The Bobby Jones practice plan

Posted under The Bobby Jones practice plan

Bobby Jones, the Grand Slam Champion, who earned the title by winning both the amateur and open championships of the United States and Great Britain within a one-year period, had a unique practice plan that got results. Jones started his practice session by hitting a few balls with the #9 iron.

Then he concentrated on hitting two perfect shots in succession with this club, and when that was done he put the club back into the bag. He continued this pattern, taking a few shots with the #8 iron and then concentrating on hitting two perfect shots in succession with that club. This procedure was followed with every club in the set.

You could say that the purpose of this plan was to give confidence as well as practice. Regardless of what club Jones decided to use for a certain situation during the game, he remembered that the last two shots he played with that club were perfect shots.

This gave him every confidence that the club was all right and working well. Consider what may have happened if the situation was reversed. Suppose Jones missed several shots with each of his clubs.

Obviously, the clubs would not feel right, because when shots are being missed the club is definitely out of position. If it felt out of balance and awkward, such a club would not be the one to use when the going was tough.

The player should go to the practice tee and get acquainted with his clubs, practicing with them and getting used to them. By doing this before each game, he will make better scores and enjoy his game more.

Remember that the golfer who learns what to do, how to do it, and then proves to himself that he can produce the desired results consistently, is the one least likely to encounter the mental hazards which plague so many players. I would like to include in this discussion the story of man who constantly developed problems for himself on the golf course.

He went out of his way to find trouble. On a certain occasion his caddie, anxious to do well by his player, ran forward so that he could observe just where the ball would go. The caddie was well off to the left, entirely out of range, but in a spot from which he could easily watch where the ball would land.

As the player got ready to hit the ball, he took a sharp look at the caddie, made a couple of waggles with his club and took another stern look at the caddie; he then proceeded to play his shot and made a most miserable effort. In fact, he almost fanned the ball, just barely contacting the extreme top, and it popped into the air three or four feet and stopped about ten feet away from the player.

Immediately the player glared at the caddie and practically yelled at him saying, “Caddie, why in blazes did you move?” The caddie, frightened out of his skin, whimpered back, “Me … I didn’t move.” “Well,” yelled the player, “you were going to move.”

I cite this example only to show that the failure to reach a conclusion on how the shot is going to be played, a failure to have a routine pattern to follow on each shot, leaves the player open to any and all distractions. In this particular case the player actually had to wrack his brain to create a distraction, one that never really existed, except in his own mind.

Of course this player was a victim of the custom and convention that there should be no movement or no noise as a golf shot is being played. I just can’t agree with this idea that the whole universe should come to a standstill while a golf shot is being played.

The universe won’t stop, so you might just as well learn and train yourself to play under any and all conditions. I direct this latter remark particularly to the younger players on the tournament circuit-don’t let outside distractions spoil your play and rob you of victory.