How Practicing Less Made Jim Furyk Better

After his wrist surgery in 2004, Jim Furyk faced a shocking restriction: his doctor limited him to just 25 practice shots per day. For a professional golfer preparing for the Tournament of Champions, this seemed like a recipe for disaster. Instead, it led to one of his biggest breakthroughs.

“I ground over those 25 shots like I was already in the US Open,” Furyk reveals. With this severe limitation, he won the tournament. This counter-intuitive lesson — that less could actually be more — would transform his entire approach to performance.

The Quality Over Quantity Revolution

Before his injury, Furyk was like most elite athletes: grinding for hours, believing more practice meant better performance. The forced restriction changed everything:

“I had to be more efficient and I had to kind of go more quality over quantity,” he explains. “And I actually became a much better ball striker at that point because I learned how to practice well and I learned how to be efficient.”

The Mental Game of Less

This physical limitation led Furyk to work with sports psychologist Doc Rotella, who helped him see that the principle extended beyond practice to competition itself. By age 42, Furyk was struggling with a common elite athlete’s dilemma:

“I was struggling with being on the road, missing family… You want to be a father and a husband first and a golfer next,” he recalls. The traditional answer would have been to push through. Rotella suggested something radical: play less.

Why It Worked

“If you play less, you’re going to be really excited about getting out there playing golf and you’re going to be fresh and your mind is going to be in the right place rather than getting on the road and basically being cranky,” Rotella advised.

The logic was simple but powerful:

• Fresh minds make better decisions

• Excited athletes perform better

• Quality of preparation matters more than quantity

• Mental fatigue hurts performance more than physical rust

The Results

The proof came in Furyk’s performance. After this period of “less is more,” he:

• Shot two of the lowest rounds in PGA Tour history (58 and 59)

• Maintained high-level performance well into his 40s

• Found better balance between career and family

The Broader Application

This principle extends beyond golf. Whether you’re an athlete, executive, or performer, consider:

1. Quality of preparation over quantity

2. Mental freshness over physical volume

3. Excitement level over ritual adherence

4. Life balance over single-minded focus

The Transformation of Practice

When Furyk returned to full practice capability, he didn’t return to his old ways. Instead, he maintained the lessons from his restricted period:

• Every practice shot had purpose

• Mental engagement became paramount

• Practice routines became more efficient

• Recovery and freshness became priorities

The Lesson for Elite Performers

In a world that often preaches “more is more,” consider Furyk’s discovery: sometimes the path to better performance isn’t doing more — it’s doing less with greater purpose.

Ask yourself:

• Are you mistaking activity for achievement?

• Could reducing volume increase quality?

• Is mental fatigue holding you back?

• Would excitement and freshness serve you better than grinding?

As Furyk’s career demonstrates, the key to peak performance isn’t always pushing harder — sometimes it’s pulling back to push forward better.

“I learned how to practice well,” Furyk concludes. Sometimes limitations aren’t restrictions — they’re revelations.

Your Challenge This Week

Implement your own “25-shot rule” by identifying one area where you’re grinding through quantity instead of focusing on quality. Whether it’s practice sessions, work meetings, or skill development, cut your usual volume in half and approach each repetition with the intensity Jim Furyk brought to his restricted practice shots. Track not just what you do, but how mentally engaged and excited you feel during each session. By the end of the week, evaluate whether this forced efficiency improved your performance and mental freshness compared to your usual high-volume approach.

Join the exclusive list for Elite Performers!

If you got this far, I bet you will like my newsletter! It is simple weekly content with actionable lessons from the greatest athletes and coaches.

Subscribe to it here: https://exponentialathlete.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Content Recommendation

Full interview with Jim Furyk: https://youtu.be/2G1LMAnRQzA?si=d7fhv65aC7SL2vD3

If you found this insightful, you will love the full interview I did with Jim Furyk on the Exponential Athlete podcast. We cover his practice approach, how he gets over bad shots, and why he hears voices in his head when he’s playing his best!