting Games with Stakes Get a buddy and play putting games with small stakes. Loser buys drinks after the round. Or play against yourself - "I can't leave until I make 5 putts from 6 feet without missing twice in a row."

According to sports psychology research, introducing consequences (even small ones) activates the same brain regions as competitive rounds. This is why Phil Mickelson's 100-putt drill worked so well - the pressure of starting over after a miss simulates tournament pressure.

The "One-Ball" Challenge Instead of hitting 50 drivers, hit 10 with full commitment to each shot. Full routine, full focus, like it's the first tee with your buddies watching. This builds the mental game that most range practice ignores.

Top 100 Teacher Cameron McCormick (who coached Jordan Spieth) says "Quality beats quantity every single time. One focused shot with consequences beats 100 mindless swings."

The best part? Competitive practice is actually fun. It keeps you engaged, gives you immediate feedback, and builds the exact type of pressure-handling you need when you're trying to break 90 or break 100 for the first time.

Not sure if this makes sense, but with limited practice time, competitive drills gave me way more improvement than just beating balls.

Key Takeaways: Practice Like a Smart Weekend Golfer

Master these fundamentals and you finally unlock the practice methods that help weekend golfers improve their own game:

Time-Efficient Practice Wins The 20/20/20 method gives you focused improvement in 60 minutes. Smart weekend golfers don't need 3-hour range sessions. They need strategic practice that covers putting, short game, and full swing in efficient blocks. This is how you fit quality practice into a busy schedule between Saturday rounds.

Home Practice Multiplies Your Improvement Daily 15-minute sessions at home with a simple practice setup build muscle memory faster than weekly range trips. A putting mat, some foam balls, and commitment to 100 practice swings gives you consistent improvement without the travel time. Fellow weekend golfers who use this method see results in weeks, not months.

Track Stats to Practice Smart You can't fix what you don't measure. Track your rounds for a month, identify YOUR biggest weakness (not what golf magazines say), then attack it relentlessly. This stat-based approach helped countless golfers drop 5-10 strokes by focusing practice where it actually matters. This is how you earn the right to brag about real improvement.

Simulate Course Pressure Range practice without consequences doesn't translate to Saturday rounds with your buddies watching. Use competitive drills, on-course practice sessions, and pressure games that mimic real golf situations. Tournament-level practice builds tournament-level skills - even for weekend warriors.

Short Game Is Your Secret Weapon With 60-65% of strokes coming from 100 yards and in, short game practice drops scores fastest. While your buddies bomb drivers, you master wedges, chips, and putts. This is the path Dave Pelz proved works - focus where strokes are lost, not where practice feels most fun.

Every weekend golfer who wants to impress their buddies knows that smarter practice beats longer practice. These five methods give you the blueprint to improve your own game without unlimited time or expensive coaching. Start with one method this week, build from there, and watch your scores drop faster than you thought possible.

This is just one round away from becoming the golfer who finally breaks through.

Frequently Asked Questions About Golf Practice

How often should weekend golfers practice between rounds?

For weekend golfers with limited time, quality beats quantity every single time. Aim for 2-3 short practice sessions per week of 30-60 minutes each, focusing on your weakest areas. Daily 15-minute home practice sessions with putting mats and practice swings can be even more effective than longer, less frequent range trips. The key is consistency and focus - three focused 45-minute sessions beat one unfocused 3-hour marathon session.

What should I practice if I only have 30 minutes?

Use a modified 10/10/10 approach: 10 minutes putting (focus on 3-10 footers), 10 minutes on wedge shots from 30-75 yards, and 10 minutes on your most unreliable full swing club. This covers the three areas that cost most weekend golfers the most strokes. According to PGA coaches, this time-efficient method delivers better results than spending all 30 minutes hitting drivers. Short game accounts for 60-65% of your strokes, so spend your limited practice time accordingly.

Is home practice as effective as range practice?

For certain skills, home practice is actually MORE effective than range practice. Putting stroke mechanics, tempo training, and swing rehearsal can all be practiced at home with immediate feedback. Dave Pelz's research showed that daily 10-minute putting mat sessions improved distance control faster than weekly range putting. The advantage of home practice is consistency - practicing 15 minutes daily builds muscle memory better than practicing 2 hours once per week. Combine both for optimal results.

How do I know what to practice?

Track your stats for 3-5 rounds to identify your biggest weakness. Count fairways hit, greens in regulation, up-and-downs, and total putts. Whatever area costs you the most strokes is what you should practice 80% of the time. Mark Broadie's strokes gained research proves that focused improvement in your weakest area drops scores fastest. Stop practicing what feels good and start practicing what actually improves your score. Most weekend golfers practice their strengths and ignore their weaknesses.

Can I improve without expensive lessons?

Absolutely. While PGA coaching accelerates improvement, thousands of weekend golfers have dropped 5-10 strokes using free resources like YouTube instruction, practice drills from this article, and honest stat tracking. The key is deliberate practice focused on your actual weaknesses, not random ball-hitting. Books like Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible and free online instruction from top coaches provide proven methods. Combine self-directed practice with occasional lessons for maximum improvement on a budget.

What's the biggest practice mistake weekend golfers make?

The biggest mistake is practicing without tracking stats or results. Most golfers hit balls aimlessly at the range without knowing if they're improving. The second biggest mistake is avoiding short game practice in favor of full swing work. With 60-65% of strokes coming from 100 yards and in, neglecting short game guarantees slow improvement. Practice with purpose, track your results, and focus on scoring shots, not just ball-striking. That's what separates golfers who improve from those who stay stuck.

Related Practice Resources for Weekend Golfers

Top Training Aids That Actually Work Discover the most effective training aids for weekend warriors, from alignment sticks to impact bags.

Quick Practice Routines for Busy Schedules
Time-saving practice plans that fit into your schedule while delivering maximum improvement.

Mental Game Strategies Build the mental toughness needed to perform under pressure when your buddies are watching.

Playing Better With Limited Practice Smart strategies for improving your game when you can't practice as much as you'd like.

Stuck in a Rut? Weekend Golfers to the Rescue!

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