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Practice smart

Pro golfer shares his perfect 1-hour practice routine—and it's full of great advice

December 07, 2022
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CharlotteVibePhotography

Like most golfers, I've got a lot going on in my life, which means limited time to practice. Most of the time I spend dedicating to comes in random pockets, and rarely lasts more than an hour. Which, begs the question, what's the best way to spend that hour? How can I make it go the furthest for my game?

Well, clearly the Instagram algorithm knows exactly the problems I'm facing in my golf game, because earlier this morning, I had this video pop into my feed. It's from Ben Hadden, a professional golfer on the PGA Tour Canada whose Instagram account is full of useful advice for the rest of us.

You can watch Ben's prescription for getting "the most" out of an hour of practice below, or keep scrolling.

But before we get into it, Ben says it starts with one essential habit: getting fully offline.

"This is the most important part," he says. "Take your phone, put it in your golf bag. You've only got an hour, you need full focus. You'll get a lot out of it."

Once you do that, you can get cracking with his routine:

Step 1: 50 chips inside 30 yards

This won't take you very long, especially if you grab five golf balls and do it in 10 batches. They're all short chips, but make sure to vary them as much as you can. Flop and bump-and-runs, rough and fairway shots, etc.

Step 2: 10 bunker shots

Get them in. It's just 10 shots, but it'll go a long way for your game.

"Everybody neglects bunker shots, especially in the winter," Ben says. "You know why you suck at bunker shots? Because you never practice them."

Step 3: Hit 2 balls with every iron

Pretty self explanatory, and the nice thing about this is you're forced to avoid the step of aimlessly sending 7-irons into the distance.

Step 4: Hit 4 balls with every wood

A couple extra balls with your driver reflects the importance of getting off the tee well.

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Step 5: Putting setup drill

Using a putting mirror is perhaps the most common. Think of it as a checkup. It doesn't need to take long, it's just some routine maintenance.

Step 6: Three two-putts from 30 feet

Simply drop a handful of balls about 30 feet from the hole in different directions, and lag them close. Your goal is three two-putts, and don't drop your golf balls all in the same spot. That makes it too easy.

Step 6: You're done!

Grab your phone and go home, with the satisfaction that you just put in an efficient hour of practice.