How do pros practice golf

S Open. I was fortunate enough to be on the grounds at this event. At the end of one of the days, I was walking past the putting green towards the exit as the sun was setting. I figured all the players had turned in for the day.

But, a subtle movement out of the corner of my eye made me stop and turn around. It was nearly dark, but there was still one person grinding away on the putting green — Xander Shauffele. Safe to say, his hard work paid off as he was able to notch a T-3 finish and was ranked seventh in strokes gained putting for the week. However, they also do a lot of their training off the course. Twenty years ago, you could get away with being a little soft around the edges and still keep up with the field.

Fast forward to today, and the bar is set so high that working out is almost a pre-requisite for being a professional golfer. These guys all incorporate some form of strength training into their daily routine. These workouts usually consist of a combination of powerlifting, Olympic lifts, stability work, and speed exercises. Then, they ran through a series of tests to determine the unique physical characteristics of each golfer. When all was said and done, the experts concluded that better golfers possess more of these unique physical characteristics flexibility, mobility, etc….

Also, regular flexibility work can decrease your chances of getting injured. Have you ever felt stiffness in your calf only to experience pain in your knee the next day? Our bodies are always compensating for sore or tight muscles, often causing the pain to be experienced away from the source. They come with Fujikura Atmos 6 graphite shafts in 6-SW. The clubs are forgiving and long-hitting to help out higher handicappers and beginner golfers.

Not aware of Vega? Rickie Fowler worked with TaylorMade to create this golf ball which has something called ClearPath Alignment — 12 pixellated, triangle-shaped graphics that are strategically placed to provide immediate feedback as to how the ball is rolling. For all the latest golf news, check the Golf Monthly website and follow our social media channels golfmonthlymagazine on Facebook and golfmonthly on Twitter and Instagram. Neil has worked for Golf Monthly for over years.

Originally working with the best coaches in the UK to produce instruction content, he is now the brand's Digital Editor and covers everything from Tour player interviews to gear reviews. Neil is currently a 2-handicap golfer who has played the game for as long as he can remember. In his role at Golf Monthly, he has covered equipment launches that date back well over a decade. He clearly remembers the launch of the Callaway and Nike square drivers as well as the white TaylorMade driver families, such as the RocketBallz!

Over the years, Neil has tested a vast array of products in each category and at drastically different price-points. The golf snood is a vital piece of kit - here are some of the best Must try tee to green drills to help you play your best golf.

Simple errors in your strategy, planning or mental game can cost you dearly on the course. These four great drills will help to banish the highly destructive hosel rocket from your golf game. Golf Monthly is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number Golf Monthly EST. Select your region. During the off season, I work out really hard four days a week, but I don't do any cardio.

The only stuff I do is short explosive exercises like medicine ball throwing or pushing a sled. I start off by unwinding a piece of string with knitting needles on each end, and measure out a straight, foot putt from the hole. I'll then work on my stroke using just my left hand from three feet and then six feet. I'll also stick an alignment rod under my arms to make sure I'm feeling connected, and then I'll go back to 10ft and work on drilling putts from there.

One of my favourites is a star drill, in which you set five tees around the hole from about 4ft and try to hole the putt from each position.

There's another version from 12 feet where you have three balls and score points according to how many putts you hole. So, if you miss all three putts, you get minus one. If you make one, you get one point. If you make two out of three, it's three points and if you make all three then it's five points.

The aim is to get to 20 as quickly as possible. I tend to draw a circle using six tees around the hole and work in between them to experience different types of breaks and reads. From there, I like to do more random practice around the greens, focusing on lie assessment and landing spots and experimenting with different flights. But I don't like to stay in the same place for too long; I like to throw balls down in different spots and then play to different holes to replicate on-course shots.

I'm lucky enough to have a short game area where I can hit wedges back from 90 yards so I'll crunch some numbers from there for another half an hour. I am prone to swinging too long, which means I then come into the ball too narrow and end up getting stuck behind. To help me feel like I'm swinging short and wide, my coach has got me swinging to a three o'clock and nine o'clock position on a clubface.

I tend to hit 20 balls swinging like that, which really helps to keep my arms parallel and my lower body stable. For the Open Championship, I was trying to flight the ball down a little bit more and work on shots which were going to work against the wind. Other times, I might focus on shaping drives if I need to hit a lot of draw drivers or fade drivers.