The importance of practice
by PGA Teaching Professional Marc L. White

1) No condition is of greater importance to the acquisition of motor skills than practice.

2) The two most obvious effects of practice in the learning of motor skills are increased performance and increased accuracy (i.e., error reduction).

3) A skill may be practiced either continuously or with rest pauses. It has been shown that practice pauses are more efficient than continuous practice periods for the acquisition of motor learning skills. As the skill becomes well established and ingrained then practice sessions can be lengthened.

4) Practice in and of itself is insufficient for improvement. The student must remain resolute, goal oriented, and practice with purpose. Unless the student practices with specific, goal oriented purposes in mind, and unless he or she attempts to impose some form of real, "out on the course" conditions upon practice conditions, practice for all practical purposes is essentially worthless and wasteful.

5) Some practice should occur under varying instructional or stressful conditions to help achieve high levels of skills.

6) Reinforcement increases the probability that the desired result will occur. Random reinforcement has been proven to be a more effective form of motivation than constant reinforcement.

7) Very high motivation impedes progress in complex tasks. The highest performance is attained by individuals with an intermediate motivation or drive. There is an optimal motivational level for each task.

8) Establishing reasonably difficult and specific yet attainable goals produces better performance than setting easy goals or a general, amorphous goal simply to do one's best.

9) Performance is influenced by previous experience. Factors such as the amount of practice, the motivation to practice and the method of training all affect performance.