Once we take up golf, have some lessons, play a few rounds it comes into most of our minds that to get any better we must do some golf practice. This is true of any sport be it tennis, football, cricket, hockey or any other we care to mention, so it is with golf. Most practice in other sports is done in organised sessions, football training nights, cricket nets, hockey training nights etc. but golf practice, we tend to do a fair amount of it on our own. We can go to the golf driving range & hit golf balls into oblivion for an hour or so but do we really gain too much from such a session? The answer probably is no. For one thing the club we use most in a game of golf never leaves the bag, we’re talking about the putter.

It is difficult to find somewhere that caters just for putting practice but because of its importance it is crucial that we do find a way of practicing it. This is where the living room carpet comes into its own. We can either buy a manufactured putting strip complete with hole in it, or one of those clever golf ball returners that we can place at one end of the carpet & putt at it from the other. The better we get the more balls get returned. Obviously there is no real substitute for the real thing so when we are going to play a round it is always a good idea to get there early & have enough time to spend some invaluable minutes on the putting practice green.

Chipping & pitching can be practiced at the driving range but it is wise to remember that range balls have different characteristics to those that we take onto the course. So again when we go to play at a course we should get there early & avail ourselves of the chipping & pitching practice facilities that are available. Most courses have some sort of a practice ground but the standard & scope will vary. Some lessons can be taken with the pro. on the course, these are of immense value because not only do you get to practice in the real environment, the pro. will give you advice on what shot to play.