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2 October 2026 · 9 min read

Practising golf properly: blocked or variable? What motor learning research shows for the range

Many identical balls or a different shot each time? Meta-analyses show a medium advantage for switching in the lab and a small one in applied studies. Plus a routine for 40 minutes.

Practising golf properly: blocked or variable? What motor learning research shows for the range — post image

Both have their place: blocked practice, many identical balls in a row, suits learning a new movement, and variable practice with changing club, distance and target suits consolidating it. Meta-analyses found for the switching a medium advantage in the lab, in applied studies a small one or hardly any, and the golf studies mostly concern beginners putting. The routine below is therefore a reasoned suggestion and not a proven formula.

What do blocked, variable and contextual interference mean?

You practise blocked when you repeat one task until it sticks: twenty balls with the 7-iron at the same target. You practise variable when the task changes after every ball: another club, another distance, another target. Research calls this contextual interference, and according to Czyż and colleagues the first study on it appeared in 1966 (Scientific Reports). Between the two poles lies the increasing schedule of Porter and Magill: blocked first, then in a series, random at the end (Journal of Sports Sciences). How to split practice between simulator and range is in Simulator or driving range.

What reviews across all sports say

Two meta-analyses by Czyż and colleagues from 2024 analyse studies on practice schedules. For retention, meaning what is still there later, 54 studies went in: changing practice had overall a medium advantage, in the lab it worked, in applied studies the advantage was almost negligible. For transfer, meaning carry-over to new conditions, there were 34 studies (Frontiers in Psychology). SMD is the standardised mean difference: 0 means no difference, a larger value a stronger advantage of random practice.

GroupTransfer, SMDAuthors' classification
All studies0.55medium, in favour of random practice
Laboratory studies0.75medium, statistically significant
Applied studies0.34small, not significant
Adults0.54medium
Older adults1.28large
Young participants0.12negligible

Two things follow. First, the advantage is smallest where it is about sport in practice, and the range is practice. Second, it depends on age: for retention older adults showed a large and adults a medium advantage, and for young participants it was negligible.

What holds for golf

Barzyk and Gruber summarised 52 randomised trials on learning golf-specific tasks (Frontiers in Sports and Active Living). As superior within their groups they name an external focus of attention, increasing contextual interference and errorless learning. They name the limits themselves: more than half of the trials lacked statistical power, and most tested simple putting tasks in beginners. Whether the recommendations hold for advanced players and for sport-like tasks still has to be shown.

Two putting studies show what this looks like. Porter and Magill had novices practise putts on a blocked, a random or an increasing schedule that starts blocked, continues in a series and ends random. The increasing schedule had the best retention. Fazeli and colleagues split 30 novices into a random, a blocked and a no-training control group (Perceptual and Motor Skills). They practised for six days, 10 blocks of 18 putts each day, which is 180 putts a day, and were tested a week after the last session. The random group putted worse in practice than the blocked group but more accurately in the test, and their mental representation was more structured and closer to that of skilled golfers.

Why good practice often feels bad

The study by Fazeli shows what feels unpleasant: if you switch, you hit worse in practice. PGA pro Fabian Bünker therefore separates performance from learning on golf.de. Performance is what you see in the session, learning is what is still there a week later (golf.de). According to him blocked practice is strong when you learn or deliberately change a movement, such as grip or ball position, but does not carry over to the course. He warns against making a law of nature of it: the evidence is positive but not unanimous, which fits the meta-analyses above. The article ends with a pointer to his own app.

A routine in three phases: build, disturb, play

Bünker suggests three phases that resemble the increasing schedule of Porter and Magill: blocked first, then changing. The amounts in the table are his recommendation, and he cites no study for them. The minutes are my suggestion for a session of forty minutes.

PhaseWhat you doAmountExample for 40 minutes
1 Buildblocked, one focus point, find the feel10 to 15 balls10 minutes
2 Disturbchange club, distance or target after every ballrest of the session, hit rate at half to two thirds20 minutes
3 Playevery ball counts, full routine, note the result5 to 10 balls10 minutes

In phase 2 the guide is a hit rate of about half to two thirds: if you are clearly below, you go back a step. Phase 3 can be turned into a fixed test that runs the same in every session, so you can compare after eight weeks. Bünker also advises first estimating, after the shot, how far the ball flew and how cleanly you hit it, and only then looking at the number. On a launch monitor that suggests itself, because a number appears after every ball. Barzyk and Gruber found no clearly best method for feedback, so I have not substantiated this advice. What the numbers mean is explained in Understanding launch monitor numbers, and a plan with one measurement a week is in The winter golf training plan.

How long and how often?

I did not find a golf study that tests duration and frequency. The PGA of America writes in its booklet First Swing that the most effective sessions focus on one area that needs to improve, that shots should be practised in different directions and distances, and that you should practise only as long as you stay focused (PGA of America). Bünker gets more specific: forty minutes with a clear plan beat ninety minutes without, and three sessions of forty minutes spread over the week bring more than two hours in one go (golf.de). He calls this one of the best-documented findings of movement science but gives no study in the article. The novices in Fazeli practised six days in a row, which was a lab requirement and not a recommendation.

What it means for you

If you are learning or changing a movement, start blocked and short. If it works in the bay but does not show up on the course, more switching helps. Fix the time beforehand and write down date, area, task and result, four items that according to Bünker take thirty seconds. Do not expect a leap from switching: in applied studies the effect size was 0.34 and not significant, in the lab 0.75 and significant. In return practice feels worse because the hits drop. In the study by Fazeli the better test followed. How to practise at home is in Practising golf at home.

Where you can practise with variety

Practising with variety means deciding anew before every ball. A course in the simulator brings the switching with it, because club and distance change from shot to shot; which courses exist is in Courses in the golf simulator. The directory lists 126 venues, 110 indoor venues and 16 ranges with ball-flight tracking, and 81 of the 110 indoor venues offer coaching (as of 2 October 2026, own entries). You find venues with coaching under indoor golf training, the first visit is explained in golf simulator for beginners, the nearest venue is on golf simulator near me, and all of them by canton on the map. The range is described in Driving ranges in Switzerland.

Frequently asked questions

Is blocked practice bad in golf?

No. For learning or changing a movement, such as grip or ball position, it is strong according to PGA pro Bünker, best with 10 to 15 balls. What it does not do is carry over to the course. For that, changing practice brought a medium advantage in meta-analyses in the lab.

What is variable practice in golf?

You change club, distance or target after every ball. Research calls this contextual interference. In a meta-analysis of 54 studies it had overall a medium advantage for retention, and in applied studies the advantage was almost negligible. The golf studies mostly concern beginners putting.

How many balls should I hit when practising?

I did not find a study on that. PGA pro Bünker names as a routine 10 to 15 balls blocked, then switching at a hit rate of half to two thirds, and at the end 5 to 10 balls with consequence. The PGA of America advises practising only as long as you stay focused.

How often should I practise golf?

I found no golf study on that. Bünker recommends three sessions of forty minutes a week instead of two hours in one go and cites no study for it. The novices in Fazeli practised six days in a row, which was a lab requirement and not a recommendation.

Does variable practice help beginners too?

The golf studies mostly concern beginners putting. Porter and Magill found the best retention in novices with a schedule that starts blocked and ends random. Whether that holds for advanced players has not been shown, according to Barzyk and Gruber.

Sources