Rory McIlroy has been using an unorthodox practice method lately.
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Welcome to Play Smarta regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you become a smarter and better golfer.
Professionals are meticulous in their practice routines. Go to any Tour event and you’ll see that there’s no representative missing when it comes to getting the right swings right.
With so much technology available now (launch monitors, training tools, etc.) this has only increased the effectiveness of proper practice. When you can see the data points for every shot, it doesn’t take the guesswork out of adjusting the swing.
Sometimes, though, making swing changes requires radical means. Take it Rory McIlroy’s recent practice methods, for example. At this week’s HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi, he explained that in the weeks leading up to the tournament, he hadn’t watched his ball flight on the range or simulator.
“The only way I was going to make a difference or at least move in the right direction with my swing was to lock myself in a studio and not see the ball flight for a while and focus entirely on the swing,” he said.
McIlroy’s method is not what you would normally expect from a top-ranked player. With so much technology available, not having any kind of feedback during practice can seem unorthodox. However, when you make a swing change, it can be incredibly useful.
How Rory’s method can help you
Anyone who has made a quick change knows that the process can be daunting. When you first start out, even finding the ball with the club face can seem like a challenge. When you struggle at first, your brain will start to revert to old habits of hitting the ball.
If this sounds familiar, don’t worry—even the pros struggle with it.
“I’m terrible if I’m trying to do a certain swing or a certain swing change and I start doing it wrong or not hitting the shots I want to, I’ll just go back to what I was doing. because it’s comfortable,” McIlroy said. “When there are sequences for the shots you hit, you’re always going to go back to what’s comfortable.”
This struggle is why McIlroy decided to practice for weeks without seeing where the ball was going. To block his brain from reverting to bad (but comfortable) habits, he eliminated any kind of feedback. Only after the new movement was fully ingrained—and the old habits completely gone—did he get on the course and hit.
If you are trying to make a change yourself, this method can be extremely helpful. By eliminating all feedback and simply focusing on proper swing positions, your brain will find it easier to accept the change. And by the time you get back to shooting, the new feelings should feel natural enough that you don’t fall back into bad habits.
