13 Golfers. 1 Question.

We asked every elite mid-am on the podcast what busy golfers get wrong about practice. All 13 have day jobs. Here is what they said.

Every guest on the Play Ready Golf Podcast gets the same question. What are busy golfers getting wrong about practice?

The 13 golfers below have all answered it. They are insurance agents, bankers, consultants, a coach, a course owner, and a professor. Between them: state amateur titles, a win over a field of professionals, a made cut on the PGA Tour, and the #5 mid-am ranking in America.

None of them practice the way golf culture says you should. Here are their answers, 1 golfer at a time.

1. Christian: own 1 drill

Christian runs a State Farm agency. He won his state amateur by 21 shots. His rule: 10 minutes a day for 6 days beats one 60-minute session. Sleep locks in what you repeat and erases what you don't. He owns 1 putting drill and does it religiously.

2. Nate Gahman: play more than you practice

Nate runs an insurance agency and has 2 kids. He beat a field of professionals by 2 at the Georgia Open. His answer: you can't manufacture birdies on the range. The range never asks you to make a par with water left and trouble long. When he gets 75 minutes, he rides 9 holes instead of buying a bucket.

3. Will Davenport: hole everything

Will is a consulting principal working 60-hour weeks. He is a top 100 mid-am in the world. His answer: stop raking putts. Raking 4-footers trains your brain that short putts don't matter. Then Sunday shows up, and they all matter.

4. John Weiss Jr.: a bucket should take an hour

John coaches JV golf. His answer: 30 balls, 60 minutes. Every ball gets a target, a plan, and your full attention. If your bucket takes 20 minutes, you didn't practice. You exercised.

5. Jonathan Keane: simulate the course

Jonathan plays off plus 2.8 and runs Mid-Am Golf HQ. His answer: the best amateurs simulate. New club, new target, every swing. You never hit the same shot twice on the course, so stop practicing like you do.

6. Mike Smith: protect your superpower

Mike consults on college golf and has 2 kids under 4. His answer: never spend more time on your weaknesses than your strengths. Chase every weakness and you end up average at everything.

7. Scott Turner: pressure is the practice

Scott runs more than 100 tournaments a year. He touches a range 4 or 5 times a year and still wins. His practice is a standing money game every other week. 1,000 comfortable range balls keep you comfortable. Pressure keeps you sharp.

8. Dom Maricocchi: prep the event, not your swing

Dom is a banker. He won the Ohio Mid-Am by 5. His answer: the swing you have on Monday is the swing you'll have Saturday. Stop rebuilding and start planning. Even par contends almost everywhere.

9. Cody Sundberg: leave when you're hitting it good

Cody owns Broomsedge. His answer came from a tour player: when you're striping it, leave. It only gets worse from there. End on the good rep and walk away dangerous.

10. Connor Doyal: live inside 60 yards

Connor quit consulting to caddie, won the Terra Cotta, and made a PGA Tour cut as an amateur. His answer: your driver gets 14 swings a round. Your wedges and putter get 50. Practice in that proportion.

11. Nate Smith: know the session's job

Nate played professionally in 40 countries, walked away at 30, built a construction business in Idaho, and came back better. His answer: know the purpose of every session before you start it. Warm up for Saturday. Sharpen wedge numbers. Test the new putting feel. 45 minutes with a job beats 3 aimless hours.

12. Scott Cahill: drill the boring shots

Scott played professional golf on PGA Tour Latinoamerica. Now he has a day job in Scottsdale and a newborn at home. He won the Arizona Mid-Am coming from 5 back. You will never catch him practicing 30 footers. His whole session is 5 foot putts and simple chips, because those are the shots every round asks for. Fancy shots are for the range show.

13. Brett Patterson: give short windows to the putter

Brett teaches accounting to 300 students at Ole Miss and has 2 little girls at home. He is the #5 ranked mid-am in America. In college he hit 300 balls a day and got worse. Last year he took 4 weeks off, opened the state mid-am 7 under, and won wire to wire. Now his short windows go to the putter. Never the same putt twice. 30 feet downhill, then 20 uphill, then 40 across. That is how feel gets built.

The pattern

13 different answers. Same root.

Christian's 10 minutes has a job. John's hour has a job. Nate's 45 minutes has a job. Scott's boring chips have a job.

Nobody said hit more balls. Not one of them.

The golfers beating you are not outworking you. They are out-deciding you. Every minute of their practice knows why it exists before it starts.

Steal these 4 this week

The Gate (Christian): 2 tees a foot ahead of the ball on a straight uphill 8 to 10 footer. Putt through the gate 10 minutes a day.

The Hour Bucket (John): 30 balls, 60 minutes. Pick a new target before every single swing.

The Swap (Nate G.): trade 1 range session for 9 holes with a scorecard. Even 6 holes counts.

The Mixer (Brett): 30 feet downhill, 20 feet uphill, 40 across. Never repeat a putt.

Get the 1-page version

All 13 answers live on 1 printable page. Grab the cheat sheet here: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam

And if you want every session handed to you with the purpose already decided, that's what Play Ready Golf does. It looks at your game, your time, and your facilities, then builds the plan. Free for 7 days: https://onelink.to/93ggkv

Isaak