Free 3x15 Week card (the 3 dials, every session scored): https://playready.golf/3x15
Play Ready Golf app, free 30 day trial, code PRGPOD: https://app.playready.golf
Ep. 27, why the range is the most expensive habit in your bag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R9mVHabK0c
If you went 10 for 10 at the range last night, you didn't practice. You performed.
Adam Young, one of the best practice coaches in golf, wants his players making somewhere between 3 and 7 out of every 10. Most of us build every range session around never missing. That's why the good nights never show up on Saturday.
In this episode, Isaak and Hayden get into how much you should actually be missing, what Rory McIlroy did after blowing the 2011 Masters, and the 3 dials (distance, target size and randomness) that make any drill show up on the course.
Hayden also tells the full story of his 2024 Canadian Q School week in Dothan, Alabama. He was 7 under after two rounds. Then came a double on a 200 yard par 3, a misread tee time and a DQ before the final round. He shares what he does differently now.
Tell us in the comments: what's your next drill, and how many out of 10 do you make?
Studies and people we mention:
Adam Young, The Practice Manual
Guadagnoli and Lee (2004), the challenge point framework
Robert Bjork, desirable difficulties
Wilson et al. (2019), Nature Communications, the 85% rule
Human Movement Science (2025), when a task gets too hard
Jared Porter, LSU, moving from blocked to random practice
Low and colleagues, 14 studies on pressure training
Annie Duke, Thinking in Bets
Sisk et al. (2018), the growth mindset meta-analysis
Chapters:
0:00 Why 10 for 10 at the range is a bad sign
1:59 How much should you be missing?
3:08 Adam Young's 3 to 7 out of 10 rule
4:00 The 3 dials that change any drill
4:31 There's no such thing as a good drill
5:26 Why easy practice feels so good
6:46 The 85% rule for faster learning
7:34 When hard practice backfires
7:49 Signs your practice is too easy
10:26 What Rory did after the 2011 Masters
10:48 Rory's 496 for 496 inside 3 feet
14:54 Hayden's Q School blowup
17:23 The tee time mistake
19:42 How Hayden bounced back
22:04 Handling emotions after a miss
24:20 The 3 part plan
24:29 Part A: turn one dial
26:57 Add a consequence: Colby's match
28:56 Part B: stop judging by results
30:41 The 3 buckets for every miss
31:37 Part C: is growth mindset enough?
32:37 Playing to your personality
35:50 Ask: how many did I actually miss?
36:31 Isaak's GC3 ladder drill
37:37 Hayden's takeaway
40:15 New Friday schedule
New schedule: episodes with just Isaak and Hayden now drop every Friday. Guest episodes are bonus episodes early in the week.
Isaak is a competitive mid-am who helps busy golfers improve with the time they already have. Hayden is a professional golfer. Play Ready Golf helps you practice with purpose, so you show up to the first tee ready to score.
