Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein was no great golfer but as a theoretical physicist and philosopher he had a shrewd understanding of the human condition.

He also had a mountain of quotes attributed to him with one of the more perceptive describing insanity as 'doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'

In golf, this is a familiar story with many club golfers who year in year out pound away at the driving range but seemingly with no great progress. It probably goes a long way to explaining why the average handicap hasn't budged in more than 20 years.

Alistair Davies, PGA Fellow and senior teaching professional at The Belfry, offers a few pointers on how golfers can improve their game through the process of reflection and reaction.

The key to success is to always reflect and react to recent performances. However the reality is that too many players will practice without planning or structuring their time correctly and without reflection.

Lots of players put in plenty of effort, going through the motions of playing and hitting balls but without any real thought.

They often work hard but don't necessarily work smart. They fail to reflect purposely and objectively after a round and instead tend to focus on an area that has an emotional attachment, such as a wild drive on the last hole.

One aspect to finding improvement is to discuss the round afterwards, ideally with a coach or at elite level perhaps with a caddy who has witnessed the round.

The key to success is to always reflect and react to recent performances.

Below are some simple steps that can help measure and evaluate your performance and which can shed light on the areas of the game you need to work on.

First collect data such as fairways hit, greens in regulation, number of putts, scrambles and footage holed. Armed with this information then it's time for reflection - good, better, how.

• Good - what was good about your round, this is important because it's key to always think about the positives to help confidence
• Better - after analysing your data, what needs to be better in a perfect world
• How - finally, how I am going to do this? It might be a lesson or a chat with your mentor

As you reflect on this then begin embellishing further detail on what part of the skill actually needs to be made better. If you believe you're putting needs improving and your evidence backs this up then discuss with yourself the following:

1. Was it the course management, did I hit it close enough, did I hit it to the correct side of the hole?
2. Did the putt start on the desired line?
3. Did the putt go the correct distance?
4. Was the green read correctly?
5. Did you have the correct mental focus?

From this reflection you then should form an action plan that would involve practising the correct area of improvement. Then your next lesson should be on this area of improvement, and your practice plan should also reflect this.

Try to maximise your time by planning each week down to fine detail.

Action Plan
Putting distance control
Monday - an hour session of putting distance control drills
11.00-11.20 Gate drill
11.20 - 11.40 Lag and drag drill
11.40 - 12.00 Practice random lengths

Finally, remember the key points are to plan, do and review every round and session to make sure you are constantly progressing and maximising your time. Put these into operation and you should be able to see some genuine progress in your game.

Alistair Davies is a Senior Teaching Professional at The Belfry. He is also part of Golf Coaching Cymru Discussion Group which is a group of coaches selected by The PGA and Golf Union of Wales to pilot Levels 3 and 4 of the UKCC coaching qualifications.