Golf is a difficult game to play well. To get better at it, to even maintain the skills you have, you have to practice. To make a practice plan pay off and be something you will pursue, these are some helpful guidelines.

First, make a practice session have a purpose. One purpose might be to learn a new technique. Correcting a problem or working on a technical point is another one. Maintaining your skills would be a third. Regardless, if you always start off each practice session with a purpose in mind, you'll learn more and be more willing to practice the next time.

Second, make practice enjoyable. If practicing isn't fun, you won't do it. For a home practice session, select a few skills to practice and rotate through them several times, switching skills every few minutes, to keep your mind engaged. You can even take a break and go somewhere else in the house for a few minutes, then come back and resume.

At the range, create skill games to master, games just outside your ability that you can grow into. Have several games so, as at home, you can switch between them to keep your practice fresh. When you get good at one game, make it harder or invent a new one. Keep practice interesting so it never gets stale.

Third, for home practice, reserve a time every day, the same time by the clock, to do your practicing. When that time comes, practice. The people I've known who have mastered their talent in various endeavors all say that this is one rule they follow absolutely.

Saying, "I'll practice this sometime today," is the same as saying, "I'm not going to practice it at all." Without a regular time that's been set aside, you'll get in the habit of letting other things get in the way and find out a week later that you hadn't practiced at all.

Finally, it's important to keep practicing a particular skill even after you have attained the improvement you were looking for. When you're learning something new, practice is fun because the thrill of discovery motivates you. The job is not done when you've attained your goal, though. Performance is not permanent. If you stop doing the things that got you in the good position you're in, your skills will start eroding, guaranteed.

Practice is golfing just as much as playing is. There's a good game of golf inside you, and dedicated, intelligent practice will bring it out.

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