Every now and then you read that the average handicap of a recreational golfer is 18. Or 25. Or whatever. Then you read that it hasn’t change in decades, even with better-groomed courses, better instruction, and better equipment. And the commentator wonders why. You know why? We don’t have time to practice, that’s why.

Going to the range is time-consuming, but it’s only one place to practice. You can also get a lot done at home. You have spare moments there in abundance - in the morning before you go to work, when you get home, after dinner, there’s time all over the place. So what could you do?

Leave a club lying out where you’ll pass it by from time to time. (Need I say this might not be a good idea if you have children between the ages of 2 and 19 in the house?) Whenever you pass it by, pick it up. You’re practicing your grip. Stand up like you’re going to hit a ball. You’re practicing your setup. Assuming you already have a good grip and a good setup, doing this, say, five, six, seven times a day, keeps them in tune.

Putting? Same thing. Keep a putter out where you can tap a few five-footers at a target. Find a way to hit a few putts several times a day. This keeps your stroke in tune, and also your sense of alignment. It all adds up to this. When you get to the course, you’ll be doing things you do every day, not something you haven’t done for a week.

Now practice your wedge game. Hang a mattress pad over a curtain rod and hit plastic golf balls against it with your sand wedge. Concentrate on making authoritative contact. This exercise does double duty, because the essence of the full swing is right here--the takeaway, the transition, impact, and follow-through. The full swing is merely all this, but bigger.

If you want to be club champion, you might have to change your life. If you only want to play consistently for shot to shot, round to round, a little bit of practice every day like this works just fine.

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