Practicing Golf Properly: Block vs. Random Practice

Do you make the most out of your practice sessions?  Probably not.

First, a couple of quick definitions:
Block Practice - repeating the same motion over and over, perhaps with aids in place to help you be as similar as possible with each rep.
Random Practice - no repetition, each shot is different (either target, club, or ball flight) than the last.

When most people practice, they:
Go to a stall, put down their clubs, and start hitting shots with their wedges (warming up with the shorter shots), and then gradually work their way up the bag to the Driver (and then often spending a lot of time with that club).  They might aim at stuff (they might not).  These days, they might even use an alignment aid of some kind (they might not).  They'll probably leave with some kind of an overall sense of how well they think they hit the ball at the range that day.  Also, for a lot of people, the only time they'll be at the range is right before they are about to tee off.

Well, whether you only make it to the driving range before you play (not ideal, but sometimes people are too busy to practice) or are a regular at your local facility, you should always be trying to make the most of your time.

By combining the Block and Random practice styles, we can start to make better use of our time.

If you are working on something specific (hopefully a tip customized to you by your local PGA professional, and not just the next quick-fix in a long line of trial-and-errors), you can start by working on that after you've warmed up. This is the start of your Block Practice. You may be using alignment aids, checking your setup extra carefully, reminding yourself of that grip change, etc. This is where you are using repetition to make something more familiar. That's all. It shouldn't even make up half of your total practice session (time-wise or shot-wise).

Once we've become a little more familiar with that skill we just worked on, we need to apply it. This is where Random Practice comes into play: removing the repetitive structure of practice and introducing variety. Each and every shot will be a brand new one, requiring your full pre-shot routine for each and every one. Do not hit the same club at the same target more than once, change with each ball.

Some players find it easiest to "play" their regular course (ie. hit their driver as they would on the 1st tee, and go from there), which gives them a chance to react to react to the outcome of the last shot in order to decide which club to hit next (ie. depending on how well you hit your drive, you may have a shorter or longer club for your next).

This kind of practice is much closer to the on-course game of golf than hitting the same 7 iron over and over. The more your practice resembles they way you play on-course, the stronger the bridge between the skills you build on the range and using them in a game situation.

-Mark
@StrongerGolf