What should be practiced to become a pro golfer?

Answer 1

First of all, you want to build a solid, simply, repeatable and effective swing which can hold under pressure. You will need to be able to hit the ball high, low, with a fade and with a draw. You will also need to work on hitting shots hard as well as soft.

The main areas where professional golfers succeed is driving accuracy, you need to hit the fairway if you want to hit the ball close to the pin. They also have exceptional short games, pitching, chipping and wedge play from 100 yards and in is where you can begin to build a score from. Putting is also a major factor, the more putts you make, the better score you will have.

You will need to do a lot of practicing if you want to be a good player, but it is achievable if you are dedicated.

All of the above is true, but not entirely a complete story. I found that competition Golf is as much about the mental as the physical outcome of the swing or putt. The first rule is that your ability must be predictable by you. You must have practiced enough to understand how the club should feel in your hand when you have it just right. We can't stand over the ball and wonder if we have the grip or stance right, too open or too closed, too close, too far.... It needs to simply feel right as a result, not of comfort, but experience and thus it will ensure a confident beginning.

The distance required of the shot has to be known, then we have to make the right swing to hit it that far. Simple enough, if you have practicced and hit a shot 157 yards 10,000 times with your 8 iron, you should be able to do it from any fairway right? With enough practice, the answer goes from maybe, to most times, to probably and then at some point, you remember the misses more than the one's that hit the target and you no longer question your ability.

Hitting it straight is nice, but not required. The real key is knowing where you will hit it. From practice, you learn the stance, the grip, the feel of the club and slope of the course. You know how to swing and don't really think about it, you have your mental picture and with a tick-tock tempo, it's off on that trajectory. Why, because you repeated the same swing that you practiced a million times. You don't question where it will go, you know where it is going. You have the confidence in the result before you take that last breath of the swing.

Bottom line is that you can't question your ability during the game. You can win with a relatively bad swing, as long as you always have the same relatively bad swing, know what it produces for every shot and believe that that swing is yours, and you can reproduce it without question. Clearly, a good swing is the way to go, but don't assume there is magic in a pro's swing. The only magic is their ability to mentally believe in themselves based on real results from hours (many hours) of practice and real competitive play (and a slew of custom equipment and trainers...not required, but makes learning easier).

Watch the next time a Pro falls from grace on the course. You will see the second guessing, re-consideration, anger and frustration. The reality is that the only thing that changed in the Pro was his or her mental state and belief in their own practiced ability.

Oh...short game is where the money is. Same rules as above, but even more practice is required due to the number of variables in the shots. Those short irons and the putter, you should know better than your spouse if you want to compete at Pro level. Good Luck.