Blocked Vs Random Practice...How To Optimise Your Practice

Happy Monday,

Apologies, this newsletter is a few hours late. I went a little overboard writing this week’s article – I hope you find it useful. Grab a coffee and have a read ☕️ 

This Week:

• Article – Blocked Vs Random Practice…How To Optimise Your Practice

• Practice Challenge – Test Your Core Short Game Shots

• Short Video – Should You Hit Driver or 3-Wood?

🏌️ Rapid-Fire Takeaways:

✅ "Blocked vs random" and "constant vs varied" are two separate continuums — most golfers (and coaches) muddle them up.

✅ Varied and random practice often produces better learning than blocked practice, but most research is done on beginners — the application to club golfers is nuanced 

✅ Golf is a perceptual-motor skill: blocked practice trains execution in a stable environment, varied practice trains perception and decision-making

✅ The right practice type depends on your limiting factor — if you can't do the skill at all, blocked practice first; if you can do it on the range but not the course, you need more variation and pressure

✅ Driving needs less varied practice than short game — the environment is more stable and demands less decision-making

⛳ A Challenge for Your Next Practice Session:

🔷 High-Handicapper (15+): Pick one skill — chipping or putting — and run through the four-step diagnostic. Can you do it five times in a row from the same spot? If not, stay blocked. If yes, change the distance or lie and see if performance dips.

🔷 Mid/Low-Handicapper (<15): Next practice session, simulate competitive pressure on one skill — pick a skills game & set a target score, start over if you miss. You’re not allowed to leave until you hit that score. Observe the kinds of poor shots you hit – they’ll be more similar to what you do on the golf course.

Practice Challenge

Social Reel

Not for you? No hard feelings —